Starvation is a Policy Choice
Do not look away
For nearly 80 consecutive days, nothing entered Gaza except bombs, bullets, and death.
No food, water, or shelter. Nothing. A siege on a trapped population.
It bears remembering that this latest march of killings occurred after Israel unilaterally opted to break the ceasefire agreement reached on January 19. The agreement was meant to occur in three separate stages that would have released all living and dead hostages, would end the war, and send aid into the strip.
After completing stage 1, Israel resumed their war against Gaza.
With some light pressure mounting from the international community, namely countries like France, Britain, and Canada, this allowed a trickle of aid to possibly be entered into Gaza. But this aid is hardly enough. Every aid organization and international organization has stated that the risk of famine still looms.
In just the past few days, already 29 deaths due to starvation have occurred. If you spend some time on social media, it is not difficult to find pictures of emaciated children and babies in Gaza, too weak to even cry of their starvation.
It remains to be seen what other actions the international community is prepared to do, but what is clear is the imperative of the current Israeli government.
As I’ve said before, our national media in the US often does not share what is being said by Israeli officials. Instead, the talking heads attempt to contextualize the topic from a perch that ostensibly ignores explicit statements from within Israel.
In that sense, it is better to look directly at the source and see what Israeli officials have recently said regarding the reality Palestinians are facing in Gaza.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:
“We're Destroying Gaza”
“The [aid] that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount. A handful of bakeries that will hand out pita bread to people in public kitchens.”
“We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally. And the world isn't stopping us.”
“[Israel] will destroy everything that still remains in the Strip, simply because everything there is one big terror city.” - May 19, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"We're going to take control of all the Gaza Strip”
"Our best friends in the world—senators I know as strong supporters of Israel—have warned that they cannot support us if images of mass starvation emerge" - May 19, 2025
Benny Gantz, Knesset member and National Unity Party chairman:
“The State of Israel and the nations willing to receive Gazan civilians must act to promote this [Trump] plan… No more hesitation.” - May 18, 2025
Nissim Vaturi, deputy Knesset Speaker for the ruling Likud Party:
"They [Palestinians] are outcasts and no one in the world wants them."
“[Israel needs to] separate the children and women and kill the adults in Gaza, we are being too considerate.” - February 23, 2025
Moshe Feiglin, former Likud Knesset member:
"Every child in Gaza is the enemy. We need to conquer Gaza and settle it, and not a single Gazan child will remain there. There is no other victory." - May 20, 2025
This rhetoric impacts the entire society; how could it not? We see in America, that when the White House attacks disadvantaged groups, vaccines, and election results, they can move public sentiment.
A new poll shows how far-right Israeli views have gone. In a poll conducted by Geocartography, an Israeli researching and consulting group, saw that 82% of Israeli Jews support ethnically cleansing the Palestinians in Gaza. When asked about expelling Arab citizens of Israel, that number sat 56% of support. And finally, 47% of Israeli Jews support killing all the people in a conquered “enemy city.”
From those quotes, it’s not difficult to see a choice has been made from the Israeli body politic of what they want to see happen to the people in Gaza moving forward.
For the rest of us, objecting to this point of view is not only the right thing to do for the humanity of the civilians in Gaza and the remaining hostages held in captivity, but to also stop the blowback we can face domestically.
Even though the events of the George W. Bush-led wars in the Middle East occurred well before I could even understand what was happening, I’ve looked back on the prescient views of those that warned the acts committed in these campaigns would come back to harm us back home.
That’s how I look at the horrific shooting in Washington, D.C., of two Israeli embassy aides. As Netanyahu seems intent to tie world Jewry to his actions in Gaza that has now gone on for almost two years, this can risk leading some people to hold world Jewry responsible for the actions of the Israeli government and embolden hatred of Jewish communities.
People of conscience must take a stand and in any way demonstrate opposition to what Israeli politicians and leaders seem determined to accomplish.
US Slop
Trump Administration
The Group Forging a “Judeo-Christian” Zionism for MAGA | Jewish Currents
Trump confronts South Africa with false claims of white genocide | Reuters
US judge blocks Trump admin’s plan to gut Education Department | Reuters
The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement | NY Times
Harvard University's foreign students reel from Trump administration ban | BBC
Judge blocks Trump administration’s ban on Harvard accepting international students | The Guardian
Judge says Trump administration violated court order with deportation flight linked to South Sudan | NBC News
Trump Threatens Fresh Tariffs on EU, iPhones and Rival Devices | WSJ
Josh Hawley Begs Trump Administration to Approve FEMA Aid for Missouri | Rolling Stone
Boeing, DOJ reach deal to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes | NBC News
Republican Reconciliation Bill
What Medicaid, SNAP cuts in House Republican bill mean for benefits | CNBC
US House Passes 10-Year Moratorium on State AI Laws | TechPolicy.Press
Trump and GOP’s tax bill would force cuts to Medicare, CBO says | WaPo
The Little Giveaways Tucked Into the Big Republican Bill | NY Times
The ugly truth about Trump's "big, beautiful bill" | Popular Information
More News
Is NYC Ready for Mayor Zohran Mamdani? The Polls Say Maybe | NY Mag
Why Did Cory Booker Vote to Confirm Jared Kushner’s Dad? | The New Republic
Adrienne Adams, Invoking Father’s Death, Says Cuomo Mismanaged Pandemic | NY Times
The Democrats Are Having a False Reckoning Over Joe Biden | The New Republic
College majors with the best, worst job prospects; art history beats finance | CNBC
Columbia Keeps ‘Investigating’ Student Journalists Covering Pro-Palestine Protests | Columbia Journalism Review
Republicans Are Rewriting Congressional Rules So Cars Can Pollute More | The New Republic
CBS News chief quits as Paramount aims to settle lawsuit with Trump | NPR
Covid Rates Are Low Right Now, but Doctors Are Vigilant for a Summer Rise | WSJ
My Father Was a Nazi Hunter. Then He Died in the Lockerbie Bombing. | NY Times
A surge of Texas parents fought measles outbreak by stepping up vaccine effort | NBC News
Leon County prosecutors have open case involving Hope Florida | Miami Herald
World Slop
Gaza and West Bank Crisis
Israeli settlers force about 150 Palestinians to leave their West Bank village | The Guardian
Israel draws outcry from Europe as soldiers fire near diplomats on West Bank visit | Reuters
Palestinians report Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank | AP News
Brian Eno Tells Microsoft To Divest From Israel, Will Donate Windows ‘95 Chime Fee To Victims In Gaza | Stereogum
'Our children are dying slowly' says father searching for food in Gaza | Reuters
Stop Calling It a Gaza 'War', Stop Being Part of Netanyahu's Genocidal Legacy | Haaretz
More News
No Wheat, Milk, Rice, Medicines: How the U.S. and Israel Are Starving Yemen | In These Times
Ukraine and Russia Begin Largest Exchange of Prisoners of War | NY Times
Iran, US see hope for progress after US nuclear talks | Reuters
How Trump’s Embrace of Afrikaner “Refugees” Became a Joke in South Africa | The Intercept
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