US Judge: Palestinian Americans Have No Right to Not Be Bombed
A US judge recently dismissed a lawsuit by Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza, ruling that their pleas for the US to protect them from bombardment were a 'political question' beyond judicial review. This effectively means American citizens' constitutional rights vanish when they're in a conflict zone where the US is actively arming one side. It's a convenient legal bypass, particularly when the
conflict in question sees the US Senate recently approving HR 815, providing over $14 billion in military aid to Israel, a vote that followed a year of record campaign contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to various senators and representatives. (According to OpenSecrets.org, AIPAC's super PAC poured over $6 million into federal elections in 2022 and continues
its robust lobbying efforts, influencing countless votes like this one.) So, the US government can't be sued for abandoning its citizens in a warzone it helps facilitate, yet it can, with taxpayer dollars, send billions to the combatant responsible for their displacement and endangerment. One might wonder: at what point does 'political question' become 'moral abdication'? Or, as Rep. Smith, who
collected $450K from AIPAC in 2023, might argue, is it simply business as usual?