New analysis by Forensic Architecture and Al Haq shows Shireen Abu Akleh was “deliberately and repeatedly targeted” by an Israeli military sniper taking “precise and careful aim.” These findings were disclosed today following the submission of a complaint to the ICC by lawyers for the family of Abu Akleh and two Palestinian journalists standing beside her that day.
“There has been no independent, credible investigation,” VT Senator Patrick Leahy said yesterday of Israel’s killing of Shireen Abu Akleh May 11. “To say that fatally shooting an unarmed person, and in this case one with PRESS written in bold letters on her clothing, was not intentional, without providing any evidence to support that conclusion, calls into question the State Department’s commitment to an independent, credible investigation and to ‘follow the facts.'”
Two Israeli writers explain the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh as the price of Israel’s clamping down on terrorism originating in the West Bank, with no consideration of the Palestinian experience under an apartheid army. Yet these talking points are echoed by Biden administration officials. Even as the Lapid government moves forward on more Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands, colonies that the Netanyahu government didn’t approve.
The bond between the U.S. and Israel is in the “souls” and “DNA” of Americans because we are both democracies facing terrorists, US Ambassador Tom Nides says. And so he does not mention the 17 children Israel killed in Gaza last month, even as he praises Israel for keeping the besieged Strip “relatively calm.” Nor does he mention Israel’s killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May in the occupied West Bank.
Yair Lapid’s brazen demand for Israeli impunity for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh is a disturbing demonstration of the relationship between Israel and its US benefactor.
According to the Biden administration we can rely on Israel to determine what accountability looks like in the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. But they can never actually explain what this means.
The U.S. State Department welcomed Israel’s statement on the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and Rep. Marie Newman and reporters Said Arikat and Matt Lee promptly rejected the American stance. “That’s not what accountability is, unless you guys have a different definition of it than the dictionary does,” Matt Lee mocked.
The Israeli military has finally released the results of its inquiry into the May 11 killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and it is now admitting that there’s a “high possibility” that the bullet came from an IDF soldier, however Israel also said that they will not press criminal charges against the solider responsible. Abu Akleh’s family put out a statement condemning the Israeli report and reiterating their demand for the Biden administration to take meaningful action. “Our family is not surprised by this outcome since it’s obvious to anyone that Israeli war criminals cannot investigate their own crimes,” it reads. “However, we remain deeply hurt, frustrated, and disappointed.”
In the months following the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian journalists have faced intensified repression from both Israeli forces and the Palestinian Authority.
A few years ago it felt like Roger Waters might be blacklisted by Israel supporters over his support for Palestine. But this summer he is filling stadiums around the country talking about Palestinian liberation.