\n<\/p>\n
What killed<\/span> Anne Frank?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Nazis killed Anne Frank.<\/p>\n To suggest that any other cause was primary in her vastly premature death is tantamount to vile Holocaust denialism \u2014 which is why Holocaust denialists do indeed point out that Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is precisely\u00a0the logic\u00a0<\/a>that Israel\u2019s apologists in the media have deployed in recent days when it comes to the deliberate starvation of the population of Gaza. The right-wing Free Press published\u00a0a story<\/a>\u00a0on Sunday, framed as an investigative expos\u00e9, revealing that at least 12 of the Palestinian children featured in viral images depicting the state of Israel-induced famine were not only starving, but \u2026 were also sick.<\/p>\n The supposed gotcha is that children with disabilities and preexisting health conditions, who cannot get the treatment and nutrition they need because of Israel\u2019s genocidal siege, are not representative of the population. And \u2014 the horror! \u2014 photographs of these non-representative children are prompting global outrage.\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea is we are supposed to be less horrified by the fact that children with disabilities like cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis are starving to death under the deliberate siege policies of a wealthy, occupying nation-state and its backers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Free Press is suggesting that in failing to either emphasize or mention the children\u2019s health conditions as well as the Israel-induced malnutrition that is killing them, Western media sources using the images are unfairly maligning Israel \u2014 despite the fact that it is Israel\u2019s genocidal actions that have brought the children to a condition of bare life. It is the very nature of genocide to involve the destruction of conditions necessary for sustaining life, such that sickness as well as direct slaughter destroys, in part or whole, the targeted population.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis information does not change the fact that the children depicted in this story are suffering from malnutrition due to the difficulties they face accessing aid in Gaza, as reported,\u201d a CNN spokesperson told the Free Press, after the publication informed the network that Hajjaj, a 6-year-old girl featured in a CNN story about starvation in Gaza, was not only starving but also had an \u201cesophagus condition.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in 2021 by former New York Times writer Bari Weiss, the Free Press pitches itself as home for \u201cheterodox<\/a>\u201d thinking, but it has been a reliable platform for the anti-woke, anti-trans, and pro-Israel talking points of mainstream American conservatism. Weiss, who has dedicated her professional life to anti-Palestinian animus and unwavering support for Israel, is reportedly in talks with CBS\u2019s new parent company Skydance about buying the online outlet for $250 million.<\/p>\n The Free Press is actively stoking genocide denial, but it\u2019s not the first media organ to take this odious tack of minimization. In late July, the New York Times cravenly appended a lengthy editor\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0note<\/a>\u00a0and update on a story featuring the image of emaciated 18-month-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq to include the fact that he had other health issues \u201caffecting his brain and his muscle development.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if Israel\u2019s<\/span> siege were only leading to the death of Palestinians with preexisting health issues and disabilities, we would still have on our hands a case of intolerable, eugenic slaughter \u2014 as if Palestinian sick children\u2019s lives are worth less. Needless to say, Israel\u2019s project of genocide and ethnic cleansing takes aim at all Palestinians.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Free Press goes as far as to admit, \u201cIt\u2019s not that there isn\u2019t hunger in Gaza. There is.\u201d It\u2019s a gross understatement. As is well documented and widely recognized, Israel is\u00a0deliberately starving<\/a>\u00a0the population of Gaza. This has been made clear in both\u00a0intent<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 as expressed by Israeli government ministers \u2014 and effect, as evident in the mounting starvation-based death toll of a reported\u00a0266 people<\/a>\u00a0from malnutrition-related causes, likely a significant underestimate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reports from health care workers and international humanitarian groups, the desperate direct pleas<\/a> of thousands and thousands of Palestinians<\/a> in Gaza, and the\u00a0exorbitant<\/a>\u00a0prices of barely available basic ingredients all confirm the same. Israeli troops<\/a>, and\u00a0perhaps security contractors<\/a>\u00a0hired by an Israeli-backed aid group, have\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0over 1,400 Palestinians attempting to get food at aid sites since May. Palestinians continue to try to access these death traps daily, simply because there is not enough food elsewhere<\/a> \u2014 all by Israeli design.<\/p>\n