As a man-made starvation tightens its grip on Gaza, Pakistani writer and columnist Fatima Bhutto is urging the world to speak up and reject silence in the face of this man-made humanitarian catastrophe.
The crisis in Gaza has reached a horrifying level. Entire communities are being systematically deprived of food, water, and basic medical care. Starvation is not just a consequence, it’s being used as a weapon. Images of malnourished children and desperate families have become tragically common, yet the international response remains staggeringly muted.
Amid this silence, Fatima Bhutto has spoken out with urgency and clarity. In a recent video, she addresses the severity of the situation and challenges the way we speak about it. Her message is a call to conscience- for people to recognize the scale of injustice and to refuse to stay quiet.
1. This is not a famine – it’s a deliberate starvation campaign
Bhutto forcefully argues against the term “famine,” which suggests a natural disaster or misfortune. Instead, she clarifies that this is a calculated, man-made effort to deprive people, especially children, of food and survival. Drawing parallels to British colonialism in Ireland, where millions were starved and it was conveniently labeled a “famine,” Bhutto urges us to recognize how such terms are used to erase accountability. Gaza is not suffering from drought, it’s suffering from intentional deprivation.
2. Starvation of babies is a brutal reality, not just a statistic
In Gaza, infants are dying from hunger. Bhutto highlights the horrifying truth that a two-year-old child weighing just 3 kgs is a reality we must speak up about. This isn’t abstract suffering – this is targeted cruelty, reducing children’s bodies to hollow shells. She called out the problematic use of language: “five-year-old young woman” – who even references a (five-year old as a woman?) to wasting away under siege is more than tragic, it is unthinkable, and it demands collective outrage and action.
3. Gazans are receiving fewer daily calories than Auschwitz prisoners
Fatima Bhutto shares a gut-wrenching comparison: in Auschwitz, Holocaust prisoners received 1600 calories a day, already far below survival standards. In Gaza, people are reportedly getting just 1400. This chilling fact underscores the scale of dehumanization underway. It isn’t a blockade. It’s slow, systematic annihilation, hidden behind bureaucratic language and geopolitical indifference.
4. She avoids naming perpetrators, to ensure the message spreads
Bhutto deliberately withholds names in her video – not out of fear, but strategy. She wants the video to reach as many people as possible without being censored or throttled by algorithms. Her message is crystal clear: those responsible are a “criminal, criminal entity,” and the world must stop tiptoeing around that truth in the name of diplomacy or platform policy.
5. Language matters – don’t let cruelty be softened
Fatima Bhutto emphasizes how crucial it is to use the right words. Calling it a famine implies nature’s fault. Saying people “lost their lives” implies chance. But this is not passive – it is engineered. People are being murdered by bullets and hunger. Children are being starved, not simply “dying.” Sanitized language numbs our empathy and fogs our moral compass. Clarity is an act of resistance.
We don’t get to claim morality while staying silent. A world where toddlers pass away from hunger and two-year-olds weigh as much as newborns is not just broken, it’s complicit. If we turn away now, we become part of the machinery that allows this cruelty to continue. Speak up, because silence in the face of starvation is not neutrality, it’s surrender.
Source: Instagram
