The Israeli media is rife with false terms and statements that distort the public's perception of reality.
"Humanitarian crisis." "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," say official Israeli spokesmen such as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Ministry director general Yossi Gal say repeatedly. And they are correct, because a "crisis" is a sudden change, a deviation from a norm, while what's going on in Gaza has become the routine.
They are right also about the "humanitarian" aspect, if what they mean is that hundreds of thousands are not dying of thirst or hunger. There is no humanitarian crisis, if you think that all a person needs is a set number of daily calories.
And for someone who lives in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, it is easy to ignore the non-crisis-like fact that 90 percent of the water produced in the Gaza Strip from its only water source - part of the Coastal aquifer - is not fit for human consumption. People who do not get purified water are risking their health - high blood pressure, and kidney and intestinal diseases.
Indeed, only thanks to the extended-family support system, charitable organizations, UNRWA, international aid programs, public-sector wages and the "tunnel economy" are people not being starved.