Doctors Without Borders and Sinister Intent
Humanitarian organizations such as Doctors Without Borders wield significant influence. Their work on the ground in conflict and disaster sites earns them both respect and credibility. To maintain that credibility and use it responsibly, it’s important that they stick to measured, fact-based reporting.
So I was both surprised and dismayed when Doctors Without Borders recently released an opinion piece on their website and social media claiming that the Gaza ceasefire is “Structural violence by another name.” It goes on to tell of numerous harms Gaza residents are continuing to suffer even though the ceasefire is in effect.
Many of the specific military actions their article attributes to Israel have not been widely reported and are therefore difficult to corroborate. The article also makes no effort to examine the context of Israel’s actions or to account for the many possible reasons why the Israeli military may have acted despite the ceasefire. It also holds Israel completely responsible for all problems in Gaza, with no consideration of the role of Hamas.
But I want to focus on an even more troubling form of bias. The most revealing feature of the article is not its one-sided criticism of Israel, but that it repeatedly attributes sinister motives to Israel, and presents the most morally damning interpretation of events as established fact.
The article begins by calling the ceasefire, “a continuation of the genocide, calibrated to be violent enough to keep Palestinians suffering every day, yet silent enough to avoid stirring international outrage.” Without even going into the use of the hotly disputed term genocide, they seem to be accusing Israel of maintaining a level of violence for the explicit purpose of causing suffering, while also cynically keeping the level of violence low enough to avoid international pushback.
The level of depravity Doctors Without Borders is accusing Israel of is stunning, and tellingly they include no source or evidence to back it up. Isn’t it possible current military operations are what Israeli leaders believe is necessary to stop Hamas from rearming? And maybe Israel is holding the level of violence at the current, relatively low, level because it believes that is all that’s necessary to achieve its security goals, and it does not want to inflict gratuitous suffering? Doctors Without Borders simply disregards this.
The article then states, “Sudden and arbitrary orders for people to flee their homes and shelters continue to be used as a tool of psychological warfare by Israeli forces.” Again, they present no source or evidence that Israel intends these orders as a tool of psychological warfare.
Doctors Without Borders does not even consider that maybe the orders are not arbitrary, but rather based on Israel’s military intelligence. And perhaps they are sudden because of the rapidly changing nature of that intelligence, such that even the short delay given for civilians to evacuate risks Israel’s ability to use that intelligence successfully? One can always argue that the warnings given by Israel’s military are not adequate, or that strikes it carries out are disproportionate to the civilian harm they cause. But it’s a giant leap from that to saying that warnings are being intentionally used as a psychological weapon.
At the end, the article states, “As an occupying power, the Israeli state has an obligation under international law to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to aid. . . Instead, aid continues to be used as an instrument of oppression.” Apparently, they are accusing Israel of somehow using control over aid as a means of subjugating Palestinians.
But there are numerous other issues here which Doctors Without Borders ignores. First, Israel is adamant that sufficient aid is in fact entering the strip. Second, even the UN has finally admitted that Hamas is stealing aid, which Doctors Without Borders omits. Israel also has very good reasons for policing aid, such as to prevent the smuggling of weapons or the aid being diverted to Hamas. One could of course argue that Israel’s handling of Gaza aid has been too restrictive, but that’s a far cry from saying those restrictions are intended as a means of subjugation.
Doctors Without Borders says that advocacy on behalf of its patients is part and parcel of its mission. It would do that best by simply describing the situation it sees and the needs which must be met. Claims of deliberate sadism, psychological warfare, or oppression only poison its relationship with Israel and make it harder for Doctors Without Borders to have any productive interactions with the Israeli government.
By questioning the motives of Israel, Doctors Without Borders opens itself up to questions about its own motives. Is it really just trying to help its patients, or is it pursuing an anti-Israel agenda instead?
