Recipe for an anti-Israel slander (Independent-UK edition)

First, take a non-peer reviewed report that makes wild claims that are not substantiated by facts.

As Israellycool reported last month:

On the 4th of August a pseudo-scientific study about infant mortality in Gaza (in 2013) was published in an open access journal. 

Her team’s study has many problems (which is probably why it wasn’t submitted to any kind of prestigious journal) but the biggest one can be found in these two statements, first from the “discussion” section and then from the “conclusion”:

Discussion: However, post-neonatal mortality rate declined significantly and the infant mortality rate was only slightly higher. These estimates are based on small numbers of deaths, and the confidence intervals are wide, so the infant mortality rate could in fact be stable or continuing to decline.

Conclusion: In conclusion, we have estimated that, for the first time in five decades, the mortality rate has increased among Palestine refugee newborns in Gaza, and this may reflect inadequate neo-natal care in hospitals.

That’s pretty clear. They didn’t have enough data to reach the conclusion they did.

Now, even with this conclusion not supported by the facts, look at what the paper offers as the reason for the supposed increase in mortality rate: inadequate neo-natal care in Gaza hospitals, nothing to do with Israel.

Second, have a lying UN organization issue a press release that exaggerates and misreports what the report says - and blames Israel:

The infant mortality rate in Gaza has risen for the first time in five decades, according to an UNRWA study, and UNRWA’s Health Director says the blockade may be contributing to the trend.

Third, bask in the coverage this press release gets when no one actually looks at the source.

Fourth, wait a few weeks and then write an op-ed for The Independent to that adds to the lies even more:

Israel’s blockade is a likely contributor to the trend of rising infant mortality in Gaza. For the people of Gaza, being held under Israeli siege for nearly ten years now has meant the denial of proper access to the essentials of life, including medicines, food, water, electricity for heating, lighting and cooking.

...Western lobbyists are right to call for the EU to impose immediate sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel until it ends the blockade of Gaza. If Israel isn’t willing of its own accord to give those children a chance at survival, it must be forced to do so.

The link that she gives for Israel's supposedly denying access to food and medicine and water says no such thing - because Israel doesn't restrict food or medicine of water to Gaza, nor does it restrict fuel, as long as someone pays for it. She simply lied and then linked to something that she knows few will check.

Moreover, even if there was an increase in infant mortality, the most likely cause is - Hamas! Hamas replaced hospital administrators and staff with Hamas loyalists. Hamas has attacked doctors who protested those moves. Hamas reportedly routinely stole medicines sent to Gaza from NGOs and sold them for profit. Hamas has stopped doctors from traveling to medical conferences even after Israel gave them permission to do so.

There you have it: an entire recipe for slander. And it is one that we have seen variants of many times before.