"Survival itself is now slipping out of reach"

  By Reginald Johnson

   Commentary

 There is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine.

 Hundreds of thousands of people could die from lack of food due to an Israeli blockade.

 Will the world stand by and let this happen?

This is a post from the website "Drop Site News":

 "URGENT: Multiple credible sources – including UN agencies, 12 major international NGOs, and journalists on the ground – report that most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are now surviving on just one meal per day or less due to Israel’s total blockade on food and other essentials since March 2.

 The CEOs of 12 major aid organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE, NRC, and others, said in a joint statement on April 17, 2025:

 'Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point.

 'Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive. That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on 2 March.

 'We have supplies ready. We have trained medical staff. We have the expertise. What we don’t have is the access – or the guarantee by Israeli authorities that our teams can safely do their job.' " 

  There needs to be a massive outcry against Israel's cruel blockade. People must demand that it be lifted --- immediately. We cannot let a mass starvation event take place on our watch.

 Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 and make your voice heard.  Also call the Capitol Switchboard, at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your members of Congress in the House and Senate. Tell them you want them to call for an end to the Israeli blockade and an end to the vicious war against Gaza. If they won't agree to do this, say you will vote against them in the next election.

 One other suggestion. This is from Facebook friend Mary Anne Doty: "Email the Israeli embassy and demand they stop the deliberate starvation of 2.2 million human beings in Gaza. Consular@washington.mfa.gov.i"

Newtown protestors blast Trump cuts

  By Reginald Johnson

   

   NEWTOWN, CT --- Despite a chill in the air and light rain, hundreds of people showed up at a park here Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s possible cutbacks in federal services including Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security and legal attacks on the rights of immigrants and pro-Palestinian activists.

 The “Hands-off” rally was one of many held in Connecticut and around the country to demonstrate strong grassroots opposition to the reductions discussed by President Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk and the administration’s fascistic policies on deportations and free speech rights.

  “I want to let you know that in Connecticut people are coming out by the thousands!”  Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz shouted to the crowd. “In Middletown, I was at a march with 1000 people, in Guilford there was 700 people on Guilford Green, there was 1000 people on the New Haven Green and now we’re looking at here 500 plus people in Newtown strong!” she said, as people cheered.

   "People are saying “Hands off our rights, hands off our liberty, hands off our democracy, and hands off our wallets!” Bysiewicz said, adding “That’s why Donald Trump, while you’re out playing golf, in Newtown we’re standing up and speaking out about everything that’s right about our country.”

 Bysiewicz went on: “What’s really important is that the proposed federal cuts are aimed at decimating all of the programs that lifted people up and kept people out of poverty. That is Medicare, that is Medicaid and that is Social Security --- the things that help the most vulnerable people in our state. If you don’t know this, you need to, that in Connecticut nearly 1 million people out of  3 million plus residents, rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. So that’s our kids, that’s our elderly, those are the pregnant moms."

  Trump and officials in his administration insist that they plan no actual reduction in services in programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security but they are trying to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”  Musk, who is heading the new "Department of Government Efficiency," or “DOGE,” maintains that the waste uncovered will secure hundreds of billions of dollars worth of savings, without reducing services.

 But people at the Newtown rally and other critics say Trump and Musk are lying and that cutbacks in services are definitely on the horizon and people will be hurt.

    

Rally-goers in Newtown express their feelings. (Reginald Johnson photo)

                                   

Some fear the rise of fascism under Trump. (Reginald Johnson photo)