Constructing Silence, Evasion, and Moral Responsibility in Arab and Western Leaders' Responses to Starvation in Gaza: A Discourse-Historical Analysis

Abstract

The current study aims to examine how selected Arab and Western leaders construct silence, evasion, and moral responsibility in their responses to starvation in Gaza within their socio-political context through discourse-historical strategies. In this respect, humanitarian crises have increasingly been influenced by political discourse. The Gaza starvation crisis is one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the contemporary world and is marked by famine conditions, an acute food shortage, and malnutrition caused by complicated political and structural factors. Political discourse, in this context, shapes how people perceive the crisis and defines responsibility, prioritising humanitarian concern and concealing accountability. Although the crisis is severe, little attention has been paid to how responsibility is constructed using discourse-historical and linguistic strategies within wider historical and political contexts. To fill this gap, the study adopts a model based on Reisigl and Wodak's (2001) discourse-historical approach (DHA) within a critical discourse analysis (CDA) framework. Through a qualitative approach, this study analyses four official speeches produced in 2025, two by Arab leaders and two by Western leaders. The findings indicate that the leaders ideologically employ discourse-historical strategies to negotiate responsibility. These discursive strategies construct silence by concealing the responsibility of Israel, enact evasion by diverting attention away from Israel, and project moral responsibility by foregrounding the leaders' humanitarian positioning. Contextually, this reflects the examined leaders' diplomatic interests with Israel and its major ally, the United States (US).