Families of detained Palestinian Americans decry US government’s silence
Al Jazeera
Three Palestinian Americans were detained last week by Israeli forces, but their families say the US has yet to step in.
Washington, DC – “Confirmed receipt.” That is the only message Yasmeen Elagha received from the United States government after two of her cousins — both Palestinian Americans — were detained by Israeli forces as they sheltered near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Now, she is calling on the administration of US President Joe Biden to do more to assure their safety and secure their release. Elagha said her two cousins, 18-year-old Borak Alagha and 20-year-old Hashem Alagha, are being held without charge.
“We’ve pleaded with the US government,” Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University in Chicago, explained. “The administration is fully failing in its duty.”
Hers is one of several families pushing for the protection of Palestinian Americans taken into Israeli custody, as the war on Gaza stretches on. They gathered in Washington, DC, for a news conference on Monday to press for action.
From the podium, Elagha explained that she learned of her cousins’ abduction in a February 7 phone call with her aunt in Gaza. Through tears, her aunt recounted how Israeli soldiers broke into their shelter in al-Mowasi, near Khan Younis, and tied up the women and children.
