With all eyes on Israeli hostages returning to their families as a result of the current ceasefire, Palestinian Americans who lived or have loved ones in Gaza remain mostly invisible to their own government and Western media ― grieving the destruction of their homeland and the killing of their friends and relatives, as they have been for more than two years.
Since President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the Middle East went into effect earlier this month, Hamas as of Wednesday has released all 20 living hostages and several deceased captives, while Israel has released nearly 2,000 living Palestinian hostages and about 90 deceased captives.
“We’ve had so many stories and family photos of the hostages on the Israeli side, and almost nothing on the Palestinian side – of the Americans who have a stake in this,” Arab American Institute founder Jim Zogby told HuffPost. “They’ve not had their story told.”
After the Oct. 7 attack, Palestinian Americans found it harder than it already was to receive government support to evacuate their loved ones from Gaza. Many of those families have spent the last two years watching their homes turn to rubble, their relatives reduced to bones and their elected officials vote to send billions of dollars in weapons for Israel to drop on their people.
