🚨 The Lie of the Century: How the Wall Street Journal Covered for Genocide

They are not just denying the genocide. They are weaponizing the bodies of starved children to excuse it.

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BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE, I MUST SAY THIS…

The first people to die in EVERY FAMINE, but doubly so during the few instances of evil manmade famines like what we are seeing in Gaza right now, are babies, elders, and people with pre-existing health conditions. This is COMMON SENSE. It was true of the Holocaust of the Jews and it’s true of this Holocaust of the Palestinians.

It’s why we don’t say Anne Frank died of a pre-existing condition. She technically died of Typhoid, but why? Because she was in starvation camp without medical care - that’s why. Do Jews excuse the Nazis for the cancer patients that starved to death? Is Anne Frank not on their lists of victims? What about those with diabetes? Since Israel is now saying pre-existing conditions don’t count when people who have them starve to death, should we do a recount of the Holocaust to account for pre-existing conditions? OF COURSE NOT. Because that’s heinous and ridiculous.

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The Truth of Mohammed al-Mutawaq

The photo spread around the world like fire. A little boy — ribs and spine protruding — his body withered down to less than six kilograms. His name is Mohammed al-Mutawaq, and he is just 18 months old.

That image appeared across BBC, CNN, and The New York Times. And almost instantly, Israeli officials and their defenders launched a new attack—not on the people who starved Mohammed, but on the very idea that he had starved at all.

They claimed the photo was a lie. That he had pre-existing conditions. That he was sick — not starving.

But Middle East Eye found Hidaya, Mohammed’s mother, and sat with her in the rubble. And she told the truth.

“When the war on Gaza began, I was seven months pregnant… He was born in December 2023, at the height of the attacks and during the second month of the first starvation campaign.”

Mohammed was born into siege. Into famine. Into a world without food or medicine. He had muscle weakness at birth, but he began to crawl. To stand. To speak. Then his father was killed. The formula disappeared. The food vanished.

“They told me his only treatment was food. Milk. Eggs. Fruit. He’s never even tasted fruit.”

She tried to soothe him with water. She pressed her ear to his chest to see if his heart was still beating. And now his photo has been used to discredit her.

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The Most Insidious Lie — "They Weren’t Starved, They Had Pre-Existing Conditions"

This is the lie. The new official line. That Gaza’s starving children aren’t starving — they’re just ill.

The propagandists are saying: They died of cerebral palsy. Of cystic fibrosis. Of genetic disorders. Not from the siege. Not from the blockade. Not from the bombs.

But this is not how famine works.

In every famine, the weakest die first. Infants. The sick. The disabled. Elders. Anyone who depends on specialized care, or dietary supplements, or refrigeration, or medication.

Would we say the Nazis didn’t starve Anne Frank because she had tuberculosis? Would we say her death doesn’t count?

It’s obscene. It’s insulting. And it’s designed to create doubt — to introduce just enough confusion so people turn away.

Before the siege, no one in Gaza looked like this. Not Zainab. Not Rahaf. Not Atef. Not Mohammed.

They were killed by starvation.

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You Cannot Blame the UN — While Bombing the UN

Fischberger’s piece tries to shift the blame to the United Nations. He says the UN won’t deliver food. That aid trucks sit baking in the sun because UN staff refuse to act.

But here’s what he doesn’t say:

Israel has killed 236 UN staff since October 7 — the highest toll in UN history. It has bombed UNRWA schools, food warehouses, aid convoys, and offices. It has publicly accused UN workers of harboring terrorists — without evidence. It has pressured allied governments to suspend all UNRWA funding. And it has denied safety guarantees for humanitarian routes.

The UN is not unwilling. It is being systematically dismantled.

UN workers are still begging for access. They are still on the ground. They are still trying to deliver food — and dying in the process. To blame them for the starvation in Gaza is like blaming firefighters for a house they weren’t allowed to enter.

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The Propagandist Behind the Lie

His name is Eitan Fischberger. And he didn’t write an investigative report. He wrote a narrative. A state-aligned press piece.

He has no background in famine relief, nutrition science, or war crimes law. He is an American-Israeli commentator who took a government-guided tour through Gaza, then wrote that the photos of dying babies are propaganda.

He claims Mohammed wasn’t starving because he had cerebral palsy. That Osama wasn’t starving because he had cystic fibrosis. That mothers who looked "fed" are proof their children aren’t dying. That the UN would rather work with Hamas than deliver food.

This isn’t journalism. It’s disinformation — wrapped in the legitimacy of the Wall Street Journal. And it’s dangerous.

Because genocide always needs a press corps. Always has.

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The Law, The Medicine, and the Receipts

International law is clear:

"Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited." — Geneva Conventions, Protocol I, Article 54

Israel has:

• Bombed bakeries

• Blocked baby formula

• Destroyed water infrastructure

• Cut off fuel needed for food storage

• Deliberately withheld aid

• Admitted its intent to hold civilians accountable

This is not alleged. It is documented policy. It meets the legal threshold for war crimes.

Medically, what we see in Gaza is unmistakable:

• Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)

• Dehydration

• Muscle wasting

• Inability to hold up the head

• Immune collapse

Fischberger ignores all of this. He doesn’t cite a single expert. He doesn’t engage with the legal framework. He cites a Twitter post from COGAT and a random report from a charity — while entire hospitals in Gaza scream that this is a famine.

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Line-by-Line — The Lie Machine in Action

He writes: “Mohammed suffers from cerebral palsy.”

And yet his mother says he crawled. Stood. Spoke. Until the milk was gone. Until the food was gone. Until Israel bombed their home.

He writes: “The UN refused to do the job.”

And yet the UN is still begging for access — even as Israel kills their staff and denies permits.

He writes: “There is no historical precedent for a military providing the level of direct aid to an enemy population that Israel has provided to Gaza.”

And yet over 100 children are confirmed dead from starvation. Thousands more are wasting away. Gaza’s entire food system has been erased. And Israeli ministers have bragged about it.

That’s not humanitarianism. That’s collective punishment.

He writes: “These images are misleading.”

And yet Mohammed is real. His body is real. His mother is real. Her grief is not a lie.

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You Will Not Gaslight the World

We’ve seen this before. In Rwanda. In Bosnia. In the Warsaw Ghetto. And now — in Gaza.

The lies always follow the killing.

But this time, the images are too clear. The witnesses too many. The truth too loud.

You can publish your headlines. You can print your accusations. But you cannot erase the bones of a child.

And you cannot stop us from telling his story.

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Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun King