More Zionist Lobby Lies to Feed into America's Captive and Dumb Mainstream

Israel Lobby Pushes Lie That People Are Not Starving in Gaza: Report
Andrew Perez and Nikki McCann Ramirez
Thu, March 14, 2024




This week, Washington’s top Israel lobby is rallying its supporters to go to Capitol Hill and falsely claim to [dumb American] lawmakers that people aren’t starving in Gaza and Israel isn’t blocking aid shipments, according to talking points obtained by the American Prospect.

Israel has led a brutal siege on Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas killed 1,139 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200. More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, 2 million have been internally displaced, and hundreds of thousands are at imminent risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

The powerful lobbying group America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is working to maintain support for Israel’s war, amid increased protests and public outcry. This week, AIPAC convened in Maryland for its annual policy conference, which it uses to marshal its donors and supporters to serve as a grassroots lobbying army in the halls of Congress.

The Prospect obtained a copy of AIPAC’s talking points for supporters heading to the Hill — and they are extreme, to say the least. The documents instruct supporters to claim that “reports that people are starving in Gaza are false,” and say that “Israel is not blocking the delivery of aid to Gaza.”

The AIPAC talking points additionally claim that Hamas wants people to believe Gazans are starving in order to “exert pressure” on Israel, and argues the “United States must not fall into Hamas’ trap.”

These claims from AIPAC are false. Gazans are starving on a massive, unprecedented scale. According to the United Nations, 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza — almost the entire population of the region — are facing “crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.” Half a million of those included in that figure face “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) — a leading food security analysis and advocacy group — classifies the Gaza Strip as being in Phase 4 “Emergency” status food insecurity, with a high risk of imminent famine conditions.

Israel has continued to block the flow of aid to Gaza, despite an order from the United Nations’ International Court of Justice commanding Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” In February, the United Nations reported that more than 40 percent “of aid missions in Gaza to areas requiring coordination were denied or impeded access.”

The situation is so extreme that President Joe Biden has directed the military to airdrop food and supplies to the people of Gaza, and create a temporary port to attempt to deliver more aid, despite supporting the war.

AIPAC has long been a powerful lobbying force in Washington. In recent years, it has started spending large sums to influence congressional races and knock pro-Palestine lawmakers out of Congress. 

This year, AIPAC is reportedly prepared to spend $100 million to defeat candidates who are “insufficiently supportive of Israel,” according to Politico.