VOICES | Issue: "Face-off" August 13, 2011

Famine fables

In Somalia drought is not the only culprit | Mindy Belz

Associated Press/Photo by Farah Abdi Warsameh

It's not accidental that the book of Deuteronomy (literally, a "copy of this law") retells for the Israelites what just happened to them. We so quickly overlook the lessons of history.

So as the newspapers and airwaves begin to report the tragic story of famine in Somalia, it's important to read these as Moses would, not as the Israelites, who got themselves stuck in the wilderness for 40 years because they refused to see their own role in their predicament.

The famine in Somalia is not, as most major news sources would have you believe, caused by drought. Agence France-Presse had Somalians "fleeing drought." Even Mission Aviation Fellowship, a wonderful support group, said it was redirecting planes and hiring crews to work through the night to ready relief flights to the Horn of Africa, where 11 million people are facing "a hunger crisis caused by several years of severe drought."
