Human rights advocates on Wednesday called for a thorough and transparent investigation after Al Jazeera and witnesses said Israeli forces shot and killed one of the network’s reporters while she was at work.
Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known 51-year-old Palestinian-American correspondent, was wearing a helmet and press jacket that clearly identified her as a journalist when Israeli forces shot her in the face as she covered an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine. Another Palestinian journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was shot in the back but is reportedly in stable condition.
While Israeli officials falsely claimed Palestinian militants shot Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera condemned her killing as “blatant murder.”
Citing the IDF’s deadly history of targeting journalists during wars, invasions, and other military operations in Palestine, the women-led peace group CodePink demanded an “immediate suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel and a thorough and impartial investigation of Shireen’s murder.”
The US gives Israel, one of the world’s wealthiest nations per capita, around $3.8 billion in unconditional annual military aid, despite being classified an apartheid state by prominent international and Israeli officials and organizations.
Sign the petition demanding justice for Shireen: https://t.co/PoLrQwyfip
— CODEPINK (@codepink) May 11, 2022
Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in s statement that “throughout this year, the Israeli apartheid government has been launching increasingly violent attacks on reporters, worshippers, paramedics, and protesters.”
“Israeli forces also have a long history of targeting journalists, even bombing the Gaza headquarters of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera last year,” he continued. “Our nation’s muted reaction has emboldened this violence. Enough is enough.”
“These war crimes must end, and President [Joe] Biden is the only world leader with the influence to end them,” Awad added. “President Biden should immediately call for a complete end to Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory and direct the FBI to launch an independent investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder.”
The White House on Wednesday afternoon “strongly” condemned Abu Akleh’s killing while calling “for a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances of her death.”
Israel cannot continue murdering Palestinians with impunity. It cannot continue its violent policy of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Join us in London this Saturday at 12pm by the BBC to demand justice for Shireen & all Palestinians killed by Israel. The Nakba must finally end. pic.twitter.com/wnxDnUOJIx
— PSC (@PSCupdates) May 11, 2022
Saleh Hijazi, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement that Abu Akleh’s killing is “a bloody reminder of the deadly system in which Israel locks Palestinians. Israel is killing Palestinians left and right with impunity. How many more need to be killed before the international community acts to hold Israel accountable for the continuing crimes against humanity?”
“States around the world have a moral and legal responsibility to take immediate action to put an end to the continuing crimes perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians to maintain the calamity of apartheid,” Hijazi added. “The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should set the course for justice, truth, and reparation to end the impunity that encourages these ongoing crimes.”
“I'd think the Biden admin. could do more than words when a US citizen is gunned down abroad [in] a press vest, clearly delineating that they should be protected, that they are there to cover & offer truth to the entire world about what is happening…in Palestine” @A7madAbuznaid
— #SaveMasaferYatta USCPR (@USCPR_) May 11, 2022
The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) issued a statement hailing Abu Akleh as “an iconic voice that covered the occupation for over 20 years” whose “name resonates in every Palestinian home, globally.”
“We remember Shireen and the many other Palestinian journalists that put their lives on the line to combat the censorship Western media routinely propagates when covering the occupation,” the group continued. “We remember the millions of Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid, suffering from forced evictions, ethnic cleansing, and lack of basic human rights.”
ADC urged the Biden administration to conduct a “full, independent, and international investigation into the assassination of Shireen.”
“Complete transparency and full accountability for this war crime against an American citizen is necessary,” the group added. “Additionally, as Americans we call on the US government to stop all military aid to Israel, who uses our tax dollars to perpetrate these atrocities. Now is the time to put pressure on the Israeli government and stand up for Palestinian human rights.”
Brett Wilkins is is staff writer for Common Dreams. Based in San Francisco, his work covers issues of social justice, human rights and war and peace. This originally appeared at CommonDreams and is reprinted with the author’s permission.
This incident made me physically ill; I was weeping and shaking.
Not only for the life of this wonderful woman who dedicated her life to exposing Israhelli crimes against her people, but also for the fact that IsraHell has the absolute nerve to attempt to blame it on her fellow Palestinians.
And Amerikkka trusts IsraHell to conduct a fair investigation!
This is our taxpayer dollars at work.
If there is a god may he damn both nations to hell.
AMEN !!!
Israel should give Shireen Abu Akleh’s family money to pay for her funeral expenses. It of course won’t do that and denies it was involved in her murder and passes the blame to Palestinian militants that Israel makes militant.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory must end so must military and economic aid from other nations.
I would think attacking the funeral procession, nearly knocking the casket to the ground is indication that there will be zero $$$, and a sham “investigation”. Message from the top of the Zionist ladder: “let the beatings begin”.
V, that was nearly as vile as the assassination itself.
The man who moved in to keep the casket hitting the ground was a hero.
“ADC urged the Biden administration to conduct a “full, independent, and
international investigation into the assassination of Shireen.””Absolutely, no way! We (Biden administration) will determine there was no way to determine who fired the fatal bullet, or, we (Biden administration) will give it to Israel for their “forensic testing”. How do you spell WHITE WASH?
The Biden Administration will not conduct an investigation or will conduct a sham investigation dependent on AIPAC & Israel. Like most US Politicians of any party, he always denies Israel is in the wrong and that the Palestinians are in the right, which is why he is hesitating to restart the Iran Deal.
Israel’s Zionazi Propoganda Ministry is working overtime to deny their murder of yet another Journalist !!
And Theo—-the only reason we knew about this one is because she was an American citizen!