{"id":42990,"date":"2025-07-31T12:41:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42990"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:41:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:41:48","slug":"nyt-condemned-for-clarifying-starving-palestinian-childs-preexisting-health-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/31\/nyt-condemned-for-clarifying-starving-palestinian-childs-preexisting-health-condition\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT Condemned for Clarifying Starving Palestinian Child’s ‘Preexisting Health Condition’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\u200bMuhammad<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, an 18-month-old child in Gaza City, Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade, on July 21, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If a publication ran an editors’ note to ‘clarify’ that some portion of Nazi death camp victims had preexisting conditions, it would rightfully be accused of Holocaust denialism,” said one observer.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

JULIA CONLEY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jul 30, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the U.S. corporate media stepped up<\/a> its coverage last week of the impact Israel’s near-total blockade on Gaza<\/a> is having on Palestinians, at least 154 of whom have now starved<\/a> to death, Israeli officials zeroed in on just one of the children featured in a New York Times <\/em>report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After suggesting that his case showed reports of starvation in Gaza are overblown, they evidently managed to convince the newspaper to issue a clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times<\/em> mentioned<\/a> Atef Abu Khater, a 17-year-old whose father said he was “not responding to the treatment” he was getting for severe malnutrition, and four-month-old Yahia al-Najjar, who died on July 22 after his mother, who was subsisting on one serving or lentils or rice per day, was unable to nurse him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Israeli media and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which facilitates humanitarian aid in Gaza, focused on the story of 18-month-old Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, whose mother told the Times<\/em>, “I look at him and I can’t help but cry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I24 News <\/em>reported<\/a> Wednesday that after the story was printed, COGAT “publicized records showing the child suffered from severe preexisting medical conditions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Mutawaq was born with cerebral palsy, The Jerusalem Post <\/em>reported<\/a> Tuesday, adding that the Israeli government had uncovered another photo of the child’s family in which his older brother looked “distressed but relatively healthy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Their mother also does not appear to be suffering from any symptoms of starvation,” the outlet mused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children are most at risk for being severely impacted by hunger and starvation, and often die at twice the rate of adults, according to<\/a> the International Rescue Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As images of Al-Mutawaq’s mother holding his skeletal body were published by other outlets, the U.S.-based pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting also took notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photos, said the website, were being used “as visual proof of a humanitarian catastrophe. More than that, as proof that Israel<\/a> is deliberately starving the people of Gaza.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli officials themselves have said they are deliberately starving the people of Gaza, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying<\/a> in May that Israel would let only the “tiniest amount” of aid into the enclave so the world would “continue providing us with international protection.” International human rights groups<\/a> and experts<\/a> have assessed that Israel is carrying out a policy of deliberate starvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, HonestReporting demanded that “every outlet that promoted this false narrative must update their coverage to reflect the full truth: Mohammad has a medical condition.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late on Tuesday, the Times<\/em> appeared to respond to the outcry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to publishing an addendum to its initial reporting, the newspaper’s communications department issued an official statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It emphasized that children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, and noted that it had learned of Al-Mutawaq’s health condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We… have updated our story to add context about his preexisting health condition,” said a spokesperson. “This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In at least one case, the communications department directly responded to a pro-Israel journalist who had said photos of Al-Mutawaq did not show “the face of famine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/NYTimesPR\/status\/1950312066700779796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1950312066700779796%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fstarving-child-in-gaza<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times<\/em> did not suggest Al-Mutawaq’s health condition negated or lessened the impact of the malnutrition he is also suffering from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a number of observers were aghast at the paper’s apparent decision to appease the Israeli government and pro-Israel groups and media outlets that had suggested<\/a> reporting on Al-Mutawaq’s case was “misleading” and “playing into the hands of Hamas’ propaganda war.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If a publication ran an editors’ note to ‘clarify’ that some portion of Nazi death camp victims had preexisting conditions, it would rightfully be accused of Holocaust denialism,” said<\/a> writer Natalie Shure. “This is one of the most depraved things T<\/em>he New York Times<\/em>has ever published.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some emphasized that the news of Al-Mutawaq’s health condition hardly vindicates Israel, especially considering that the Israel Defense Forces have decimated<\/a> Gaza’s healthcare system since they began bombarding the enclave nearly 21 months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1950356208818208936&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fstarving-child-in-gaza&partner=rebelmouse&sessionId=e29e2716d471c05fc43431c41d8b04e3425a7b53&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This actually makes it even more grotesque,” said<\/a> Nathan Robinson of Current Affairs<\/em>. “Of course the first people to die have preexisting health problems. Starvation is a eugenic policy which first kills off the weakest and sickest. Israel acts like proving ‘preexisting health problems’ is a defense. It’s an indictment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some pro-Israel entities appeared to view the Times<\/em>‘ addendum and statement as something of a victory, with the right-wing news outlet The Daily Caller<\/em> writing<\/a> that the newspaper was “forced to backtrack on reporting of Gazan child after getting key element wrong.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times<\/em>‘ move didn’t stop others from criticizing the newspaper. The Instagram account Jewish Lives Matter said<\/a> the spokesperson’s statement didn’t reverse the “journalistic malpractice” the paper had committed. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said<\/a> the Times<\/em> was guilty of “blood libel”\u2014a reference to medieval antisemitic allegations<\/a> that Jewish people used the blood of Christian children in rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the Israeli government, hours after the\u00a0Times<\/em>\u00a0issued its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved on to\u00a0criticizing<\/a>\u00a0media outlets for printing photos of another emaciated child:\u00a0Osama al-Raqab<\/a>, who has cystic fibrosis in addition to suffering from malnutrition brought on by Israel’s blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JULIA CONLEY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, an 18-month-old child in Gaza City, Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade, on July 21, 2025. \u00a0(Photo: Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini\/Anadolu via Getty Images) “If a publication ran an editors’ note to ‘clarify’ that some portion… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42990"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42991,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42990\/revisions\/42991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}