Hunger is Violence - Poster of the Week

politicalgraphics
6 days ago
3 min read

Hunger is Violence

Artist Unknown

Silkscreen, 1970

Berkeley, CA

18268

CSPG's Poster of the Week is a critical document in the history of war crimes and genocide. The image is based on a 1968 photograph of a starving Biafran boy. Biafra was an independent kingdom in western Africa for centuries before Nigeria was created in 1914, and incorporated Biafra’s territory which was predominantly inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. Years of tension culminated in the 1966 anti-Igbo pogroms killing over 30,000. Oil was also a major cause of the war, involving Shell-BP, a British multinational corporation.

After Biafra declared independence from Nigeria in 1967, Nigeria declared war on Biafra and instituted a blockade that resulted in a devastating famine. The war and famine killed approximately 2 million Biafran civilians. The civil war ended January 15, 1970, ending Biafra’s short-lived independence.

The humanitarian crisis engendered a worldwide debate about the concept of genocide, and whether the famine in Biafra could be counted as genocide. The tragedy and ensuing discussion resulted in the prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare in the 1977 amendments to the Geneva conventions.

For more than 10 weeks, Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Israel asserts it is blocking aid to civilians in order to force Hamas to negotiate and release more hostages. 58 hostages remain with Hamas, 35 have been declared dead. The final American hostage was released on Monday.

Amidst the barrage of bombings that have killed thousands of Gazans since the ceasefire broke in March, 1 in 5 Gazans is facing starvation. Gazans are now eating a maximum of 1-1.5 meals per day. All children are at risk of famine. Earlier this month the World Central Kitchen ran out of supplies to distribute food. Additionally, they are now reliant on mostly unsafe water, and with fuel shortages, the water cannot be purified. When fishermen ventured further out to sea last week, the Israeli Navy fired upon two boats, killing three fishermen and injuring 10 others.

This mass starvation is not accidental. It is not caused by drought or natural causes. It is a deliberate war crime. There are thousands of trucks on the borders waiting to be admitted to Gaza.

"Hunger is when your children cry themselves to sleep. They are too hungry… Why are you punishing everyone? What do we have to do with Hamas? It's not right to make the entire population, more than 2 million people, suffer."

— Nadia Al-Masri, 60-year-old Gazan mother and grandmother

Over 50,000 Gazans have been killed since the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

End the mass murder of civilians.

Let in humanitarian aid! Feed and heal Gaza!