A lot of you are angry at me. I wish you weren't. But the hunger crisis in Gaza is real, and I feel an obligation to comment on it, even if I may do so in a way I know many readers won't like.
Alex, I sure wish people didn't feel the need to choose one article and complain to you about your writing. I follow you for exactly this reason, you seem to be a fair broker of information. I do not agree with you on all of your writings but I do appreciate the view points that help me frame my opinions in a more informed light. Please keep writing from your heart. We NEED your type of writing so we can escape the echo chambers the "algo" feeds us on other social media.
Well, no. Many of us PAY for the right to disagree with Alex. And Substack exists so people can say what they want. I think Alex probably is at least partly right this time, but he has to put up with people disagreeing with him, too.
While that may be the case, I know I have written respectful disagreements in this comments section, and it appears to this reader that some of the comments may have crossed a line that exists in Alex’s head, which set off some alarm bells such that he thought he had better communicate about it today. I think it’s important to make an attempt to understand where he’s coming from in this instance. Maybe respectful disagreement is the operative phrase?
I highly value his writing and professionalism, in addition to valuing the enjoyment obtained from engaging with the many astute commenters on this site.
That would be the goal. However, as a writer (and I am), if I were writing a blog, I'd expect all kinds of comments and all kinds of tones. That's the nature of the beast as the free speech advocate he is (and I am). I think Alex is thick skinned enough to take it and we don't have to protect him. We/I also compliment him plenty. :) I don't think any bad comments are going to silence Alex. Or he needs defending.
I think he does, as a general rule, expect all kinds of comments and tones. This time appears to be different somehow. I don’t think he shies away from negative comments either. For some reason, it feels like this time is an outlier, and maybe I am totally off base. I interpreted the tone as differing from the norm. I don’t consider support to be the same as defense, and if I came off that way, it was not my intent. Thanks for your reply.
Well, Alex doesn't like to get TOO many bad comments. But he's tough. I think he's at least partially on base. I am not sure a lot of this stuff about poor treatment in Gaza isn't the left crazy bias, but it seemed even Trump was a bit concerned that food wasn't getting to these people. And a mistake with Israel bombing that church and not letting Christians visit.. But some of this anti-Israel stuff is nuts, too. I wasn't criticizing you, just saying he'll have to take it. :)
I wish the IDF explained itself better. Often for security and tactical reasons they have to keep their mouths shut. Was the church area seeded with mines or IED? We don't know, do we? Were there Pali snipers waiting for returnees on the roofs of nearby buildings. Faraway civilians should ALWAYS give the army in the middle of a real-ass WAR (such as most of us have never seen) the benefit of the doubt.
Alex is a big boy who can take a little rough and tumble. Why, I wouldn't even be surprised if he's been in a bar fight, as anyone with red blood in their veins has
I hope Alex looks at articles like this. He has been fair minded but when he (is/may be?) getting his news from anti-Israel sources it would be like getting covid news from Fauci:
“Israel has given a tour of a large storage site within Gaza containing what it claims to be 1,000 lorries-worth of aid that the United Nations (UN) has failed to deliver…”
I agree. However, I do think AB should've made a counter-point (at least acknowledge it) that if people are starving to death in Gaza, at what point are they starving so bad that they release the hostages.
I don't have a real dog in the fight. But it seems to me that acknowledging this would allow AB a more thorough (and less one-sided) argument.
It seems fair to me to cite your sources of information on the starvation in Gaza. I simply don't trust photos or articles in The New York Times, BBC, or CNN. And really, given your excellent reporting on facts they miss or misstate, neither should you. So, independent of those highly suspect news sources, where did you get your information? (Please, please, don't say the United Nations.) Those who've suggested in the comments that you should go to Israel and Gaza and investigate have a solid point. I subscribe because I want to support and applaud your independent reporting. I don't want your opinion based on what you've read elsewhere.
I agree 100%. My son was a reservist after October 7th. It was his third time in a war fighting for Israel's existence. He saw in real time the food trucks going into Gaza a d being hijacked by Hamas. I wa t to pose a question to Alex. Why has Egypt not spied food, or food drops from. Other terrorist countries that support Hamas. Since when is it the responsibility of a nation at war to feed their opponents? The world puts this responsibility only on Israel. No other country being attacked currently has to supply water and
food to its enemies.
In addition, Alex, if you read this look at a website called MEMRI.COM. There is a large section on Pallywood. The use of actors to portray victims are used to pull on people's heartstrings. I think you fell prey to their productions.
The timing of tbe article also came out when Macron choose to give the terrorists statehood. The world has focus only on Jews. Nary a word about the Druze. Isreal is taking them in and providing safety from ISIS slaughter and no one cares. Nigerian Christians are beheaded worshipping in a Chuch and not a whisper about that. Its just "dem Jews!" Dayanu! Enough! With friends who do not vet the massive propaganda war against the West, and it is about tbe West, we will be living under a Caliphate in the next 20 years. Please don't facilitate this.
I don't mind differering of opinions however I do mind falling into the starving children food trap.
Fantastic reply, er....Allysonrt. I love all of it particularly the real moral kicker: "Since when is it the responsibility of a nation at war to feed their opponents? The world puts this responsibility only on Israel. No other country being attacked currently has to supply water and food to its enemies."
None of the hoity-toity observers from the NYT or the BBC seem struck with that peculiarity, that Israel is expected to take care of Hamas's civs better than Hamas does.
What a valuable comment. You know, I expect biased or lazy reporting from the mainstream media, especially on Israel. They love to pile on the anti-Israel bandwagon. I think it's why I'm so disappointed to read Alex's post. I don't believe for a second that he is biased. But I do believe - until he demonstrates otherwise - that he settled for regurgitating other people's lazy reporting. Thank you for your post!
Alex, I subscribe because I believe you are an independent reporter and I appreciate you, even if I don’t totally agree. My problem with the article is that it seemed to me you were doing your independent reporting from sources that are not independent and very low credibility with always an agenda. If I were an independent investigative journalist, I would have stay on the sidelines of this one until I was able to verify the real facts
Bruce, I am awaiting Alex's response to the legitimate question of what sources he based his post on. If he tells us he personally interviewed objective observers on the ground in Israel and Gaza before reaching his conclusions, great.
Yes, that would be great and kind of what I expect from Alex. It’s a complicated issue to get your arms around and lay out all the facts. Thanks, Dean.
Alex, it would be nice if you addressed the issue raised by your readers. I, along with many others, objected to the fact that, regardless of wartime suffering, Hamas STILL holds hostages. Whether Israel is allowing too much or too little by way of supplies is a matter for debate, but until the hostilities completely end, there is still a war going on and Hamas shows little sign of capitulating--regardless of how many suffer.
Sadly, almost no one is looking at the situation with even a half-clear mind. Israel is not obligated under the international law of war to feed the enemy population. Egypt could have but outright refused - and got away with it. This is the first time when civilians are not allowed to leave the war zone, unlike Syrians, Ukrainians, others. So how do you win the war when the enemy is practically everywhere, embedded within a very dense civilian population fortified by miles of military underground tunnels that cover the entire Gaza. Only Israel is forced to resupply such enemy that continues to kill its soldiers for nearly 2 years because Gazans are Hamas! And yet the original article was pointing a finger at Netanyahu who won’t admit that what Israel is doing is occupation. Israel used to occupy Gaza but I wonder if Mr. Berenson even knows why Gaza was occupied by Israel in the first place.
And I wonder if Mr. Berenson, whose knowledge of conflict history seems to be very shallow, knew that one person in the top Israeli government sounded a warning about what would happen if Israel removed (at the point of a gun and by force) the Israeli settlers from Gaza.
Israel did the great Gaza withdrawal (at considerable social and financial cost to itself) in 2005 because the international community assured us that all Hamas wanted was land to itself and peace would descend. Netanyahu warned that the only result would be a "Hamastan" next door. Guess who was right? I'm inclined to trust Netanyahu's instincts on when to pull IDF troops out now
Mr. Berenson is certainly not able to swim in this water, and some of his readers’ comments are shaped by the nonsense and propaganda they absorb from “reputable sources” and fueled by their own prejudice and ignorance. And I won’t pay for that, that’s for sure.
What I also can’t stand is putting Israel against its bellicose neighbors, ignoring history, and asserting that “if Israel did this or that,” things would have been different.
Netanyahu vociferously opposed Gaza withdrawal and demanded a referendum to determine if this was the will of the people. The referendum ended with 65% of the voters against the disengagement plan, which Sharon ignored. Netanyahu and Sharansky resigned from the government in protest. He then famously said, “Don’t give the Palestinians guns, don't give them rockets, don't give them a sea port, and don't give them a huge base for terror.”
Hamas has a long record, going back as far back as I remember, of endangering its own civilians to manipulate world opinion.
Anyone writing about the conflict should first rule out the "Is Hamas actually causing this catastrophe?" factor.
THEN you can go into the "what Israel could do better" part.
If you segue right into the Hamas PR with a headline like "The Famine is Israel's Fault" you are falling for Hamas PR and aiding Hamas (which follows America's media scrupulously.) You're telling Hamas, in effect, "Hey! This famine thing, especially the photos of the Darfur babies is going over great! We gotta keep this up!" And you are going to immediately lose trust with the highly educated people who read Alex's (until now excellent) substack. (I bought all six--I'm counting the booklets--of Alex's CoVid books.)
On the subject of photographs, having lived and worked as a reporter in the area I know that the great majority of stringers supplying photos to outlets like the Times, AP, AFP and so on, are local Palestinians, and that many of them--a fact the NYTimes apparently doesn't care about as I found out--also work for government-run propaganda outlets and express virulently anti-Israel views, in Arabic of course, on their own websites.
Where did the Darfur baby (as I call it)--which appeared on the NYT's landing screen--come from? I'm willing to bet big money that Hamas' Ministry of Information (a very-well-funded organization, by the way, that fifteen years ago was offering a director a salary of $100K) shuttled the photog right over to that woman's house. Often people appearing in photographs or as the lead quote are, like, someone's mother-in-law. Photographers, like reporters, are lazy. They know what editors are looking for (carnage!!), they look around until they find it and then go home for a beer.
Evidence of Hamas's murderous impulses towards its own civilians (they sell civilian's endangerment as "shaheedism") is everywhere.
To start with, why didn't Hamas invite all of Gaza's children to shelter in the terror tunnels where Hamas operatives waited out the war in relative safety?
Even through a famine that may or not be real (and if it is real is certainly orchestrated by Hamas) Hamas soldiers (what's left of them) are still whooping it up, as seen in this quasi-recruiting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWCtS0OXY_s,
Remember when the IDF captured a bunch of Hamas soldiers and lined them up in their skivvies to ID and process them? (And no, stripping them to their skivvies is not done to humiliate them; it's a way to ensure they're not wired up for, say, remote bomb detonation.) Ewwwwwww. It was manboob and hanging gut city. The "freedom fighters" were both out-of-shape and fat.....and they certainly weren't starving....
@Julia- it does. But Isreal is making things tough for the food to get the people. I most certainly put most of the blame on Hamas. They don't value life like we do so their citizens, children included, are expendable to make a political point.
I was being sarcastic. Please note - it is Israel, not Isreal, Kitty. Israel has no obligation to feed the enemy population. You put most of the blame on Hamas? Well, that is comforting. IDF would not have been in Gaza if Gazans did not invade the south of Israel. Then there are Hezbollah from the north, who attacked on October 8, resulting in nearly 60,000 Israelis not being able to live in their homes. Then Houthis, PA and other Jihadi fractions from Judea and Samaria who commit terrorist attacks weekly, and violence on the border with Syria. Who is paying for all this? The UN? Europe? Egypt, who? How is it that the world is not outraged at the violence committed against Israel but continues to complain about the Gazans??
@Julia- oh, I'm with you on all of that. So many people here in America are whining and I tell them "Hamas is using their own people as pawns because they don't have the same view of life we do. They figure "If they die. we can always make more." And yes- I'm a good speller but Israel is always one of those words that NEVER comes out right.
by the way, the Darfur baby is not actually suffering from a lack of food related malady. The use of that baby is a fraud: See my substack https://substack.com/home/post/p-169384119
(2) wow. no wonder Richard was mad. He produced a movie in 2005 titled "Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources", which I seem to have missed entirely. (I was racing to finish my Israel book at that time though.)
Geez if you only wrote things I already agreed with, then what would be the point of reading your posts. . . if I only want to reinforce the views I already hold, rather than be challenged and learn, I guess I could just talk to myself in the mirror.
I feel like I'm still learning about the great CoVid scam. There Alex was in his element, as a reporter for years on Big Pharma. But on The Conflict (as we long-time Middle East people call it)....Nope. Why does everyone thnk they should be opining on this if they just have....some thoughts....based on, like, reading the newspaper.
What happened here is that apparently Alex has readers who know much, much more about The Conflict than Alex. I'm impressed with the knowledge on display in these comment threads. One reader for instance has a son in the reserves. The son won't know everything but his ground-level data is more valuable than most of the third party newspaper garbage. There's a reason why one of the first rules of reporting is "Go There."
One really should know what one's talking about. Because this isn't a parlor game. This isn't a school debate. Lives are at stake here. Lives are endangered, quite concretely, (If you'd like to know how, I'll explain) by the dissemination of false anti-Israel statements like "Israel is causing famine in Gaza." You have a grave responsibility to present what Carl Bernstein called "the best obtainable version of the truth." That's why pieces about The Conflict can't be just dashed off.
Stephanie, you have simply laid out the reason I subscribe even though I do not always agree with Alex. He has a highly and broadly educated and informed readership and their comments, alone, are worth the cost of the subscription. I learn as much from the comments as from the articles. Thanks to all who take time to comment and share their views.
Here, you were not right with the facts. And what is so upsetting is that we (I) really trust you to be right with the facts. And when you flub that, in addition to the self-righteous, censorious tone you took, it really hurts. Take a look at the Israeli aid trucks lined up inside the border that the UN won't move to distribute. Take a look at the work of the Gaza Humanitarian foundation .Consider what Hamas gains by blocking aid, since they have shown themselves time and time again willing to sacrifice their own population to gain international sympathy and whip up anti-Israeli sentiment (that you became a participant in this is rather devastating). OK, enough, namaste.
Ehem. There is a difference between good reporting and spreading propaganda, and the difference is not a matter of opinion. The sources you cited and your own interpretation of "occupation" is not good reporting, simple as that.
You misread the room. For the most part we aren’t angry at you, we just think you took the lazy route in not addressing the whole of the issue and defaulted to the easy target of Israel, Israel, Israel.
I would say that he does this more than people realize. I have been a reader and subscriber since the beginning. I followed him PRE-COVID. My main area where I see his laziness that has bugged me since the beginning is his frequent statements about the poor quality of healthcare in the US. His only support for this is “lower life expectancy” of other developed nations. He does this because the main stream media use this and infant mortality as the primary measures they measure the US against other nations. The problem with these measures are that they are very poor measures of the heathcare quality of any country because demographics (for example higher black populations, which have lower life expectancy regardless of socioeconomic status and MUCH higher rates infant mortality, gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, etc, again independent of socioeconomic status) and cultural differences (obesity, drug use, smoking rates, sedentary lifestyles, suicide, violent crime, etc) ALL have a big effect on both measures, and likely bigger than the healthcare system alone. He has NEVER done a deep dive into disease specific outcome which DO demonstrate excellent care in the US. While I agree care costs too much in the US, the constant harangue from Alex about how poor our healthcare is should be established with facts, otherwise we cannot have the fair and honest debate about the problems he loves to point out because we don’t accept the same starting premises based on good factual foundation
Um, er yes. IF they've done the work. If they just pull opinions and "facts" out of their XXX, then, no. I don't see the "desperate need" for any more ignorant (though well-meaning) opining in this over-saturated world
Like many on this site I choose to follow and track your work because it matters…even as it sometimes leaves me uncomfortable. But there is a simple truth often neglected in these debates. Hamas can make it end today by surrendering to the superior force rather than continue to use its followers as fodder. Return hostages, dead and alive. Renounce the violence. End the terrorism.
Alex, I don't believe I've ever responded to any of your posts ( except to re-up). I thoroughly appreciate your insight and honesty even when it hurts. I am an unapologetic supporter of Israel but if indeed you are right, then it needs to be addressed. If it is the remnants of Hammas doing what they've always done with food shipments, then that needs to be addressed. No one wants to see children suffer but Hamas and the parents of these children own this.
If you’re really a supporter of Israel then I would assume you follow to at least some degree Israeli news and politics. Your comments sound like this is all new info to you
Thanks for listening to us your loyal readers. And I still contend that the whole Israel Middle East issue is nothing but quick sand for you. There is no one telling us the truth about that part of the world There however is one truth about the Middle East issue it’s where empires go to die as they attempt to unravel the deep hatred’s that make up their culture. Rome couldn’t do it. Britain couldn’t do it and America isn’t going to do it either. The proper American response is to tell the Israeli government that in 10 years they will be on their own. No more American tax dollars. If they want to buy American weapons it’s cash upfront Israel is a wealthy country with a thriving economy and they can afford to defend themselves
Read Commentary and Tablet. You may not agree with everything they say, but they will offer an important perspective and counter to the mainstream narrative which has proven, time and again, to be false.
That's a really lousy idea. The middle east would be an ok place, if it weren't for islam which is a cult of unabashed hatred. 'What is the GREATEST DEED a man can do for allah?' asked a follower of the prophet. 'To KILL FOR ALLAH is the greatest deed,' said the prophet. These two lines are the essence of islam. 500 million to 800 million is the number of people around the world, estimated to have been slaughtered by moslems in the last 1500 years. Not all people share a yearning for reason and peace, just talk to a moslem.
I called you out for failing to do your job of investigative reporting. On Covid you dig… clearly on the Gaza issue you did not.
I am glad I supported your lawsuit by subscribing. But I will not pay for shoddy journalism. And, unfortunately, that’s what your piece was. I know for a fact, not my opinion, that Israel sends food, goods and supplies to Hamas-controlled areas that are usurped by Hamas and never reach the people. If the people in Gaza are being deprived of food , it is not Israel who should be blamed. Where are your “receipts”…. We can disagree on opinion, but you call your Substack “truth”. Not this time.
Elise- I am asking this sincerely because I am trying to figure this out- how do you know for a fact as you say? What are your sources? Can you link them here?
I know former and current IDF soldiers. I also follow Amir from Behold Israel. I suggest you follow him. I also subscribe to news sources and ministries that have people on the ground there.
Israel has nothing to hide. They invite scrutiny on this issue. Fact is… Hamas killed many citizens and still has hostages.I have read interviews of the hostages.. they were brutally treated if they lived. Most did not. I would ask Alex to rethink and investigate.
Alex, not in any way mad at you for having a different opinion or analysis than my own! Fuggetaboutit!
Who are these people who want you to be disingenuous? It’s the gold standard! Just tell me how you see things, be genuine and I will be interested in what you have to say. 😊
Eric, I'm not asking Alex to be disingenuous. I'm asking him to be accurate and not fall for the propaganda put out by Hamas and echoed by mainstream news organizations that he, himself, have shown to be anything but reliable on topics such as COVID-19. Why would he trust those same news organizations to tell the facts of what's happening in Gaza and who is to blame?
Please look into WHO has always used innocent Gazans as pawns, cannon fodder, ‘collateral damage’ (not really the right term because Hamas WANTS injured, starving, killed innocents… )
Nobody wants to see people starving in Gaza. That’s not a controversial statement. Nor is the idea that if you broke it, you own it.
The controversy is over who broke it, and what will fix it. Hamas broke it. Their surrender and the return of the hostages would end the problem tomorrow.
But that’s not what you concluded. Instead, you downplayed Hamas culpability and hinted that anyone who doesn’t blame Israel is OK with starving children. And had the audacity to present this take as bravery on your part.
I felt the same way. The investigation of Fauci took five years, the teardown of the state of zisrael took a few months of blatant propaganda. I am disappointed that a need to express this position was done without really knowing how well tbe enemy is playing this narrative. Free tbe hostages, pork chops for all!
Im not so SURE if HAMAS said they surrender and return the hostages it ENDS. Maybe so, but I am not so sure given what history has shown for literally 1000s of years in the middle east. Just wayyyyyy too many INFLATED EGOS, and zealots who cannot accept others having a personal belief system. I would like to believe the mission statement-charter of IRAN, and the proxies they fund around Israel could move past not WANTING to KILL all Jewish people or infidels in general and remove Israel from the face of the earth, but isn't that a tad delusional? Not saying you are insinuating it all all, but simply saying.
I agree more than I don't for sure :) Just such over the TOP religious zealots who have NO ROOM for human life on the planet that does NOT agree with their belief system. The radical FACTION that is and it's not small
Is there starvation going on in Gaza ? not sure. Is this due to an IDF policy that prevents the distribution of food to the 'starving' Gazans? not sure. Left 'news' outlets say it's a systematic operation to intentionally kill all Gazans and look at these tragic and horrific pictures --- unverified pictures, unverified reports - by the Gaza Health Ministry. The Communist Broadcasting Corp in Canada reports every 2nd morning "10 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" and "17 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" and "5 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" --- just on its face, why is the IDF killing innocent Gazans trying to obtain food. This isn't fog of war - this is disreputable and disingenuous 'reporting'. We don't know the truth, nor do you - so some humility may be in order. Oh, one last thing - look at ALL the other middle east nations stepping up to stop these atrocious actions...ya crickets
The Gaza Health Ministry has been caught out for decades propagating whoppers. They are a propaganda wing of Hamas. News organizations have taken to tacking on "The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilian and fighter casualties" but that is as far as the AP et al will go. It's very hard to "balance" a piece when one side lies its pants off, and controls its press and populace so that alternative facts rarely leak out, which is why the MSM keeps printing Gaza Health Ministry swill.
At times, for instance, the GHM reported women and children casualties for regions which weren't even populated enough to produce those kinds of casualties...that kind of thing. And then there was the famous "ooops-we-said-the-IDF-hit-our-hospital-but-I-guess-it-must-have-been-us" incident last year
Excellent point. It’s extremely difficult, dare I say impossible, to really and truly know what is or is not happening. There may be some people posting that are actually there, but again, we have to take a leap of faith in order to trust their reporting. Is it accurate? I cannot answer that question. Unfortunately I have become very skeptical of most reporting since the whole WMD debacle during the time of Bush the younger.
Alex, I sure wish people didn't feel the need to choose one article and complain to you about your writing. I follow you for exactly this reason, you seem to be a fair broker of information. I do not agree with you on all of your writings but I do appreciate the view points that help me frame my opinions in a more informed light. Please keep writing from your heart. We NEED your type of writing so we can escape the echo chambers the "algo" feeds us on other social media.
Well, no. Many of us PAY for the right to disagree with Alex. And Substack exists so people can say what they want. I think Alex probably is at least partly right this time, but he has to put up with people disagreeing with him, too.
While that may be the case, I know I have written respectful disagreements in this comments section, and it appears to this reader that some of the comments may have crossed a line that exists in Alex’s head, which set off some alarm bells such that he thought he had better communicate about it today. I think it’s important to make an attempt to understand where he’s coming from in this instance. Maybe respectful disagreement is the operative phrase?
I highly value his writing and professionalism, in addition to valuing the enjoyment obtained from engaging with the many astute commenters on this site.
That would be the goal. However, as a writer (and I am), if I were writing a blog, I'd expect all kinds of comments and all kinds of tones. That's the nature of the beast as the free speech advocate he is (and I am). I think Alex is thick skinned enough to take it and we don't have to protect him. We/I also compliment him plenty. :) I don't think any bad comments are going to silence Alex. Or he needs defending.
I think he does, as a general rule, expect all kinds of comments and tones. This time appears to be different somehow. I don’t think he shies away from negative comments either. For some reason, it feels like this time is an outlier, and maybe I am totally off base. I interpreted the tone as differing from the norm. I don’t consider support to be the same as defense, and if I came off that way, it was not my intent. Thanks for your reply.
Well, Alex doesn't like to get TOO many bad comments. But he's tough. I think he's at least partially on base. I am not sure a lot of this stuff about poor treatment in Gaza isn't the left crazy bias, but it seemed even Trump was a bit concerned that food wasn't getting to these people. And a mistake with Israel bombing that church and not letting Christians visit.. But some of this anti-Israel stuff is nuts, too. I wasn't criticizing you, just saying he'll have to take it. :)
I didn’t think you were criticizing me at all. I agree with your comments. I appreciate the response. I enjoy the discussion.
I wish the IDF explained itself better. Often for security and tactical reasons they have to keep their mouths shut. Was the church area seeded with mines or IED? We don't know, do we? Were there Pali snipers waiting for returnees on the roofs of nearby buildings. Faraway civilians should ALWAYS give the army in the middle of a real-ass WAR (such as most of us have never seen) the benefit of the doubt.
Alex is a big boy who can take a little rough and tumble. Why, I wouldn't even be surprised if he's been in a bar fight, as anyone with red blood in their veins has
I've never been in a bar fight. Ever. Too much beer, Stephanie?
I hope Alex looks at articles like this. He has been fair minded but when he (is/may be?) getting his news from anti-Israel sources it would be like getting covid news from Fauci:
“Israel has given a tour of a large storage site within Gaza containing what it claims to be 1,000 lorries-worth of aid that the United Nations (UN) has failed to deliver…”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/07/25/israel-gives-tour-of-un-aid-left-rotting-in-gaza/
I totally agree with Jeff.
I agree. However, I do think AB should've made a counter-point (at least acknowledge it) that if people are starving to death in Gaza, at what point are they starving so bad that they release the hostages.
I don't have a real dog in the fight. But it seems to me that acknowledging this would allow AB a more thorough (and less one-sided) argument.
I agree 100%. I subscribe precisely BECAUSE you write pieces that contain hard truths, even if I dont always agree with every word.
It seems fair to me to cite your sources of information on the starvation in Gaza. I simply don't trust photos or articles in The New York Times, BBC, or CNN. And really, given your excellent reporting on facts they miss or misstate, neither should you. So, independent of those highly suspect news sources, where did you get your information? (Please, please, don't say the United Nations.) Those who've suggested in the comments that you should go to Israel and Gaza and investigate have a solid point. I subscribe because I want to support and applaud your independent reporting. I don't want your opinion based on what you've read elsewhere.
I agree 100%. My son was a reservist after October 7th. It was his third time in a war fighting for Israel's existence. He saw in real time the food trucks going into Gaza a d being hijacked by Hamas. I wa t to pose a question to Alex. Why has Egypt not spied food, or food drops from. Other terrorist countries that support Hamas. Since when is it the responsibility of a nation at war to feed their opponents? The world puts this responsibility only on Israel. No other country being attacked currently has to supply water and
food to its enemies.
In addition, Alex, if you read this look at a website called MEMRI.COM. There is a large section on Pallywood. The use of actors to portray victims are used to pull on people's heartstrings. I think you fell prey to their productions.
The timing of tbe article also came out when Macron choose to give the terrorists statehood. The world has focus only on Jews. Nary a word about the Druze. Isreal is taking them in and providing safety from ISIS slaughter and no one cares. Nigerian Christians are beheaded worshipping in a Chuch and not a whisper about that. Its just "dem Jews!" Dayanu! Enough! With friends who do not vet the massive propaganda war against the West, and it is about tbe West, we will be living under a Caliphate in the next 20 years. Please don't facilitate this.
I don't mind differering of opinions however I do mind falling into the starving children food trap.
Allyson Taylor
Fantastic reply, er....Allysonrt. I love all of it particularly the real moral kicker: "Since when is it the responsibility of a nation at war to feed their opponents? The world puts this responsibility only on Israel. No other country being attacked currently has to supply water and food to its enemies."
None of the hoity-toity observers from the NYT or the BBC seem struck with that peculiarity, that Israel is expected to take care of Hamas's civs better than Hamas does.
What a valuable comment. You know, I expect biased or lazy reporting from the mainstream media, especially on Israel. They love to pile on the anti-Israel bandwagon. I think it's why I'm so disappointed to read Alex's post. I don't believe for a second that he is biased. But I do believe - until he demonstrates otherwise - that he settled for regurgitating other people's lazy reporting. Thank you for your post!
Alex, I subscribe because I believe you are an independent reporter and I appreciate you, even if I don’t totally agree. My problem with the article is that it seemed to me you were doing your independent reporting from sources that are not independent and very low credibility with always an agenda. If I were an independent investigative journalist, I would have stay on the sidelines of this one until I was able to verify the real facts
Bruce, I am awaiting Alex's response to the legitimate question of what sources he based his post on. If he tells us he personally interviewed objective observers on the ground in Israel and Gaza before reaching his conclusions, great.
Yes, that would be great and kind of what I expect from Alex. It’s a complicated issue to get your arms around and lay out all the facts. Thanks, Dean.
It's rational dialogue like this between Dean Rothbart and Brucetrost that I appreciate on Alex's Substack.
Alex, it would be nice if you addressed the issue raised by your readers. I, along with many others, objected to the fact that, regardless of wartime suffering, Hamas STILL holds hostages. Whether Israel is allowing too much or too little by way of supplies is a matter for debate, but until the hostilities completely end, there is still a war going on and Hamas shows little sign of capitulating--regardless of how many suffer.
Why do we feed the enemy? Is Syria feeding the Druze? Is Russia feeding Ukraine?
Sadly, almost no one is looking at the situation with even a half-clear mind. Israel is not obligated under the international law of war to feed the enemy population. Egypt could have but outright refused - and got away with it. This is the first time when civilians are not allowed to leave the war zone, unlike Syrians, Ukrainians, others. So how do you win the war when the enemy is practically everywhere, embedded within a very dense civilian population fortified by miles of military underground tunnels that cover the entire Gaza. Only Israel is forced to resupply such enemy that continues to kill its soldiers for nearly 2 years because Gazans are Hamas! And yet the original article was pointing a finger at Netanyahu who won’t admit that what Israel is doing is occupation. Israel used to occupy Gaza but I wonder if Mr. Berenson even knows why Gaza was occupied by Israel in the first place.
And I wonder if Mr. Berenson, whose knowledge of conflict history seems to be very shallow, knew that one person in the top Israeli government sounded a warning about what would happen if Israel removed (at the point of a gun and by force) the Israeli settlers from Gaza.
Israel did the great Gaza withdrawal (at considerable social and financial cost to itself) in 2005 because the international community assured us that all Hamas wanted was land to itself and peace would descend. Netanyahu warned that the only result would be a "Hamastan" next door. Guess who was right? I'm inclined to trust Netanyahu's instincts on when to pull IDF troops out now
Mr. Berenson is certainly not able to swim in this water, and some of his readers’ comments are shaped by the nonsense and propaganda they absorb from “reputable sources” and fueled by their own prejudice and ignorance. And I won’t pay for that, that’s for sure.
What I also can’t stand is putting Israel against its bellicose neighbors, ignoring history, and asserting that “if Israel did this or that,” things would have been different.
Netanyahu vociferously opposed Gaza withdrawal and demanded a referendum to determine if this was the will of the people. The referendum ended with 65% of the voters against the disengagement plan, which Sharon ignored. Netanyahu and Sharansky resigned from the government in protest. He then famously said, “Don’t give the Palestinians guns, don't give them rockets, don't give them a sea port, and don't give them a huge base for terror.”
And here we are…
@HHG- Yes, HAMAS is holding hostages. Not 5 year old starving children.
As the Babylon Bee said so well: Gaza Said To Be Starving But Not 'Release The Hostages' Starving
Brilliant, Jim! I must have missed that article from the Bee!
@Jim- truth
Hamas has a long record, going back as far back as I remember, of endangering its own civilians to manipulate world opinion.
Anyone writing about the conflict should first rule out the "Is Hamas actually causing this catastrophe?" factor.
THEN you can go into the "what Israel could do better" part.
If you segue right into the Hamas PR with a headline like "The Famine is Israel's Fault" you are falling for Hamas PR and aiding Hamas (which follows America's media scrupulously.) You're telling Hamas, in effect, "Hey! This famine thing, especially the photos of the Darfur babies is going over great! We gotta keep this up!" And you are going to immediately lose trust with the highly educated people who read Alex's (until now excellent) substack. (I bought all six--I'm counting the booklets--of Alex's CoVid books.)
On the subject of photographs, having lived and worked as a reporter in the area I know that the great majority of stringers supplying photos to outlets like the Times, AP, AFP and so on, are local Palestinians, and that many of them--a fact the NYTimes apparently doesn't care about as I found out--also work for government-run propaganda outlets and express virulently anti-Israel views, in Arabic of course, on their own websites.
Where did the Darfur baby (as I call it)--which appeared on the NYT's landing screen--come from? I'm willing to bet big money that Hamas' Ministry of Information (a very-well-funded organization, by the way, that fifteen years ago was offering a director a salary of $100K) shuttled the photog right over to that woman's house. Often people appearing in photographs or as the lead quote are, like, someone's mother-in-law. Photographers, like reporters, are lazy. They know what editors are looking for (carnage!!), they look around until they find it and then go home for a beer.
Evidence of Hamas's murderous impulses towards its own civilians (they sell civilian's endangerment as "shaheedism") is everywhere.
To start with, why didn't Hamas invite all of Gaza's children to shelter in the terror tunnels where Hamas operatives waited out the war in relative safety?
Even through a famine that may or not be real (and if it is real is certainly orchestrated by Hamas) Hamas soldiers (what's left of them) are still whooping it up, as seen in this quasi-recruiting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWCtS0OXY_s,
Remember when the IDF captured a bunch of Hamas soldiers and lined them up in their skivvies to ID and process them? (And no, stripping them to their skivvies is not done to humiliate them; it's a way to ensure they're not wired up for, say, remote bomb detonation.) Ewwwwwww. It was manboob and hanging gut city. The "freedom fighters" were both out-of-shape and fat.....and they certainly weren't starving....
@Stephanie- exactly
Lol, absolutely.
5-year-old children in Gaza are starving? Maybe it has something to do with Hamas? Maybe?
@Julia- it does. But Isreal is making things tough for the food to get the people. I most certainly put most of the blame on Hamas. They don't value life like we do so their citizens, children included, are expendable to make a political point.
I was being sarcastic. Please note - it is Israel, not Isreal, Kitty. Israel has no obligation to feed the enemy population. You put most of the blame on Hamas? Well, that is comforting. IDF would not have been in Gaza if Gazans did not invade the south of Israel. Then there are Hezbollah from the north, who attacked on October 8, resulting in nearly 60,000 Israelis not being able to live in their homes. Then Houthis, PA and other Jihadi fractions from Judea and Samaria who commit terrorist attacks weekly, and violence on the border with Syria. Who is paying for all this? The UN? Europe? Egypt, who? How is it that the world is not outraged at the violence committed against Israel but continues to complain about the Gazans??
@Julia- oh, I'm with you on all of that. So many people here in America are whining and I tell them "Hamas is using their own people as pawns because they don't have the same view of life we do. They figure "If they die. we can always make more." And yes- I'm a good speller but Israel is always one of those words that NEVER comes out right.
by the way, the Darfur baby is not actually suffering from a lack of food related malady. The use of that baby is a fraud: See my substack https://substack.com/home/post/p-169384119
(2) wow. no wonder Richard was mad. He produced a movie in 2005 titled "Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources", which I seem to have missed entirely. (I was racing to finish my Israel book at that time though.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXa53iYKgUU
Oh wow, I had no idea Pallywood dates back to 2006!
Ironic that is not front and center?!
Geez if you only wrote things I already agreed with, then what would be the point of reading your posts. . . if I only want to reinforce the views I already hold, rather than be challenged and learn, I guess I could just talk to myself in the mirror.
I feel like I'm still learning about the great CoVid scam. There Alex was in his element, as a reporter for years on Big Pharma. But on The Conflict (as we long-time Middle East people call it)....Nope. Why does everyone thnk they should be opining on this if they just have....some thoughts....based on, like, reading the newspaper.
What happened here is that apparently Alex has readers who know much, much more about The Conflict than Alex. I'm impressed with the knowledge on display in these comment threads. One reader for instance has a son in the reserves. The son won't know everything but his ground-level data is more valuable than most of the third party newspaper garbage. There's a reason why one of the first rules of reporting is "Go There."
One really should know what one's talking about. Because this isn't a parlor game. This isn't a school debate. Lives are at stake here. Lives are endangered, quite concretely, (If you'd like to know how, I'll explain) by the dissemination of false anti-Israel statements like "Israel is causing famine in Gaza." You have a grave responsibility to present what Carl Bernstein called "the best obtainable version of the truth." That's why pieces about The Conflict can't be just dashed off.
Stephanie, you have simply laid out the reason I subscribe even though I do not always agree with Alex. He has a highly and broadly educated and informed readership and their comments, alone, are worth the cost of the subscription. I learn as much from the comments as from the articles. Thanks to all who take time to comment and share their views.
What you've got in this group of subscribers is people who were smart enough and spirited enough to question the CoVid orthodoxy.
Here, you were not right with the facts. And what is so upsetting is that we (I) really trust you to be right with the facts. And when you flub that, in addition to the self-righteous, censorious tone you took, it really hurts. Take a look at the Israeli aid trucks lined up inside the border that the UN won't move to distribute. Take a look at the work of the Gaza Humanitarian foundation .Consider what Hamas gains by blocking aid, since they have shown themselves time and time again willing to sacrifice their own population to gain international sympathy and whip up anti-Israeli sentiment (that you became a participant in this is rather devastating). OK, enough, namaste.
Ehem. There is a difference between good reporting and spreading propaganda, and the difference is not a matter of opinion. The sources you cited and your own interpretation of "occupation" is not good reporting, simple as that.
Precisely
Alex,
You misread the room. For the most part we aren’t angry at you, we just think you took the lazy route in not addressing the whole of the issue and defaulted to the easy target of Israel, Israel, Israel.
Just be better.
I would say that he does this more than people realize. I have been a reader and subscriber since the beginning. I followed him PRE-COVID. My main area where I see his laziness that has bugged me since the beginning is his frequent statements about the poor quality of healthcare in the US. His only support for this is “lower life expectancy” of other developed nations. He does this because the main stream media use this and infant mortality as the primary measures they measure the US against other nations. The problem with these measures are that they are very poor measures of the heathcare quality of any country because demographics (for example higher black populations, which have lower life expectancy regardless of socioeconomic status and MUCH higher rates infant mortality, gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes, etc, again independent of socioeconomic status) and cultural differences (obesity, drug use, smoking rates, sedentary lifestyles, suicide, violent crime, etc) ALL have a big effect on both measures, and likely bigger than the healthcare system alone. He has NEVER done a deep dive into disease specific outcome which DO demonstrate excellent care in the US. While I agree care costs too much in the US, the constant harangue from Alex about how poor our healthcare is should be established with facts, otherwise we cannot have the fair and honest debate about the problems he loves to point out because we don’t accept the same starting premises based on good factual foundation
I don't want to live in an echo chamber. We desperately need writers who don't filter for "what readers want to hear." Thanks for your bravery.
Um, er yes. IF they've done the work. If they just pull opinions and "facts" out of their XXX, then, no. I don't see the "desperate need" for any more ignorant (though well-meaning) opining in this over-saturated world
Like many on this site I choose to follow and track your work because it matters…even as it sometimes leaves me uncomfortable. But there is a simple truth often neglected in these debates. Hamas can make it end today by surrendering to the superior force rather than continue to use its followers as fodder. Return hostages, dead and alive. Renounce the violence. End the terrorism.
Alex, I don't believe I've ever responded to any of your posts ( except to re-up). I thoroughly appreciate your insight and honesty even when it hurts. I am an unapologetic supporter of Israel but if indeed you are right, then it needs to be addressed. If it is the remnants of Hammas doing what they've always done with food shipments, then that needs to be addressed. No one wants to see children suffer but Hamas and the parents of these children own this.
If you’re really a supporter of Israel then I would assume you follow to at least some degree Israeli news and politics. Your comments sound like this is all new info to you
Thanks for listening to us your loyal readers. And I still contend that the whole Israel Middle East issue is nothing but quick sand for you. There is no one telling us the truth about that part of the world There however is one truth about the Middle East issue it’s where empires go to die as they attempt to unravel the deep hatred’s that make up their culture. Rome couldn’t do it. Britain couldn’t do it and America isn’t going to do it either. The proper American response is to tell the Israeli government that in 10 years they will be on their own. No more American tax dollars. If they want to buy American weapons it’s cash upfront Israel is a wealthy country with a thriving economy and they can afford to defend themselves
That’s a great idea .many in Israel are working on gaining that independence.
If America wants access to Israel’s intelligence and cutting edge battle tested technology, American can pay up front too
Read Commentary and Tablet. You may not agree with everything they say, but they will offer an important perspective and counter to the mainstream narrative which has proven, time and again, to be false.
That's a really lousy idea. The middle east would be an ok place, if it weren't for islam which is a cult of unabashed hatred. 'What is the GREATEST DEED a man can do for allah?' asked a follower of the prophet. 'To KILL FOR ALLAH is the greatest deed,' said the prophet. These two lines are the essence of islam. 500 million to 800 million is the number of people around the world, estimated to have been slaughtered by moslems in the last 1500 years. Not all people share a yearning for reason and peace, just talk to a moslem.
Alex-
I called you out for failing to do your job of investigative reporting. On Covid you dig… clearly on the Gaza issue you did not.
I am glad I supported your lawsuit by subscribing. But I will not pay for shoddy journalism. And, unfortunately, that’s what your piece was. I know for a fact, not my opinion, that Israel sends food, goods and supplies to Hamas-controlled areas that are usurped by Hamas and never reach the people. If the people in Gaza are being deprived of food , it is not Israel who should be blamed. Where are your “receipts”…. We can disagree on opinion, but you call your Substack “truth”. Not this time.
Elise- I am asking this sincerely because I am trying to figure this out- how do you know for a fact as you say? What are your sources? Can you link them here?
I can suggest you go to X and follow @osint. He is an Israeli who posts everyday all day what is happening on the ground in real time.
I know former and current IDF soldiers. I also follow Amir from Behold Israel. I suggest you follow him. I also subscribe to news sources and ministries that have people on the ground there.
Ambassador Mike Hucksbee posted pictures of thousands of containers of food rotting because the UN isn’t distributing the food.
Thank you so much for this information.
https://x.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1948418923247861776
Israel has nothing to hide. They invite scrutiny on this issue. Fact is… Hamas killed many citizens and still has hostages.I have read interviews of the hostages.. they were brutally treated if they lived. Most did not. I would ask Alex to rethink and investigate.
Alex, not in any way mad at you for having a different opinion or analysis than my own! Fuggetaboutit!
Who are these people who want you to be disingenuous? It’s the gold standard! Just tell me how you see things, be genuine and I will be interested in what you have to say. 😊
Eric, I'm not asking Alex to be disingenuous. I'm asking him to be accurate and not fall for the propaganda put out by Hamas and echoed by mainstream news organizations that he, himself, have shown to be anything but reliable on topics such as COVID-19. Why would he trust those same news organizations to tell the facts of what's happening in Gaza and who is to blame?
Glad I was part of the deluge of comments.
Please look into WHO has always used innocent Gazans as pawns, cannon fodder, ‘collateral damage’ (not really the right term because Hamas WANTS injured, starving, killed innocents… )
Nobody wants to see people starving in Gaza. That’s not a controversial statement. Nor is the idea that if you broke it, you own it.
The controversy is over who broke it, and what will fix it. Hamas broke it. Their surrender and the return of the hostages would end the problem tomorrow.
But that’s not what you concluded. Instead, you downplayed Hamas culpability and hinted that anyone who doesn’t blame Israel is OK with starving children. And had the audacity to present this take as bravery on your part.
I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.
You summed up what upset me perfectly and succinctly.
I felt the same way. The investigation of Fauci took five years, the teardown of the state of zisrael took a few months of blatant propaganda. I am disappointed that a need to express this position was done without really knowing how well tbe enemy is playing this narrative. Free tbe hostages, pork chops for all!
BINGO
Im not so SURE if HAMAS said they surrender and return the hostages it ENDS. Maybe so, but I am not so sure given what history has shown for literally 1000s of years in the middle east. Just wayyyyyy too many INFLATED EGOS, and zealots who cannot accept others having a personal belief system. I would like to believe the mission statement-charter of IRAN, and the proxies they fund around Israel could move past not WANTING to KILL all Jewish people or infidels in general and remove Israel from the face of the earth, but isn't that a tad delusional? Not saying you are insinuating it all all, but simply saying.
Time for you to study Quran to see that that ain't gonna happen
I agree more than I don't for sure :) Just such over the TOP religious zealots who have NO ROOM for human life on the planet that does NOT agree with their belief system. The radical FACTION that is and it's not small
Long term I’m sure you are right. But I think it would end the immediate problem.
True...makes sense in a short term respite
Is there starvation going on in Gaza ? not sure. Is this due to an IDF policy that prevents the distribution of food to the 'starving' Gazans? not sure. Left 'news' outlets say it's a systematic operation to intentionally kill all Gazans and look at these tragic and horrific pictures --- unverified pictures, unverified reports - by the Gaza Health Ministry. The Communist Broadcasting Corp in Canada reports every 2nd morning "10 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" and "17 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" and "5 Gazans killed at food distribution center by IDF" --- just on its face, why is the IDF killing innocent Gazans trying to obtain food. This isn't fog of war - this is disreputable and disingenuous 'reporting'. We don't know the truth, nor do you - so some humility may be in order. Oh, one last thing - look at ALL the other middle east nations stepping up to stop these atrocious actions...ya crickets
The Gaza Health Ministry has been caught out for decades propagating whoppers. They are a propaganda wing of Hamas. News organizations have taken to tacking on "The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilian and fighter casualties" but that is as far as the AP et al will go. It's very hard to "balance" a piece when one side lies its pants off, and controls its press and populace so that alternative facts rarely leak out, which is why the MSM keeps printing Gaza Health Ministry swill.
A Northwestern University professor did a brilliant analysis of GHM's casualty reports which suggested that in this Gaza War they were...wait for it...as usual...just pulling figures out of their A***. See https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers
At times, for instance, the GHM reported women and children casualties for regions which weren't even populated enough to produce those kinds of casualties...that kind of thing. And then there was the famous "ooops-we-said-the-IDF-hit-our-hospital-but-I-guess-it-must-have-been-us" incident last year
And Hamas fired a rocket at one center. Missed by 250 meters. Gee, musta been IDF bs everywhere
Excellent point. It’s extremely difficult, dare I say impossible, to really and truly know what is or is not happening. There may be some people posting that are actually there, but again, we have to take a leap of faith in order to trust their reporting. Is it accurate? I cannot answer that question. Unfortunately I have become very skeptical of most reporting since the whole WMD debacle during the time of Bush the younger.