Genocide By Starvation: Israel And Canada’s Shared Crime

 

Canada starved Indigenous children, and is now failing to prevent history from repeating itself in Gaza.

I remain haunted by the memory of holding a starving child in my arms.

This memory from a few months ago is more visceral than intellectual — the tactile sensation of her marasmus skin on my fingertips was the texture of an ancient papyrus, too delicate to touch without disintegrating in my hands. Her body, totally devoid of subcutaneous fat, lay still — emaciated and limp as I examined her, a deep sense of dread rising in my chest.  

She was too dehydrated to cry and too malnourished to panic. I remember her large, steady eyes, observing without emotion — sheer exhaustion had given her an air of age and wisdom. She was other-worldly in her presentation: incompatible with life, yet alive. 

Few health-care providers in Canada will experience an encounter like this in their practice. Indigenous communities face staggering levels of food insecurity; however, starvation is uncommon, and medical management for it is complicated. Refeeding after severe malnutrition can trigger fatal shifts in fluids and electrolytes, so it requires intense monitoring and caution. 

It also requires experience, and as a family physician working alone in an Indigenous community, I needed guidance. Thus, I reached out to a physician colleague who, due to years spent providing medical care in Gaza, had expertise in this matter.

Israeli-imposed hunger has long tormented the 2.1 million Palestinians living in Gaza, almost half of whom are children. For nearly 18 years, Israel has maintained total control over Gaza through an illegal blockade that has included limiting the calorie count allowed per person at times. Over the past 19 months, this daily reality has devolved into an unmitigated catastrophe.  (more...)

Genocide By Starvation: Israel And Canada’s Shared Crime