Source: Common Dreams
by Charles Glass
“Egyptian-born Omar El Akkad had studied in the United States and been 10 years a journalist when, in the summer of 2021, he became an American citizen. Covering the War on Terror in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention center in Guantánamo Bay exposed him to ‘the deep ugly cracks in the bedrock of this thing they called ‘the free world.’ Yet he believed the cracks could be repaired — ‘Until the fall of 2023. Until the slaughter.’ The slaughter was Israel’s razing of Gaza following Hamas’[s] rampage into Israel on October 7, 2023. The Israeli assault escalated to include massive bombardment; enforced hunger; destruction of hospitals and schools; bulldozing of dwellings; deprivation of medical care; torture; and the slaughter of tens of thousands of men, women, and children. The onslaught caused Akkad to despair for Gaza’s Palestinians and for his adopted country, whose financing and weapons enabled it.” (07/22/25)