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| Israel’s violent history with US citizens reveals a shocking pattern of attacks and impunity. ((Design: Palestine Chronicle)) |
https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-attacks-on-us-you-probably-did-not-know-about/
By Robert Inlakesh, Reposted from Palestine Chronicle, January 9, 2025
While it has become normalized for US Presidents to openly avow that they are Zionists and pledge unconditional support to their Israeli ally, most Americans still remain unaware that Israel has repeatedly attacked and killed their fellow citizens.
During the past four years of Joe Biden’s Presidency, Israel has gotten away with murdering five American citizens, for which there have been no consequences for the US’ special relationship with Tel Aviv. Yet Israel’s attacks against America and its citizens go back much further.
In 1954, Israeli intelligence operatives planted bombs in US, British, and Egyptian civilian areas in Cairo, ranging from shopping malls, and movie theatres to diplomatic targets.
The goal was to frame Communist groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other actors to serve Israeli interests, convincing the US and UK to back Israel in taking military action. However, the plot, known as “The Lavon Affair” was thankfully foiled and represented a diplomatic debacle for Tel Aviv.
During the June 1967 war that Israel initiated with its “Operation Focus” surprise attack against Egypt, an American naval vessel called the USS Liberty was deliberately attacked by the Israeli military.
The incident led to the killing of 34 US sailors and the injury of 174 others, miraculously the US-flagged ship did not sink despite Israel having repeatedly assaulted it with torpedoes and even napalm.
Then US President Lyndon B. Johnson covered the event up in order to not embarrass Israel, although the ship’s survivors have campaigned for justice for years and rarely received much media attention. It is alleged that the Israeli intention behind the USS Liberty assault was to create a false-flag attack that justified American intervention in the 1967 war.
On August 28, 1980, Israel almost succeeded in assassinating the US ambassador to Lebanon, John Gunther Dean. Although the American ambassador provided evidence that Israel was behind the attempt on his life, Dean was quickly replaced and the incident swept under the rug.
The official narrative accepted by the US government, despite the material evidence of Israeli involvement, was that the fascist militia group called the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners (FLLF) had been behind it.
Years later, in his book, Rise and Kill First, Israeli investigative journalist, Ronen Bergman, revealed that three Israeli officers – Meir Dagan, Rafael Eitan, and Avigdor Ben-Gal – were responsible for creating the FLLF. Their goal was to pose as an organic anti-Palestinian group of Christian Lebanese extremists.
In the case of the attempted assassination of John Gunther Dean, it was speculated that the reason behind the attack was to replace the American ambassador due to his willingness to speak to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). If this was the objective, they succeeded in replacing the ambassador.
On March 16, 2003, a 23-year-old American peace activist named Rachel Corrie was deliberately crushed to death by an Israeli soldier driving a militarised bulldozer in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. She had been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and was attempting to block the Israeli army from destroying Palestinian homes. Her parents are still campaigning for justice.
In 2010, Israeli commandos raided a humanitarian aid convoy in International Waters, violently storming a ship called the Mavi Marmara on May 31. The Israeli soldiers gunned down 10 of the activists on board, who had intended to break the illegal military siege on Gaza and were carrying humanitarian aid, one of those who was murdered was an American citizen.
The Mavi Marmara survivors are still bringing legal challenges in an attempt to hold Tel Aviv accountable.
On May 11, 2022, an Israeli soldier assassinated Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, in the Jenin Refugee Camp. The State Department later published a report that contradicted itself and served to whitewash the event. The veteran Al-Jazeera journalist had worked in her role for 25 years and was a household name for Palestinians.
Israeli occupation police forces assaulted mourners at Abu Akleh’s funeral, causing the pallbearers to drop her casket. Israeli police later published a doctored video of that incident to try and blame Palestinians for initiating a clash, which was debunked due to video evidence from multiple angles.
Then-Israeli PM Naftali Bennet initially tried to blame Palestinians for shooting Abu Akleh, using videos widely shared on official Israeli social media pages, which were quickly debunked by Israel’s own top rights group B’Tselem.
There has not been justice for Shireen Abu Akleh’s family, who have been repeatedly let down by an American government that isn’t willing to even force Israel to punish the soldier responsible.
On April 1, 2024, Israel deliberately murdered 7 World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers, including an American-Canadian dual citizen. WCK receives financing from the US government-funded USAID program.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that an Israeli drone launched repeated strikes against clearly marked humanitarian aid vehicles, targeting workers who moved from one vehicle to the next, the US took no action to properly punish Israel.
Israel has not only murdered dozens of US citizens, many of them Palestinian-Americans who receive little to no coverage compared to non-Palestinians, but American citizens continue to be harassed, detained, assaulted, and subjected to pogroms in the occupied West Bank.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes committed against US citizens, Washington repeatedly turns a blind eye and it is rare that even the individual Israelis responsible will be held partially accountable.
Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.
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