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New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently said that the two-state solution in Israel/Palestine is, if not already dead, “in hospice.” Now it’s time for news reporters at his paper and other mainstream U.S. media, to look squarely at how and why two states is no longer possible. Instead, the two-state solution is supposedly still the ideal — for the U.S. government, among others. The headline after the U.S. Secretary of State’s arrival in Israel yesterday was, predictably: “Blinken reaffirms need for two-state solution after talks with Netanyahu.”

(FILE) A photo taken on October 15, 2018. Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh takes a photo during the coverage of the closure of Lubban al-Sharqiya School south of Nablus city, in the West Bank. (Photo: Wajed Nobani/APA Images)

The Washington Post publishes a lengthy investigation bearing out what eyewitnesses said on May 11, an Israeli soldier killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in occupied territories. The Post openly disputes the shifting Israeli “claims” about who killed Abu Akleh, and all but accuses the Israeli army of withholding evidence from the public. The investigation will add pressure on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to actually demand an independent investigation and accountability for the Israelis.

A long-delayed New York Times editorial on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh bears the insulting headline, “Who Killed Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh?” As if the Israeli government position bears considering, “Palestinian gunmen” had killed her. When in fact, reporting over the past month (although not in the Times) makes clear that the only genuine questions are: Did the Israeli soldier who killed Shireen Abu Akleh target her on purpose? If so, who ordered it? And who in the Israeli chain of command is continuing the coverup?

After Marc Lamont Hill gave a speech at the U.N. last November calling for equal rights in Palestine, his employer CNN called the next day and fired him. “They said, ‘Your speech was not in line with our values,'” he recalls to Palestinian journalist Janna Jihad. “I said, which part of the speech? They said, The speech.” Hill was shocked. “I’m prone to saying crazy shit. I just didn’t do it that day!”