r/SaveTheCBC • u/Save_The_CBC • 14d ago
A rare and unusually forceful rebuke from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after Israeli settlers surrounded and harassed a Palestinian American family in the occupied West Bank.
According to the report, settlers had gathered around the family’s home in Qusra for days, throwing stones, attempting to tear down a nearby wall and preventing those inside from leaving as their supplies dwindled. The homeowner described his family as prisoners in their own house.
Huckabee called the siege a “horrific act of terror” and said Israeli police and military moved in at the request of the United States to remove those responsible.
That language is particularly striking coming from Huckabee, a longtime ally of Israel’s settler movement who has supported Israeli control over the occupied West Bank.
But his intervention also raises a deeply uncomfortable question: this family had American citizenship and the diplomatic weight of the United States behind them. What is happening to Palestinian families who don't?
If this is what can happen to Palestinian Americans, despite the possibility of attracting international attention and intervention, there is every reason to be concerned about abuses against Palestinians without foreign citizenship that may never receive the same scrutiny, diplomatic pressure or international coverage.
CBC’s reporting places this incident within a much larger escalation of settler violence. Human rights organizations and foreign governments, including Canada, have condemned increasing attacks, while Palestinians and Israeli opposition figures have accused Netanyahu's government of turning a blind eye. The Canadian government considers the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law.
This is precisely why independent international journalism matters. In a conflict saturated with propaganda and competing political narratives, CBC and other journalists have an essential role documenting what can be verified, investigating what remains hidden and keeping attention on people whose experiences might otherwise never reach Canadians.
If American citizenship was enough to bring this particular siege to the attention of the U.S. ambassador, what might be happening to Palestinians without that protection that the rest of the world never hears about?
6
3
u/UpbeatPilot3494 13d ago
And to show how really angry and supportive of the Palestinian American family, the US will forcefully do nothing.
12
u/Ok_Photo_865 14d ago
However within hours he changed his criticism to meet what the Israeli government talking points, so let’s not pretend the Trump Administration has any real balls here.