Starvation in Gaza? Congress yawns

 

     By Reginald Johnson

                                                  Commentary

  

 It doesn’t appear that members of Congress, including those from Connecticut, are very upset about the desperate conditions in Gaza.

The nation of Israel imposed a blockade on all shipments of humanitarian supplies including food and medicine into Gaza for nearly 3 months, creating starvation conditions. In the last two days Israel decided to lift the blockade, but only partially --- allowing a small number of trucks to come in with food.  UN officials said that while they were pleased that the full blockade had been lifted, what has been delivered represents only a drop in the ocean in terms of need.

Gaza health officials recently reported that there have been dozens of cases of starvation and hundreds if not thousands of young children are being treated for malnutrition in the few hospitals that are left in the territory.

Despite these dire conditions, members of Congress from Connecticut are not saying anything. They are not condemning Israel for the illegal blockade that went on for so long and now has only been partially lifted, and they’ve done nothing to urge President Trump to take action against Israel for this embargo of desperately needed food.

I placed calls to Congressman Jim Himes, who represents the Fourth Congressional District in Connecticut, urging him to make a statement condemning the blockade and calling for urgent action to deliver food. But his office indicated twice now in the last two weeks that he has not made such a statement criticizing Israel. I indicated that I was extremely upset over this and would not vote for him as a result in the future.

 I also called Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office twice and on one call his office indicated that the senator as well had not made a statement criticizing Israel nor indicated any concern about the desperate situation in Gaza. I don’t know whether this has anything to do with the substantial donations that Blumenthal gets from the Israeli lobby called AIPAC. I hope that there is no connection, but I suspect that there might be.

 When I called Blumenthal’s office on Tuesday there was a three minute hold with nice classical music playing. Nobody picked up. After three minutes. I got disgusted and dropped the call. Last week I called Sen. Chris Murphy’s office. I was met with a taped greeting and no human being to speak with. I left a message stating my concern about Gaza and urged the office to get back to me. That never happened.

It is shameful that these representatives of ours in Congress are not showing more compassion for the people of Gaza and recognize their desperate plight. In addition to facing starvation conditions, thousands of Gazans are being forced to move once again by the Israeli army which has mounted a new offensive in the northern part of the strip. This is really a barbaric situation and it has been condemned by many world leaders, officials in the UN and human rights organizations.

 Unfortunately, most members of Congress are staying quiet. Again, I have to think that the widespread contributions by AIPAC to members of our national legislature have something to do with this. It appears that our elected representatives are putting their political needs ahead of the needs of starving people overseas. How low is that?

 It should be noted as well, that my former profession, the press, has not stood tall in regard to the terrible situation in Gaza. I’m hardly seeing anybody in television news or in the newspapers denouncing Israel for the genocide taking place. There's also little hard news coverage of Israel's brutal bombing or reporting on the famine conditions. And newspapers turn away opinion pieces that criticize Israel. I know this first-hand, since the Connecticut Post failed to run my op-ed calling for an end to the blockade.

  It’s going to be up to regular people on the ground to speak out on the catastrophe going on now in the Middle East --- to condemn Israel, to condemn the Trump administration for failure to stop Israel’s barbaric campaign and to push members of Congress into taking action.

 Only through grassroots pressure will the horror of Gaza be brought to an end.

 

 

 

 

Excusing the inexcusable

  By Reginald Johnson

   Here we are. The prime minister of Israel says the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is "inevitable." (Jerusalem Post) And he talks about it matter of factly. No biggie. And in America and Europe people sit around and say 'ho-hum.' Next.

 Now just suppose some fanatical leader of another country, say like a Benjamin Netanyahu, said the same thing about forcibly removing a group of white Europeans, Americans or Jews from some place. Oh well, that would be a different story. Then the shit would hit the fan.

 There would be thunderous speeches in the halls of Congress, in the British parliament and in Paris, denouncing the outrage. "We will not let this stand!" would be the cry.

 But alas, here we're talking about the Palestinians, Arabic people, who the British used to deride as “wogs.” No need to get excited. Expendable.

 Has the human race advanced the last 500 years ---- morally? No, not one iota.

Media ignores starving children in Gaza

 

  ­(I submitted the following op-ed to the Connecticut Post (part of the Hearst chain) last week and so far it hasn’t run. I don’t think it will. I mention the sacred cow, Israel, in a negative light, so that generally means you’re in a no-go zone for most media. It doesn’t matter apparently that tens of thousands of people, many children, will die of starvation because of Israel’s supremely cruel blockade that prevents food from getting in to Gaza.  Nope, can’t run it. The Connecticut Post is not alone. Did you see anything about the Gaza famine on last weekend’s TV news shows? No. This terrible catastrophe is being ignored. Shame on the media. I reprint here the op-ed piece I submitted to the Post,)

 

 

                           END THE GAZA BLOCKADE

 

    By Reginald Johnson

    May 7, 2025

 

    A human catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza.

    For the past two months, Israel has been imposing a blockade on the shipment of all food and medical supplies into Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants since October of 2023. Trucks loaded with food are lined up at the Gaza border and they can’t get in.

  As a result, some 1.1 million residents are trapped in the zone without any new food, medicine and precious little water. Starvation is on the rise.

 Just days ago, officials of the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 57 Palestinians have died of starvation. According to officials of the Gaza Government Media Office, some 3500 children under the age of five years “face imminent death by starvation” and some 290,000 children are “on the brink of death.”

 Olga Cherevko, an aid worker with the United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA) in Gaza City said, “Hungry people are scavenging in mounds of waste for anything that would help them survive…I am seeing children and I am seeing elderly people rummaging through these piles of trash not only in search of things to burn but also things to eat daily.”

 The CEOs of 12 major aid organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE and NRC, said in a joint statement recently that, “Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at a breaking point.”

 Those organizations said that they are ready to begin resupplying humanitarian aid if they get the go-ahead, but they’re still waiting. Israeli officials say they are imposing the blockade in order to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages they have been holding.

 But officials of human rights organizations and the UN say Israel is violating international law by imposing the blockade. “Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime and so do all forms of collective punishment,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.

 If the blockade is not ended very soon, a famine of catastrophic proportions will set in for the people of Gaza. It is imperative now that world leaders, including President Trump, European heads of state and others, put pressure on Israel to end the blockade and allow desperately needed food supplies to reach Gaza.

  

 

 Reginald Johnson is a freelance writer who lives Bridgeport, CT

 

 

Israeli TV: Netanyahu blocked peace in Gaza while Biden did nothing to stop the slaughter

    By Reginald Johnson

  

  An investigation by Channel 13 in Israel has revealed that during the first 16 months of the Gaza War, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actively impeded efforts to bring about a peace settlement and that at no point did the US administration of former US President Joe Biden demand that Israel curtail its brutal military operation and agree to a cease-fire, despite a mounting death toll.

The bombshell report also showed that American officials were aware of Israeli war crimes but covered them up in order to give legal clearance for continuing to ship weapons to Israel.

The report was posted on the Drop Site News site on X.

“A sweeping Israeli channel 13 investigation has exposed the administration’s complicity in Israel’s 19-months long war in Gaza. Nine top Biden officials acknowledged avoiding real pressure on Israel – even as the death toll surpassed 30,000. Israeli leaders openly bragged they dragged out the war playing for time until Donald Trump’s return to the presidency,” said the cover story by Drop Site News. Former Israeli officials were also interviewed.

“God, did the state of Israel favor that Biden was the president,” said former Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog. “We fought for over a year in Gaza and the administration never came to us and said ‘cease-fire now.’  It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”

 The report said that Biden aides privately admitted that Netanyahu was prolonging the war. “He’s undercutting it every step of the way,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a senior national security aide. “All the security people are coming out and saying it,” he said.

The report said Netanyahu spurned possible peace plans, including a proposal by the US and Saudi Arabia. That plan collapsed because it required acceptance of a “political horizon” for the Palestinians and Netanyahu would not agree to it.

The Channel 13 investigation also said Netanyahu sabotaged the talks on the release of the Israeli hostages, in order to extend the war. The Israeli prime minister “deliberately tanked negotiations” fearing a deal would force him to end the war.

  The investigation also found that American officials were aware of Israeli forces illegally blocking humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza but covered it up. State Department official Stacy Gilbert resigned after the revelations about the Israeli violations were taken out of a required aid compliance report.

  “The final version cleared Israel of violating US law despite overwhelming evidence of aid obstruction.” Gilbert called it “shocking in its mendacity”  and said “everyone knows this is not true.”

  The Channel 13 story added, "Even as settlers looted Gaza-bound trucks and Israel blocked humanitarian aid, Biden certified compliance and kept weapons flowing."

   The Gaza War began in October of 2024, after Hamas militants raided a southern Israel music fair, and killed 1200 people. Some 240 hostages were taken. Israel then launched a furious air and ground assault into the Palestinian enclave and thousands were killed in the first few weeks.

  The war has dragged on since then with staggering results. Some 60,000 Gazans, mostly civilians, are dead; much of Gaza's infrastructure has been leveled, including universities and apartment buildings; and most of Gaza's hospitals are destroyed or heavily damaged. Now 2.2 million residents are under threat of starvation, as Israel has imposed a food and water blockade.

  UN officials have accused Israel of waging a genocide in Gaza, which Israel has strenuously denied.

  The US has fully backed Israel in the war and billions of dollars in military aid has been provided.