Shireen Abu Akleh: US is no ‘objective observer’, advocates say

With US aid flowing to Israel, Palestine rights activists say Washington is ‘complicit’ in Israeli abuses. Washington, DC – The United States needs to “look in the mirror” and reassess its unconditional support for Israel, Palestinian rights advocates say, as calls to condition billions in annual US aid are growing in the aftermath of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing. “When it comes to hawkish politicians who support unconditional support for the Israeli government, they need to look in the mirror and see that actually, our unconditional funding is a big factor in enabling the Israeli government to act with impunity and carry out these human rights abuses.” President Joe Biden and his top aides have repeatedly promised not to condition, restrict or reduce US aid to Israel, which totals $3.8bn annually. “The US is 100 percent hand in hand with Israel when it comes to these abuses that are happening.” Legislative efforts Last year, Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced legislation that would ensure that US aid is not used to fund Israel’s human rights abuses. “I’ve called for restrictions on US aid to Israel to ensure our tax dollars are not funding blatant human rights abuses – and such restrictions should certainly be applied to this situation if Israeli security forces are found responsible for Shireen’s death.” Omar Baddar, a Palestinian American political analyst, noted that public opinion polls show that imposing conditions on US aid to Israel is popular among Americans, particularly Democrats.