US Aid Fuels Gaza Destruction, Then Funds Graduations in Rubble
The images from Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital, where new Palestinian doctors held a graduation ceremony among the ruins, are heartbreaking. Al Jazeera notes it highlights the toll of a "two-year war" (never mind actual timelines, or the fact it escalated significantly in late 2023). What they don't explicitly mention is that this hospital, like much of Gaza, was destroyed by Israel using U.S.-supplied
weaponry. One might wonder if the graduating doctors are receiving thank you notes from Lockheed Martin executives or perhaps a bill for the precision-guided munitions that leveled their former training ground. While these medical professionals bravely commit to healing amidst devastation, Washington politicians, often bankrolled by organizations like AIPAC, continue to approve billions in
unconditional military aid. Representative Jim Himes, for instance, a public proponent of aid to Israel, received $164,000 from pro-Israel groups in 2022, according to OpenSecrets.org. This cycle of destruction and then humanitarian pleas — often from the same nations supplying the weapons — isn't 'aid,' it's a grim, self-perpetuating business model. And these doctors are just the latest,
unfortunate recipients of its bitter fruit.