In Israel and the U.S., parallel cases of malice against Palestinians
On Thursday, 16-year-old Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim was released from Israel’s Ofer Prison and reunited with his family. The Palestinian American boy from Florida was 15 when Israeli soldiers kidnapped him from his home in the West Bank village of Al-Mazraa Ash-Sharquia on February 16.
His first stop after prison was the hospital. Before his release, both his lawyer and US Embassy officials rang the alarm About his rapidly deteriorating medical condition: Mohammed lost a quarter of his body weight, contracted scabies, and was beaten by prison guards. The young man emerged from Israeli custody last week, skinny and pale. photos It was distributed to campaign for his release.
Despite Israeli efforts to double down on Mohammed’s detention, including a direct statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu office – the media storm sparked by family members and their supporters ultimately prevailed. Muhammad’s uncle credited The dogged dedication of a grassroots movement that mobilized more than 100 organizations, members of the Florida community, and members of Congress to fight for her nephew’s freedom. He also made a point of drawing attention to the “hundreds of children” currently “unfairly trapped in Israeli prisons and subjected to Israeli abuse and torture.”
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli Prison Service has transformed its facilities into a “network of people”. torture campsPalestinian deaths in prisons, according to an Israeli watchdog group rose rapidlyand prisoners released under the ceasefire agreement witnessed routine attacks, medical interventions neglectfood deprivation and rape. These statements were confirmed by prison guards and senior Israeli officials. civil servants.
More than 300 Palestinian child prisoners subject to the world’s only systematically tried military court minorsface these brutal conditions. Muhammad caused his cellmate, 17-year-old Velid Halid Abdullah Ahmed, to collapse and to die from malnutrition. Such cases show that the repercussions of the US-backed war on Palestinians extend far beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip.
For decades, the Israeli government has pumped money and weapons into illegal settlement ventures in the West Bank. Killings of Palestinians in the last two years rose, arson attacks regularly sets fire to villages, local And foreign Journalists face increasing threats from settler gangs, and American solidarity activists trying to protect Palestinian villagers are also being repressed. shot And was killed by Israeli soldiers.
During his nine-and-a-half-month detention period, Mohammed’s family was denied the right to visit him. Therefore, the joy of his freedom was overshadowed by grief: family members were able to hand over the body only after his release. news Sayfollah Musallet (20), born in Florida, cousin of Muhammad beaten to death by a gang of Israeli settlers in July. HE, fifth Americans have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, 2023.
Naturally, the US State Department has dragged its feet on holding accountable for crimes committed against its citizens, deferring investigations to the Israeli military. The practice of ignoring Israeli violence against Americans long predates the current Trump administration. Families of activist Rachel Corrie and journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israeli forces 2003 And 2022respectively – they have not yet seen justice.
The State Department’s inaction on behalf of Americans abroad can only be fully understood in light of the Department of Homeland Security’s hostility toward the domestic anti-war movement for the freedom of Palestine.
A month after Mohammed’s arrest, a Palestinian woman was murdered in New Jersey, half a world away from Al-Mazraa Ash-Sharquia. detained While applying for a green card from Immigration and Customs Enforcement through her mother, a U.S. citizen, on March 13. Leqaa Kordia, 32, was delivered to the USA from Newark in a short time. overcrowded Alvarado remains held today at the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas.
Similar to other politically motivated initiatives, “ideological exiles“Kordia was on ICE’s radar for participating in a protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. According to him, at the time of his arrest affidavitHe had lost “almost 175 family members – almost an entire generation – due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.” Although judges twice granted him bail, ICE used the rarely used method of “administrative detention” to keep him in captivity.
Although they face very different legal regimes, the cases of Kordia and Mohammed are serious examples of the consequences suffered by Palestinians who dare to oppose the massacre of their people or choose to maintain ties with their homeland by defying Israel’s military occupation.
By preventing any international intervention in the crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, the United States and Israel have undermined the institutions charged with upholding humanitarian law in favor of a world order defined by brute force. The unshakable army of the USA and diplomatic Its ally’s support has turned into an uncontrolled offensive across the region, with Israel conducting military operations in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Tunisia and Qatar.
But Mohammed’s case illustrates the role that ordinary people—family members and journalists, community organizers and retirees—can play in rejecting this situation by refusing to let Palestinians like Kordia and Mohammed disappear quietly. Brutal pressure campaigns can also have life-changing effects beyond individual cases: Mohammed’s lawyer was able to secure release agreements by using pressure on Israel. the other three Palestinian children detained and accused along with Mohammed.
We have witnessed an incident in the last two years tidal drift Americans’ public perception of the Palestinian cause. Elected representatives on both sides of the aisle are facing increased scrutiny for their ties to pro-Israel lobby groups. Social movements are now better positioned to pressure government officials by increasing the political and reputational costs of complicity in crimes against humanity.
Challenging impunity for Israel’s imprisonment of a Palestinian American teenager necessarily means challenging the broader system through which the United States provides unconditional support for Israel. This also means opposing similar injustices on our own borders. criminalization Refusal of solidarity with Palestine or denial of due process tens of thousands The number of immigrants in detention centers like the one where Kordia is being held.
In both the United States and Israel, imprisonment is used to separate individuals from their communities, leaving them alone, isolated, and vulnerable to forces far beyond their control. However, organized grassroots movements have the power to challenge these deadly bureaucracies, whether at home or abroad. We can fight and win for the freedom of people like Muhammad and Kordia.
Nasreen Abd Elal is a Palestinian organizer living in New York.
