US Demands Release of American Teen After Nine Months, Not Nine Days
Nine months for a 16-year-old, for 'allegedly throwing rocks'—a charge that, for a white American teen in, say, France, would likely trigger an immediate, high-level diplomatic intervention. Yet, when the detention is by the Israeli government, particularly against a Palestinian American, the standard American outrage seems to develop at a glacial pace. This isn't an isolated incident; countless
Palestinian children face such detentions, often without due process, yet only those with a U.S. passport (and even then, only eventually) make Western news cycles. One might wonder if the State Department’s concern is directly proportional to how much outrage might disrupt the biannual $3.8 billion check to Israel. This 'concern' often lands softer than a feather falling on velvet. Contrast this
with the swift action taken for, say, Brittney Griner, and one sees a clear stratification of foreign policy priorities. It appears American citizenship carries certain... conditional guarantees, especially when juxtaposed against the unwavering support for an ally with a documented history of administrative detention against minors. The silence from many in Congress, recipients of millions in
AIPAC funding , on such abuses is, of course, purely coincidental.