US Aid Approves Child Killing, Condemns Mourning
When nine-year-old Muhammad al-Hallaq was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, it barely registered as a blip on the American media radar. Why? Perhaps because the narrative of children dying under occupation doesn't fit neatly into the 'ironclad' ally framework our politicians and pundits so fiercely protect. Congressional records show that in 2023 alone, the US approved $3.3 billion in
security assistance to Israel, a nation whose military consistently employs lethal force against civilians, including children. While Al Jazeera spotlights Muhammad's shattered family, our elected officials, many of whom accept significant contributions from organizations like AIPAC (Rep. Steny Hoyer, for instance, received over $100,000 from pro-Israel groups in 2022, according to
OpenSecrets.org), will continue to fund the very actions leading to such atrocities. One might wonder: how many more 'childhoods killed' will it take before our 'shared values' extend to Palestinian children, or is 'collateral damage' just another line item in the defense budget?