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?
Even as Israel says it won’t investigate killing of Palestinian-American journalists, US media ignore the story. But journalists are supposed to be like firefighters — if one of you is killed in action the rest of you show up in solidarity and you don’t shut up. Apparently, though, there’s an exception — when the Israeli army (almost certainly) kills your colleague.
Today’s New York Times includes a collector’s item: an actual headline that reads “Israeli Police Attack Mourners”
Israel continues its time-honored strategy of manipulating the mainstream U.S. media — this time muddying the coverage of the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The New York Times relies on Amnesty International often but is ignoring the organization’s report charging Israel with “apartheid.”
The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu used his moral stature to call out and oppose Israeli apartheid, but the U.S. media seem embarrassed about this information. NPR completely leaves it out, while the New York Times and Washington Post and PBS News Hour bury it.
The Israeli government “fully supports and assists” the recent spike in settler violence against Palestinians. Because “Continuous, systemic violence meted out by settlers is part of Israel’s official policy, driving massive takeover of Palestinian” lands, B’Tselem says in a groundbreaking report. But the Washington Post’s recent article on settler violence suggests that the Israeli government is taking it on vigorously.
US media bury the truth of Palestinian protests in Jerusalem: Israeli leaders aim to seize homes in Sheikh Jarrah in a naked colonization strategy: “the way to secure the future of Jerusalem as a Jewish capital for the Jewish people,” as one apartheid advocate who happens to be the deputy mayor of Jerusalem told the New York Times.
Normally, the New York Times trusts Human Rights Watch and relies on the organization often. But the Times’s respectful view disappeared suddenly yesterday — after Human Rights Watch released a landmark report finding that “Israeli officials have committed the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.” The paper’s slanted report quotes two people in support of the finding, one of them Palestinian, and five people attacking the charge. Imagine writing a report on apartheid South Africa and quoting only one black South African.