Letter: A Fictional Famine of Pre Existing Conditions

Dear Letter to the Editor:

For over a year the mainstream media has widely publicized photographs of emaciated Gazan children that it knew were suffering from pre existing conditions or other circumstances that were not caused by starvation and in the antisemitic tradition of Joseph Goebbels, Julius Streicher and even Fritz Hippler have mendaciously labeled these children as exclusively suffering from starvation for the sole purpose of engendering hatred against the Jewish people. Listed below are TEN times when the mainstream media  recently called a child’s pre existing condition or special circumstances just starvation in order to engender hatred against the Jews.

Once or twice might be viewed as a coincidence. But TEN times!

There are no coincidences that happen ten times. 

Every member of the media that published any of these pre existing condition “starvation” photos has ingrained jew hatred into their editorial policy ala Joseph Goebbels and Julius Streicher. 

These ten “coincidences” demonstrate that there is not a scintilla of old time journalistic skepticism in the mainstream media today. Any heart rending photo that implies that the Jewish people are guilty of genocide goes on the front page above the fold without any thought to investigate the source of the child’s condition. 

Ten “coincidences” demonstrates the foundational jew hatred of every editor and reporter involved and every media outlet involved. 

1. Mohammad Al- Mutawaq.

On the front page above the fold The New York Times, the Daly Express and others cropped out a well fed sibling to hide the fact that this child suffered from cerebral palsy which can heighten the risk of malnutrition due to motor and muscle difficulties.

A cropped photo that does not mention cerebral palsy  that has been extensively published around the world to engender hatred of the Jewish people.

2. Osama Al- Raqab.

He suffered from cystic fibrosis , a well known part of his medical history that no media outlet around the world  mentioned in their  extensive use of his heart rending  photograph to engender hatred against the Jews.

3. Karam Khalid Al- Jaral.

He suffered from muscular dystrophy and partial paralysis since birth. World wide media to engender hatred against Jews simply juxtaposed the phrase that ” he passed away from lack of proper nutrition” against his heart rending photo without reporting on his well known pre existing medical condition.

4. Abdullah Abu Zarqa

Abdullah suffered from a “pre existing genetic disease causing deficiencies, osteoporosis and bone thinning.” His mother has taken him to clinics in the eastern part of Jerusalem to treat his pre existing conditions, a fact well known to journalists who engendered hatred against the Jews by reporting that he was exclusively suffering from starvation when it published his heart rending photos.

5. Atef Abu Khater.

Traditional media around the world published his heart rending photos to engender hatred against the Jews claiming that he had died of starvation. That same media failed to report on statements widely publicized in the Arab media by his father and a photographer who took the photos that the young man, 17, had been severely burned on his foot and hand which led to a form of psychological distress in which he just stopped eating.

6. Mosab al-Debs.

CNN, the BBC and Reuters portray him as suffering from malnutrition in order to engender hatred of the Jews. None of these Hamas supporting organizations reported that al-Debs required a feeding tube due to a severe brain injury he suffered a year earlier.

7. Najwa Hussein Hajjaj.

The New York Times and CNN published her heart rending emaciated photos to engender hatred against the Jews never reporting that she suffers from an esophageal condition that causes vomiting and requires special food for her to digest.

8. Hamza Mishmish.

NPR, to engender hatred for the Jews, published a heart rending photo of the emaciated 25 year old and of course never reported that he has cerebral palsy and a weak immune system.

9. Yousef Matar.

The Guardian published his emaciated image to engender hatred against the Jews never mentioning that he suffered from cerebral palsy.

10. Maryam Dawas.

She has been presented on world wide media as suffering from starvation to engender hatred against the Jews. In fact, she is suffering from intestinal malabsorption meaning that she cannot absorb nutrients, and is under medical care for her pre existing condition.

Ironically the New York Times switched the heart rending photo of cerebral palsy victim Yousef Matar for the apparently more heart rending and cropped photo of cerebral palsy victim Mohammad al-Mutawaq (See #1) demonstrating that it is the blood libel that is critical for the New York Times, not the facts. Just as it was for Julius Streicher.

See: “The Media’s Starving Gazan Images: Narrative & Reality“, Chaim Lux, 8/18/25, Honest Reporting; see also: “They Became Symbols of Gazan Starvation. But all 12 Suffer From Other Health Problems“, Olivia Reinhold & Tanya Lukyanova, 8/17/25, Free Press.

The reality is that the mainstream media has created a fictional famine out of pre existing conditions that they know about and obfuscate.

Richard Sherman
Margate, Florida