Oh Gawd, I can save you the sore fingers if it's helpful by saying the accusations have no effect on me. I don't do performative morality, I don't do selective moral judgement. And when I do form opinions on world events they are always formed after careful thought and analysis, for which true information from which to draw said conclusions is kind of a pre-requisite.
I'd prefer the press and world organisations didn't lie to me, but given that so many people have given them carte blanche to continue doing it, I don't see much chance of it stopping any time soon.
Just to be absolutely clear: what's happening in Gaza is tragic. As are many very tragic things happening around the world. But what saddens me more is the global circus of useful idiots who’ve helped prolong this war, not out of concern for peace, but because their hatred of Israel (and, let’s be honest, often Jews more broadly) runs so deep they'd rather fuel a global smear campaign than work toward a real solution.
There is a solution: Hamas could return the hostages and surrender. The war, and the hunger crisis, could end tomorrow if they chose to. But every person shouting “blame Israel” instead of demanding that Hamas take responsibility is doing exactly what Hamas wants. These manipulative, misleading images? They're not just dishonest, they're likely the reason Hamas walked away from the ceasefire table.
It would be forgivable if it was done in ignorance, but this group time and time again has the badic facts pointed out to them and utterly dismisses them because this is a political game for them - heck, Ive watched this group support Hezbollah, the Houthis and even Iran. Theyd accept bloody anything as long as it keeps up the momentum of hating Israel.
Hamas have Israeli hostages, right now, today. And they've learned they don’t need to negotiate in good faith, because the world keeps showing them they don’t have to. That’s what I find disappointing. Because I'm old and weary enough to understand kids, women, people are suffering horrifically all around the world and I hate the feeling of helplessness, but this is the first time I've seen the British public largely support the bloody terrorists causing it all.
I’m tired of watching people cheer on propaganda while innocent people suffer for it. So what’s bothering me is exactly what you’re demonstrating: that emotionally loaded outrage is being used to override facts, context, and truth. That framing is being used to whip up mass condemnation of one side, while suppressing uncomfortable realities about the other. That children’s corpses are being held up like weapons, stripped of medical context and individual story, to force a narrative.
You say the child’s medical condition wasn’t hidden. Then why did the original viral post crop out his healthy brother? Why was there no mention of the condition until people pointed it out? Why have multiple similar images of medically vulnerable children now been used in the same misleading way? If the story is “that he died due to siege,” then tell that story honestly - don’t sanitise the context to manufacture rage.
And yes, the image was cropped for effect. That is manipulation. When you alter how something is seen in order to provoke a reaction while omitting material context, that’s deliberate framing, especially when it keeps happening.
You ask why I focus on the “packaging” rather than the “content.” It’s because the packaging is being weaponised. If I can’t trust the image, if I can’t trust the caption, if the details are filtered to produce outrage rather than understanding, then I have to question the whole narrative. That is how disinformation works. And it’s no small matter when it fuels real-world consequences like UN votes, diplomatic pressure, and the further destabilisation of an already volatile region.
Let’s be clear: no child should ever die for lack of medical care. That should provoke grief and rage alike. But if you truly care about those children, then fight for truth, not propaganda. Because when lies and distortion take over, the people who suffer most are the very ones you claim to be defending.
IMO those kids best interests would be served far better by the BBC, the New York Times, the Guardian and the hoardes of westerners around the world if they stood up and said "HAMAS MUST RETURN THE HOSTAGES AND SURRENDER".
They started a war, did everything in their power to endanger innocent people on both sides and have openly and quite smugly declared they've enjoyed doing that and that Palestinians should just be happy being martyrs. Saying NO to that would probably bring an end to this inside of a week. Instead you've distorted their cause, and turned them into some kind of global fashion trend.