https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-trump-administrations-famine?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=73370&post_id=172173360&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=17yiss&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

The Trump Administration's Famine Denial

The U.S. position is unsurprising, but it is despicable.

Daniel Larison

The Trump administration has made famine denialism the official policy of the United States:

The US rejected a United Nations-backed report that declared a famine in Gaza, breaking with other members of the UN Security Council as it denied that Israel was engaged in a “policy of starvation” in the enclave as part of the war with Hamas.

The U.S. position is unsurprising, but it is despicable. Denying the famine in Gaza is another black mark on our country’s reputation. The administration’s dismissive response to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)’s Famine Review Committee report is a disgrace. It is another ugly element of an indefensible policy of unconditional support for a genocidal regime. 

The Famine Review Committee has been closely following the man-made humanitarian disaster in Gaza since the beginning. As they put it in the report’s executive summary, “Never before has the Committee had to return so many times to the same crisis, a stark reflection of how suffering has not only persisted but intensified and spread until famine has begun to emerge.” The famine is “entirely man-made,” and there is no question about who is responsible for it. This is Israel’s man-made atrocity famine.

The IPC does not reach its conclusions lightly, and if anything they are overly cautious in their analysis. There was famine in Gaza well before they made their declaration, but they wouldn’t make that call until they were sure. They have still been sounding the alarm for the last year and a half about the approaching famine to no avail. The same governments that now dismiss the declaration ignored all those warnings as Gaza was driven into famine by Israel. 

The report warns that the crisis will get much worse soon if nothing is done:

Surges in malnutrition rates and reported deaths due to malnutrition indicate a change in the trajectory from a gradual, linear degradation to an exponentially worsening situation [bold mine-DL]. Previously, adults in Gaza Governorate have protected the health and nutrition of young children by limiting their own consumption, depending on their own physical reserves of fat and muscle. Increasing malnutrition rates among mothers in all governorates indicate that physical reserves are now exhausted.

There is still time to halt and reverse this catastrophe, but every day that is wasted with lies and famine denialism makes that less likely. 

The U.S. and Israel’s famine denial is monstrous. It adds grievous insult to the terrible harm being inflicted on two million innocent people. It shows willful disregard and contempt for the lives of these people. As Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), wrote last week, “Denial is the most obscene expression of dehumanization.” 

The famine in Gaza was the most predictable and preventable famine in modern times. Everyone could see it coming, and we failed to stop it. It is now undeniable that it is here. The only question is whether we will allow it to continue and grow worse. As Americans, we have a responsibility to make our government abandon its indefensible policy of support for the war and genocide in Gaza. The first step is to make the administration pay a political price for their shameful famine denialism.