Meet the Gaza Mom Suing the U.S. Over Israel Military Aid - 大象传媒 Magazine Solutions Journalism

Nov 29, 2023

Despite a in Israel鈥檚 military assault on Gaza, there is a legal case being made that the United States is complicit in enabling Israeli genocide against Palestinians. The U.S. sends Israel each year, and President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration has been an of this decades-long trend.

Now, according to a new filed by the (CCR), 鈥淭he United States is not only failing to uphold its obligation to prevent the commission of genocide, but there is a plausible and credible case to be made that the United States鈥� actions to further the Israeli military operation, closure, and campaign against the Palestinian population in Gaza, rise to the level of complicity in the crime under international law.鈥�

One of the plaintiffs in CCR鈥檚 lawsuit is Palestinian American Laila El-Haddad, an award-winning writer, social activist, policy analyst, and journalist. She is the author of , co-author of the critically acclaimed , and co-editor of the anthology . El-Haddad, who has lost five family members to Israel鈥檚 bombing of Gaza, spoke with 大象传媒 Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the lawsuit.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.