This is great: National Public Radio aired a long story yesterday featuring a demand by the brother of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh that the United States investigate her killing in Jenin on May 11 and keep Israel out of the case. Israel has refused to take any responsibility in the Al Jazeera broadcaster’s death– though eyewitnesses said that an Israeli soldier shot Abu Akleh from about 600 feet away, and investigations by AP, CNN, and the Washington Post have backed them up.
So some American media continue to seek to undermine Israel’s impunity, and push Joe Biden not to dodge the matter, as he surely wants to.
NPR reporter Daniel Estrin began his report with the honest statement that Israel doesn’t investigate the killings of civilians and doesn’t punish soldiers.
So the case is in limbo, and that is very similar to other times when Palestinian civilians have been killed. You look at the army’s statistics, and they show that Israel rarely releases definitive conclusions. Soldiers are mostly not punished. There is pressure from members of Congress to keep this on the radar. And so Anton Abu Akleh, her brother – he’s 58 years old. He wants the U.S. to get more involved. That was his main message when I visited him in East Jerusalem.
Estrin refers to the 57 Congresspeople who have called for an independent investigation by the United States. And meantime, the State Department expresses faith in the Israeli investigation of the matter. (P.S. I can’t think of one time that Israel has punished a soldier for killing Palestinians. Hatred of Palestinians is the glue of that society.)
Brother Anton Abu Akleh is clear about the family’s demand. An investigation that Israel has no part of.
There should be a U.S. investigation helmed by expert – international expert, by U.S. expert. The FBI can do this and give us what they believe. Whatever the results of this investigation is, we accept. We’ll accept it as long as Israel is not involved in this.
The Abu Akleh family sounds a lot like the families of Americans killed by police who seek justice. Anton told Estrin:
We want whoever is in charge of this, whoever gave the order to shoot Shireen, to assassinate Shireen – he should be put – held accountable for this. It’s simple. We need justice to ensure it’s not repeated and to ensure safety for other journalists in the field. It’s not about the soldier or a specific soldier. It’s about the policy. It’s time to end these double standards which Israel has been enjoying. You know, you do something wrong; you have to pay for it.
This is a good sign that the Abu Akleh case is not going away, and even if Israel has dumped the rifle in the Mediterranean, and some U.S. press wants to sweep the case under the rug, its obfuscation of the matter will bedevil Biden’s visit to the country in July. Because again, let’s be clear: Israel knows exactly who killed Abu Akleh and “why,” it has scads of evidence, all of which it is withholding despite the international clamor, while insisting that the Palestinians hand over the bullet. That is all you need to know; it demonstrates a callous arrogance and utter lack of accountability.
There was a proposal floated years ago to send peacekeeping forces to the occupied West Bank while Israel withdraws from it. That caused a big uproar.
Fat chance that the US would investigate or even suggest an investigation into Israel’s actions in this case.
Israel TELLS the US what to say vis-a-vis US policy in the region, yet many are under the false impression that the dog still wags the tail. I don’t understand how that is remotely possible. If it were not evident in actions, then the words used over and over in so-called press briefings should be telling. Many US officials are still towing the two-state solution line even WHILE Israeli officials are in both words and actions showing that Israel NEVER intends to allow for a Palestinian state or autonomy.
RE: “P.S. I can’t think of one time that Israel has punished a soldier for killing Palestinians.” ~ Phil Weiss
MY COMMENT: I recall one wanton murder by an Israeli soldier that was caught by a camera and consequently the perpetrator was punished, albeit by little more than a slap on the wrist (nine months in prison).
The perpetrator (Elor Azaria) also became a national hero in Israel!
SEE: Israeli Rights Group Releases Video of Army Medic Executing Wounded Palestinian Suspect | By Robert Mackey | The Intercept | March 24 2016
LINK – https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/israeli-rights-group-releases-video-soldier-executing-wounded-palestinian-suspect/
P.S. ALSO SEE: How to whitewash the killing of two Palestinian teens | +972 | Dec. 12, 2016
Video and forensic evidence didn’t stop the Israeli authorities from failing to properly prosecute the killing of two Palestinian youths at a Nakba Day protest in 2014.
LINK – https://www.972mag.com/how-to-whitewash-the-killing-of-two-palestinian-teens/
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“‘This is inconceivable and absolutely unacceptable,’ the Israeli Actors Guild spokesperson said. ‘Canceling a show based on political and demagogic reasons, without anyone even watching it.’
“‘We’re shocked that an artistic stage — especially one that defines itself as fringe — would cancel a show on a day’s notice. We will never approve of such an extreme and violent behavior that contradicts our values as artists who believe in freedom of speech, from both right and left.’
“The Directors Guild announced that it would boycott the Fringe Theater unless it reversed its decision. ‘A place where artists are silenced is a place that is not appropriate for plays or audiences,’ the guild posted on its Facebook page.
“The Fringe Theater’s Artistic Director Yoav Michael declined to comment.”
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https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/theater/2022-06-17/ty-article/.highlight/israeli-theater-nixes-play-featuring-west-bank-soldiers-testimonies/00000181-70ae-d541-a9ad-fbbe3cdf0000
“Israeli Theater Nixes Play Featuring West Bank Soldiers’ Testimonies” By Hagit Ginsburg, June 17, 2022, Haaretz
“The cancellation came after a right-wing group complained to the southern Israel city’s mayor that the show is linked to a prominent anti-occupation group which ‘slanders & attacks IDF soldiers'”
“A play based on testimonies by female Israeli soldiers serving in the West Bank was cancelled on Thursday, after a right-wing group protested to the mayor of the southern Israel city of Be’er Sheva.
“On Thursday, ahead of the opening performance, the creator & director of the show, Yael Tal, said she received a call from the manager of the Fringe Theater ‘with a long list of vague reasons for canceling the play.’
“In a Facebook post, she added that the theater’s artistic director openly told her that he opted to scrap the play because the noise it was creating was ‘not positive,’ & that he is unwilling to ‘pay the price for this play.’
“B’Tsalmo chairman Shai Glick sent the protest letter to Be’er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich on Thursday, calling on him to nix the play: ‘The play is based on ‘testimonies’ in which Breaking the Silence slanders & attacks IDF soldiers, Israel’s citizens & the state of Israel,’ Glick wrote.
“‘We all know the truth — Breaking the Silence is a marginal group that mostly lies & is connected to the global BDS [Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions] movement against Israel. There is no place for public & municipal funding for plays that exude hate & incitement,’ he added.
“On Wednesday, the right-wing Arutz Sheva news outlet reported that the Fringe Theater was hosting a play on ‘the occupation’ & that it receives municipal funding. ‘The usual threat,’ Tal said. ‘We thought it might lead to protest, but never to the cancelation of the play.’
“The decision drew widespread condemnation, with the Israeli Actors Guild, the Director’s Guild, the Choreographers’ Association & the Indie Theater Makers organization all denouncing the abrupt cancelation.” (cont’d)
This was a refreshingly good report by NPR and Daniel Estrin. I have generally been critical of Estrin as little more than a shill for the Israeli government (as was NPR reporter Linda Gradstein before him), but in this report on the murder of highly-respected American-Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 at long range by an Israeli soldier near the Jenin refugee camp, Estrin and NPR (finally) presented the influential NPR listeners of “All Things Considered” some honest, blunt, inconvenient facts about the Israeli military and its systemic use of deadly force with callous impunity, deadly force that is enabled by a culture of supremacy and entitlement, and that has been ramped up this year against an occupied population that dares to resist that occupation by non-violent means and with its own deadly force — a right recognized under international law.
Estrin effectively humanized the story of Shireen Abu Akheh’s killing with an excellent interview of Shireen’s brother, Anton, and a few words from Shireen’s sister. They clearly made the case on behalf of the family for a U.S. investigation to buttress the investigations already undertaken by the Palestinian Authority, the AP, CNN and the Washington Post. Having 57 members of Congress on board for a U.S. investigation should help that effort.
Thank you, Daniel Estrin and NPR.