Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 11.07.2024
The Lancet magazine, an esteemed British medical journal founded in 1823, published an article authored by doctors Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf earlier this week. The article says that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.”
The article was a letter to the editor that included future accumulative death. The Zionist hard right wing daily newspaper Jerusalem Post is attacking the article and the Lancer.
“This led anti-Israel users on social media to propagate the new libel en masse, conveniently forgetting to mention the nature of the letter. Such was UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who presents herself as an expert in law, quoted the piece, claiming in a tweet that “If one includes both direct & indirect deaths from Israel’s assault, the death toll in Gaza goes up to 186,000 people, according to the medical journal The Lancet. That’s 1 in every 12 Gaza inhabitants killed in the last nine months of genocide[i].”
“Another propagator of the digits was Qatar-related Middle East Eye, who mentioned in a tweet that it was a “letter from experts” but published a graphic poster that attributed the new ‘death toll’ to the Lancet magazine itself. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian scholar indicted by and expelled from the US for his ties to the Islamic Jihad, also referred to the article, attributing to the Lancet, “a respected and peer-reviewed medical journal,” an estimate that “186,000 have been killed by Israel since Oct. 7[ii].”
“Other viral promoters of the new libel were Labor MP Zarah Sultana, pro-terror blogger Mohammed El-Kurd, anti-Israel group Democracy Now, former JVP official Rabbi Alissa Wise, Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta; French reported Charles Villa, and Canadian Palestinian neuroscientist Afif Aqrabawi.”[iii]
Three days after the publication, under pressure, one of the writers, Professor Martin McKee, retracted from the digits he co-provided in his piece, claiming that they were “purely illustrative” and that “our piece has been greatly misquoted and misinterpreted.” Understanding the reason for the retraction, none of the above-mentioned writers have retracted their statements.
The Jerusalem Post Contacted Lancet magazine inquiring whether the magazine stands behind the digits, plans to retract them following McKee’s comments, or plans to clarify the nature of the written piece. The Lancet magazine responded by saying that external authors published the letter in the Correspondence section of The Lancet. The 186,000 figure and the corresponding 7.9% are estimates, explained in this paragraph of the Correspondence:
“In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2 375 259 would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.” The editor also noted that many of these indirect deaths may not have yet occurred: “Armed conflicts have indirect health implications beyond the direct harm from violence. Even if the conflict ends immediately, there will continue to be many indirect deaths in the coming months and years.”[iv]
Thus, the piece mouth of the Zionist Monster has failed in his attempt to discredit the article in the Lancer.
Down with the Zionist Monster!
For the Palestinians to live, the monster must be destroyed!
For Palestine, red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-809632
[ii] Ibid
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Ibid