Israeli soldiers are using slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s face for target practice

Israeli soldiers are using the photo of murdered American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh for target practice. 

This is one of the revelations in the newly released Zeteo documentary “Who Killed Shireen.” The film exposes previously unreported details around the murder of the famous Al Jazeera journalist by an Israeli sniper in Jenin on May 11, 2022, including the identity of the sniper who assassinated Abu Akleh. It also reveals how the Biden administration knew from the very beginning, via an Israeli general, that it was an Israeli soldier who shot her, but they acted as if they knew nothing, and made any investigations classified so as to obscure the story.  

But beyond the startling details and identities, I keep coming back to the fact that those soldiers used her photo for target practice. It’s almost impossible to wrap one’s head around it. 

The explanation seems to be as follows: Abu Akleh’s murderer, Alon Scagio, was moved out of the elite Duvdevan unit following her killing to a senior position in another unit, which distanced him from any investigation. His comrades in the Duvdevan unit considered this an insult for which they would figuratively take “revenge” on Abu Akleh by shooting at her face for target practice. This is based on the testimony of Scagio’s friend from the Duvdevan unit. 

So let’s just try to unpack and understand this. Abu Akleh’s murderer was actually protected from any accountability. He was not tried and he was not demoted, he was simply transferred to a commanding post in another unit, precisely to shield him from legal scrutiny. And still, this slight consequence was reason enough to enact revenge against the murdered journalist’s memory. 

The reality behind this mindset is quite obvious – Israeli soldiers are simply not used to being held accountable at all. 

This is reminiscent of the drama around Elor Azarya, the Israeli military medic who murdered an incapacitated Palestinian suspect with a point-blank shot to the head in 2016. The discussion at the time within Israeli society was primarily about him having been unlucky enough to be filmed doing it, not the fact that he did it. Because, as his comrades testified, such executions happen “tons of times”, but it is rare that they are caught on camera. And so Azarya was seen as a scapegoat, which is why he was viewed as a hero and martyr to many Israelis, and even as his already privileged prison sentence was reduced to a mere nine months. 

Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder became an international story and scandal not only because it was filmed, but also because she was a famous journalist and an American. But the facts about her murder also give context and explanation to the targeting of the hundreds of Palestinian journalists who have been murdered by Israel during the Gaza genocide. Targeting journalists is one of the most blatant war crimes possible, but crimes that are not prosecuted are no longer crimes as far as the perpetrator is concerned. 

Palestinian journalists are viewed as enemies by Israeli soldiers because they are one of the few actors who can lead to even a modicum of accountability, as minimal as these consequences are. And thus, they become a target. 

The act of using Shireen Abu Akleh’s photo as target practice manifests the mindset that these journalists are fair game. 

And the more trouble they end up causing—even in their death—the more they are hated, the greater the sense of revenge, and the greater the danger for their colleagues, who share the same annoying PRESS vests and helmets. 

This is really happening, and it continues to happen because it is not being stopped. Abu Akleh’s case also shows us that this was the case before October 7, 2023, and it has nothing to do with Hamas.