I write to you outraged by the deliberate medical neglect and arbitrary imprisonment of Palestinian journalist Ali Al-Samoudi, now detained without charge in Israel’s Naqab Prison. Al-Samoudi, 58, is a diabetic and hypertensive patient deprived of vital medication for months—an act of torture in clear violation of international law. He was previously shot by Israeli forces in 2022 while covering the Jenin invasion that killed his colleague Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen and journalist.
In his recent letter from prison, Al-Samoudi describes being beaten, isolated, and starved, suffering dizziness, bleeding, and severe internal pain while Israeli authorities renew his “administrative detention” to silence him. His only “crime” is journalism—reporting truth from Jenin. This is not an isolated case but part of Israel’s systematic campaign to crush Palestinian media, imprisoning dozens of reporters without trial while the U.S. continues to arm and shield this apartheid regime from accountability.
Our tax dollars are financing the repression of journalists and the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. This cannot continue. Silence from Congress makes you complicit in Israel’s crimes against humanity and its assault on press freedom.
I demand you:
• Condemn Israel’s arbitrary detention and medical neglect of Ali Al-Samoudi.
• Call for his immediate release and medical treatment.
• End all U.S. military aid and weapons transfers to Israel until it complies with international law and releases all administrative detainees.
• Support the International Criminal Court’s investigations into Israel’s crimes against journalists and civilians.
If the United States truly values freedom of the press and human rights, that commitment must extend to Palestinian journalists risking their lives to tell the truth.
First sent on October 13 by BlueCollarJew
