An 81-year-old California resident is one of many US citizens who have sued key US officials for their purported failure to evacuate them from the besieged Gaza Strip.
Americans Trapped In Gaza Sue US Government For Evacuation Help
The unidentified woman has been stuck in Gaza since the war broke out, unable to exit into Israel or Egypt. Now her family is suing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, demanding that US officials evacuate her.
At a press conference revealing the lawsuit, the attorney representing her explained:
“She is in a war. She has no medication. She hasn’t ate or drank for almost 30 days. No lights, no electricity, no beds. I am sure you all have seen it.
“If she attempts to cross by herself, she won’t make it. The state department has not given clearance to any family members to help her in this crossing. She is need of medical attention.”
Her lawsuit is not unique; many have sued the US this week in similar actions seeking to compel evacuation assistance.
I have thoughts specific to Gaza and generally.
Pertaining to Gaza, Hamas has been in power since 2007 and Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the US, Canada, and the European Union.
I don’t even know how people get in there in the first place…I tried and failed.
Maybe going to such an enclave constitutes an “assumption of risk” in which realistic and reasonable expectations of evacuation should not be present…
Generally speaking, the US State Department does have a history of evacuating people from war zones (and not charging them for it either), but this is not a constitutional right either explicitly stated or implied.
I’m proud of past US evacuation efforts and in the case of this conflict, working with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to open the Rafah border crossing (which has already made several of these lawsuits moot). I really question whether any further action beyond this is appropriate and certainly do not view it as an obligation of a government to protect citizens who voluntarily enter danger zones.
CONCLUSION
A number of lawsuits have been filed against US officials demanding travel assistance in evacuating Gaza. While the US may be uniquely situated to help, I see no constitutional prescription for evacuation from any war zone. That said, it was encouraging to see so much movement over the Rafah crossing and I hope that continues.
I am just singing the praises of AdBlock.
I click on an ad each time I see your terrorist ass post here.
Anytime you leave your home country, you are taking a risk since what they can do for you elsewhere may be seriously limited.
People are just wacko or clueless. It is one thing if you are talking about visiting England, Germany, Canada but it is another thing going to the middle east, parts of Africa, etc. And even more difficult when you are older.
THANK YOU, seems like common sense, but that is sorely lacking in America, even for some of our older generation it seems.
Most Americans who are able to go to Gaza are visiting family or are volunteering/aid workers. Given that Israel rarely approves permits to leave Gaza, those with family there often must go there if they ever want to see them.
I think the point is that the U.S. quickly evacuated those who wished to leave from Israel proper when the conflict began, but the same expediency has not been shown with those Americans in Gaza. Now obviously, freedom of movement and security situations are different between Israel and Gaza and it is logistically more challenging to evacuate people from Gaza given the safety risks Israeli bombardment pose. But given that U.S. is a patron state to Israel (and Egypt, to be fair, who controls the Rafah border crossing) and significantly funds and provides those weapons being used to bombard Gaza, they should have influence to be able to demand and facilitate the safe passage of their citizens. It is unarguably an American interest to protect the lives of Americans abroad, and we should expect our government to demand as much (especially from an ally).
The bigger story here is that an 81 year old is still alive after not eating or drinking for almost 30 days! Sounds like a little bit of hyperbole there, or an amazing superhuman is living among us. And perhaps surviving without her medication shows the pharmaceutical companies are overstating the need for their products.
Also shows how desperate some people are to leave CA in that a 81 year old woman either moved to, or is visiting such a sh#thole where the risks were obvious. The US has zero responsibility to risk lives to rescue people who make such stupid decisions.
@Dave lEdwards
LOL That was also my first thought. Must be a miraclem
Isn’t Gaza a LEVEL 4 – DO NOT TRAVEL zone?
And why TF is an 81 yr old “American” living their last lives on a shithole?
For the same reason many a comparably aged American goes to Israel proper when retirement aged: to be with family and friends or to be close to where their parents are buried.
All decent people realize that Palestinians too love their family, friends and heritage homelands as much as anybody else loves their own.
I wonder if the woman packed her ‘death to America’ T shirt when visiting Gaza. My point, it’s amazing in these situations when people suddenly value American ‘rights’.
How many of those demanding their “rights” would themselves defend or encourage their family to fight to protect those rights.
I’m guessing zero.
So you would prefer that the people in Gaza pick up weapons, explosives and incendiaries to fight for their rights against the IDF? Your comment could be read to suggest just that and more.
A responsible way to get one’s rights respected is to take it to court. Responsible people should encourage taking a matter to court when a government is not treating all of its citizens as equal citizens.
The irony of the current Biden Admin game with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s current dynamic is that the Biden Admin is costing its own future re-election chances even as it has gone all hawk in supporting Israel’s unleashing of military wrath across a population of Palestinians that is on average more likely to be under 18 years of age than adults.
Trump is polling ahead of Biden, and Biden has probably now lost Michigan, a state he can’t afford to lose, and possibly even Minnesota and Wisconsin. Will Biden gain Florida? If not, he’s out as a loser if it’s a Biden v Trump rematch in November 2024.
Should have never went,Now it’s someone else’s responsibility to get you back.Now you want to sue for it.You new the type of terrorist there are out there,You went anyway.You should just keep trying to get back yourself and not blame someone else for you decisions and now you want to sue.