The 'Hunger Games of Gaza': Starvation as a weapon of terror
The poster, held up by a female Pro-Palestinian protester, showing bloody handprints next to the words, They Died Hungry, is a completely true statement. The only problem is that it was Israeli hostages who were starved to death and not the Gazans for whom she advocates.
It was only two months ago when three of our male hostages, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami were finally released from captivity, all of them so emaciated that they more resembled concentration camp survivors whose hollow faces and gaunt bodies still haunt us to this day. It literally shocked the conscience of an unbelieving world that these men had clearly been starved to the point of near death.
Eli Sharabi, one of those hostages relayed how “Hamas looted UN aid meant for civilians and hostages and ate multiple meals a day.” On their best day, they received a piece of pita bread and a sip of tea while Hamas ate like kings.
An article, entitled “Hunger and despair: Why aren’t Gazans rising up against Hamas?” appeared in last Sunday’s Jerusalem Post, outlining the current situation that exists there, explaining that, “Hamas is said to view the potential loss of its control over food distribution as a significant threat as some within the defense establishment believe that targeting humanitarian aid mechanisms or asserting Israeli control over food distribution could weaken Hamas’s grip on power.”
Of course, Hamas knows that food is the ultimate weapon. Take it away from people, and they will do just about anything to get it – including full compliance and the end of their recent shows of resistance to the terror group which has made their lives a living hell. Similar to the 2023 popular series, The Hunger Games, the moral is that “it is better to fall into line than to stand up for what you believe is right.”
Gazans would be the first to rise up and tell campus protesters, who are taking up their cause, that it is their own governing body who is responsible for their starvation and not Israel. In the effort to alleviate the suffering that is the result of terrorist leaders who continue to withhold food from their own people, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is “spearheading efforts to strip Hamas of its control over aid distribution. That includes coordination with international humanitarian organizations and mostly American companies to establish logistics hubs in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza, specifically without any Hamas involvement.”
But will any of this make a difference to lying students who, in their attempt to garner supporters to their cause, assert that Israel is responsible for the systematic starvation of Gazans? Probably not, because anyone who would be convinced of those claims are low-information people who make no effort to access unbiased news reports which contradict the libelous accusations, constantly hurled at the Jewish state, all in an attempt to paint them as the oppressors whose uncaring indifference has been responsible for a genocide they claim is taking place.
Given the evidence of those skeletal-like men, as they emerged from the dark tunnels where they had been chained and denied food for extended periods of time, irreparably causing great harm to their health, no truth seeker can credibly accuse Israel of what is being done by Hamas terrorists, backed up by what we all saw with our own eyes.
Sadly, these are the disingenuous tricks which are being used to engender sympathy for Gazans who chose Hamas as the champions to liberate them from the neighbors who offered them assistance of every kind, including medical care, human rights advocacy, a livelihood and more. In fact, one of the sad ironies of the October 7th massacre was that among those who were burned alive, beheaded and slaughtered in the most brutal ways, were individuals who were their strongest advocates - peace activists from southern kibbutz communities who were killed in the attacks as reported by the New York Times.
Kibbutz Be’eri member, Vivian Silver, age 74, with dual Israeli-Canadian citizenship, was one such individual, known for her lifelong peace advocacy through her movement, Women Wage Peace, an organization which sought to pressure the Israeli government to reach a peace agreement to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Silver was killed by Hamas terrorists who didn’t get the memo that she was on the side of Palestinians.
These are the sad facts which will not change the hearts or minds of the virulent anti-Jewish spewers of hate, who are not interested in learning the truth, because if confronted with the real story, by those who have lived it, including Gazans, many of whom now realize who the monsters are, they would have to abandon their cause and search for a new object of disdain.
But make no mistake, starving Gazans is a useful image which can go a long way in the media war of winning over new anti-Israel recruits. It’s really easy when your audience immediately buys whatever is being sold to them without verifying its veracity. For them, the bloody poster stands as sufficient evidence that this must be happening, and if Hamas terrorists represent the resistance movement, fighting for the freedom of Gazans, then who else would be starving the people – only Israel!
This is the second war we are fighting – one which targets the worst tendencies and prejudices of a new generation where virtue signaling is paramount to convincing others that they are advocating for the weak while showing outrage for those who appear to be strong.
Israel is strong, and that’s because it was their choice to overcome adversity, defend themselves and create a society which would benefit the entire world. Rather than remaining the victims of others who saw them as a liability, who were always prevented from being productive members in the different societies where they lived, they worked towards the creation of their own homeland where no one could stop them from soaring to their greatest heights.
That is the story of the Jewish people. And for the record, their contributions have been responsible for feeding the hungry – not just in Israel, but throughout the world. Food is revered by Jews as a great commodity, along with the moral ethos that no one should ever go hungry.
In contrast, food is viewed by Hamas as a means to keep Israeli prisoners and their people in line by means of complete depravation.
A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal who made Aliyah in 1993 and became a member of Kibbutz Reim but now lives in the center of the country with her husband. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the principles from the book of Proverbs - available on Amazon.
