Israeli Blockade Punishes
Entire Population of Gaza
Hani Mahmoud / Al Jazeera

GAZA CITY, GAZA (March 12, 2025) — We’ve seen large numbers of people, including families with young children, carrying empty pots and pans and crowding around one of the soup kitchens that is providing meals to break their fast.

We were told that the amount of food available is very small, compared to the large number of people who are in need.

There’s been a total blockade on all of the crossings into Gaza for the past 11 days, stopping the entry of much-needed humanitarian supplies and pushing a desperate population to the brink of catastrophe.

The Israeli actions punish the entire population of Gaza, from the blockade to the cutting off of electricity to the only desalination plant that provides water for half a million people in the centre of the Strip. People in other areas, particularly in the north, rely on trucks that carry water from the plant.

These actions make it difficult for people to survive, especially after the difficult conditions created by months and months of devastation and destruction across the Strip.

Trump Uses ‘Palestinian’ as a Racial Slur
Al Jazeera

(March 12, 2025) — Muslim and Jewish activists have criticized the US president for using the term “Palestinian” as a slur while referring to Jewish Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

Trump made the comment at the White House when a reporter asked him about the US corporate tax rate. In response, he expressed displeasure with congressional Democrats – including Schumer, the US’s highest-ranking elected Jewish official – for not supporting his agenda.

“Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish any more. He’s a Palestinian,” Trump said.

Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said Trump’s use of the word Palestinian as a “racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office”.

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, accused Trump of advancing an “extreme agenda” and making “Jews less safe”.

The US president, during his election campaign in August, had made the same comment, saying Schumer had “become a Palestinian” and accused him of being a “proud member of Hamas”.