The Inherent Ableism of Genocide Denial (Part I)

Contextualizing Cerebral Palsy in Gaza

Hi everyone. Today I’m starting a two part (possibly more) mini deep-dive into the impacts of Israel’s genocide on Palestinian’s living with disabilities. This week I will highlight cerebral palsy and next week I will highlight autism. The Sameer Project is working incredibly hard to support these children and their families and you can help them by donating to their Medical Campaign.

First, just a reminder to send all your money (jk almost all your money) to The Sameer Project. Hala Sabbah (one of the founders) was once again on the Millennials are Killing Capitalism Podcast (which dropped yesterday) taking about the work they are doing and the unbelievable new challenges they are facing in an already-impossible situation.

As many of you likely know, on July 24th, the NY Times published an article entitled “Gazans Are Dying of Starvation: After 21 months of devastating conflict with Israel, Gaza’s most vulnerable civilians — the young, the old and the sick — are facing what aid groups say is impending famine.” For a close reading of why this title is a form of genocide denial (and other excellent corrections to the oppression and dehumanization of passive voice when covering Palestine in legacy media spaces) please follow the work of Assal Rad and watch/listen to her on Makdisi Street last week.

In any case, as you also likely already know, the NY Times added an editorial note to the article on July 29th, writing: “This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of the article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.”

Essentially, the NY Times received push back from Zionists, who claimed that Mohammed wasn’t dying of starvation because the Zionist State was using forced starvation as a tool of genocide, but instead because Mohammed has cerebral palsy (as a note here - the Cerebral Palsy Foundation has been entirely silent on this and the horrors the Zionist State has created for people living with cp in Gaza).

Now, this back-peddling by the NY Times is both ableist (so starvation is ok for people with pre-existing conditions?????) and detached from reality (there are real medical reasons why a child with cp experiences forced starvation more acutely than a child not living with cp). In an early post here, on June 12th, I wrote that, since 2014 (when the Zionist State escalated its attacks on Gaza), there has been an increase in cases of cerebral palsy in Gaza. These numbers have skyrocketed since October 2023, due in large part to the impact of a genocide on pregnant people (see this list of causes here - the Zionist State’s chronic use of chemical weapons on a population, pregnant people experiencing physical trauma, living and giving birth in tents, etc are contributing to factors that result in an increase of cerebral palsy and other “pre-existing conditions” at birth).

Of note, none of the necessary services and support for people living with cerebral palsy are available in Gaza, such as medications to manage muscle spasticity and seizures, occupational, cognitive, speech, and language therapy, therapeutic foods that are easy to swallow, specialized wheelchairs and assistive mobility devices, etc. Last week, the Rehabilitation Sector at the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) issued a fact sheet titled: “The Reality of People with Cerebral Palsy in the Gaza Strip Amid the Genocidal War and Famine – Urgent Needs and Grave Challenges.” The author and researchers, Ahmad Al-Ghoul, explained:

“The suffering of people with cerebral palsy in Gaza is further exacerbated by the escalating famine and the complete collapse of food and medical supply chains. People with cerebral palsy, especially children, depends on a specialized diet that includes high-calorie, easy-to-swallow therapeutic products such as medical milk, nutritional supplements, and medically prepared pureed foods, all of which are now completely unavailable in both markets and health facilities due to the blockade.”

So back to that NY Times article and correction - we all know that the Zionist State is using forced starvation as an integral part of their genocide of Palestinian’s in Gaza. In fact, we have known this has been policy since 2007 both because Palestinians have been telling us this AND because the Zionist State has been bragging about it (I know I wrote about this last week but this needs to be repeated over and over). And yet the NY Times - genocidal paper that it is - is still trying to gaslight us all. It’s not working - we all know the truth because, to quote my smart friend Rebecca - “we have eyes in our fucking faces.”

So just a reminder - genocide does not impact everyone equally! Those who are most vulnerable under “normal” conditions (***note that there is no such thing as “normal conditions” under occupation) are even more vulnerable when being genocided by their occupiers. Zionists are using people with disabilities as cover for their genocide but we are not fooled - we know that what’s being done in Gaza is (among so many other factors) a disability justice issue. The Sameer Project folks know this, too - the work they do is specifically targeted towards the most vulnerable folks in Gaza, which includes and centers people with disabilities (whether they be amputees, people with cp, people with autism - more on that next week - etc).

Please donate to The Sameer Project’s Medical Campaign and tell everyone you know - the incredible work these folks are doing is beyond words.

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A few business items.

First, not a lot of money came in this week but I wanted to share the little bit I did send to The Sameer Project, along with $60 I made selling some clothes on Depop (which is also a reminder that there are so many random ways you can raise money - my friend Lida, who co-organized the book sale with me a few weeks ago, does used clothing fundraisers all the time - be creative!)

Also, please save the date for our rescheduled book club meeting on Sunday, September 7th (10am PST/1pm EST) - I know it’s early for you West coasters but I will be in Europe and I’m an old lady who turns into a pumpkin at 8pm. If you don’t mind, please let me know (in a message or comment) if you can be/plan to be there.

Lastly, my amazing comrade (and super talented artist) Lars invited me to contribute to this awesome zine:

I’ve got 20 copies - if you make a donation to The Sameer Project and send me the receipt (I recommend $20 but please send what you can and maybe way more?) I will mail you one (while they last).

Please do what you can to support mutual aid, speak up about liberation, and disrupt the business of Empire. We do this work until Palestine is free, until Sudan is free, until Congo is free, until Kashmir is free, until Turtle Island is free, until we are all free.