A viral photo of an emaciated child in Gaza that has been widely cited as evidence of starvation is based on a lie, according to media watchdog Honest Reporting: the child has a muscular disorder, and well-fed siblings.
The photo, by photographer Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini of the Turkish Anadolu agency, has featured in coverage throughout the western media — though few outlets have told the full story of the child’s condition.
Honest Reporting notes:
HonestReporting was the first to highlight inconsistencies in the image set. In one of the photos, another child, reportedly Muhammad’s older brother, can be seen standing in the background. He appears well-nourished and perfectly healthy. That alone raised serious questions.
…
In a CNN report published on Saturday, the boy’s mother explained that Muhammad suffers from a muscle disorder. It’s a medical condition that requires ongoing physical therapy and specialized nutrition.
…
Every outlet that promoted this false narrative must update their coverage to reflect the full truth: Muhammad has a medical condition. He is not simply a victim of starvation, and the image has been presented in a misleading and incomplete way.
Honest Reporting acknowledges that there is suffering in Gaza — thanks to Hamas, which steals aid from United Nations trucks, and refuses to end the war by releasing the remaining Israeli hostages.
However, it notes, the degree of food insecurity has been exaggerated by the media: “Time and again, they have run with unverified images and unchecked claims. No due diligence. No questions asked. Because these stories fit the narrative they want to tell – that Israel is waging a war against a helpless civilian population.”
Elsewhere, Honest Reporting says, “food insecurity at any level should not be taken lightly and that every civilian death is a tragedy.” However, “Claims of mass starvation in Gaza are being misrepresented by major media outlets, often based on Hamas-supplied narratives and without sufficient fact-checking or context.”
Israel, under international pressure, has ramped up humanitarian aid to Gaza. Yet the Israeli military and government have continued to insist that there is no starvation in Gaza.
“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday, noting that the United Nations was responsible for aid distribution and was expected to ensure that additional aid “does not reach Hamas.”
The United Nations has refused to work with the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has successfully delivered food in Gaza for two months.
Update: Israeli government spokesman David Mencer addressed controversial photos of Palestinian children in his briefing for journalists on Monday, noting that they were spreading lies about Israel.
Mencer connected the use of such images with the spread of violent antisemitic attacks across the world, saying that media outlets were provoking hatred against Jews by spreading lies about Israeli atrocities.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Read the full article here