Shireen Abu Akleh killing: Why all journalists must push for justice

To honour the Al Jazeera correspondent's legacy, we must identify those responsible and insist that they be held to account

Peter Oborne
1 July 2022 

Family and friends of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hold a vigil in Bethlehem on 16 May 2022 (AFP)

There’s a journalists’ altar at St Bride’s Church, the Christopher Wren architectural masterpiece a few yards south of London’s Fleet Street.

On this sacred spot, the best and the bravest among us are remembered. Those who gave their lives, to tell the truth about corruption, injustice, and oppression. The ones who must never be forgotten.

Anna Politkovskaya refused to give up her reporting on the Second Chechen War despite death threats and was fatally shot. Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative reporter assassinated in 2017, is also remembered there, as is Lyra Catherine McKee, shot dead while reporting on a riot in Derry.

If western journalists don't seek justice for Abu Akleh, we are complicit in her killing

Jamal Khashoggi, barbarously sliced up by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's goons in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, has his place on the altar of heroic sacrifice, as does Marie Colvin, killed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army in Homs.

This week, a new name joined the list of martyrs who have made the supreme sacrifice and given their lives, to tell the truth: Shireen Abu Akleh, in all likelihood shot by an Israeli sniper in Jenin in the northern West Bank on 11 May. Her funeral two days later was grotesquely disrupted when Israeli police attacked mourners in occupied East Jerusalem.

This desecration shaped the service at St Bride’s. Journalist Penelope Quinton, who organised the service, told me: “Not only did they take away her life, they took away her dignity as she was laid to rest. The principle that her funeral should be allowed to pass with dignity was violated.”
'She was a mother to me'

Events at the funeral explained why Quinton chose to include in the service Edward Elgar’s famous anthem: “They are at rest; we may not stir the heaven of their repose by rude invoking voice".

The choir also sang John Tavener’s Song for Athene as a tribute to the indomitable spirit of Abu Akleh. Athene is the Greek goddess of war and intellect, the two intermingled spheres in which Abu Akleh spent her life.

The St Bride’s memorial was filled with song, biblical readings, superlative choral verses, and profoundly moving addresses from some of those who knew Abu Akleh best and loved her deeply.

Ali al-Samoudi, the Al Jazeera journalist who was with Abu Akleh when she was killed and only recently came out of hospital after being badly injured in the same incident, spoke in Arabic via video link. He marvelled at Abu Akleh’s deep religious faith: “She took her rosary everywhere and always gave money to those in need."

Children visit the site where Abu Akleh was shot dead in Jenin on 12 May 2022 (AFP)

Samoudi, a veteran correspondent, did not tell his audience that - by an astonishing coincidence - two decades ago, he himself was reportedly blown into the air by an Israeli tank shell in exactly the same place that Abu Akleh was killed. He miraculously survived.

Najwan Simri, another Al Jazeera colleague, spoke in Arabic of the irreparable personal loss she felt upon Abu Akleh’s death: “She was a mother to me. She was a sister to me.”

The great British Palestinian singer Reem Kelani brought tears to the eyes of many in the congregation with a breathtaking rendition of The Singer Said, which features lyrics by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

Some of the words could have been written specifically to describe Abu Akleh’s final moments on earth: “This is how I died / standing, standing / I died like the trees.”
Minute of silence

But we were not there only to mourn and honour Abu Akleh. The congregation stood for a minute of silence to remember the names of all those who have died covering the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Among them were Yusef Abu Hussein, killed in an Israeli air raid last year; Yasser Murtaza, shot dead while covering the 2018 Gaza protests; and so on, and so on.

Among the congregation were journalist Duncan Campbell and his wife, the great actress Julie Christie, and four MPs: former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Tommy Sheppard, and Claudia Webbe. Quinton told me that she had invited many Tory MPs, but I could see none among the congregation. She said she had invited Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, but did not receive a response; she also invited many members of the Labour front bench, but none were at the service.

Shireen Abu Akleh killing: The West cannot wash away the stain of complicity

Read More »

On the media front, none of the BBC, Sky News, the New York Times, the AP, or AFP had an official presence at the service. Don Macintyre, a veteran political journalist who served as Jerusalem correspondent for the Independent, was among the congregation.

After the service, I spoke with Nadia Nasser Najjab, Abu Akleh’s close friend from the days when they both taught at Birzeit University (Abu Akleh taught English literature before her move into journalism). “I believe that if the case of Shireen is kept alive,” Najjab said, “the case of other Palestinians killed will also be kept alive."

Speaking for the family, Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina, noted that: “Shireen always was a hopeful person and believed that there will be justice for Palestine.”
Lessons learned

I believe there are lessons we journalists must take from Abu Akleh’s magnificent career: report the facts accurately, truthfully, and never give up. Don’t walk on eggshells. Spit it out. Never use the passive tense. Remember how many news outlets reported that Abu Akleh “died” in “clashes”?

She didn’t die. She was killed. To honour her legacy, we need to stick with this story, identify who killed her and who gave the orders, and then insist that they be held to account.

Shireen Abu Akleh was an American citizen and well-known reporter working for a celebrated international news organisation. If we don’t get justice for her, there will never be justice for any Palestinian journalist - or any Palestinian.

One final reflection: if western journalists don’t seek justice for Abu Akleh, we are complicit in her killing.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Peter Oborne won best commentary/blogging in both 2022 and 2017, and was also named freelancer of the year in 2016 at the Drum Online Media Awards for articles he wrote for Middle East Eye. He was also named as British Press Awards Columnist of the Year in 2013. He resigned as chief political columnist of the Daily Telegraph in 2015. His latest book, The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism, was published in February 2021 and was a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. His previous books include The Triumph of the Political Class, The Rise of Political Lying, and Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran.

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for Shireen Abu Akleh 

Israel Is in All-Out Crisis Mode After Terrible Handling of Reporter’s Death

Noga Tarnopolsky
Wed, May 18, 2022, 
The Daily Beast.

Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty

The death of Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera’s celebrated Palestine correspondent—who was shot in the head while covering a gun battle between Israeli army forces and Palestinian fighters in the West Bank city of Jenin last Wednesday—has spiraled from tragedy into a full-blown diplomatic crisis for Israel.

A series of clumsy reactions to the journalist’s death, and the police’s catastrophic handling of her funeral on Friday, where officers beat pallbearers with batons and dispersed the crowds with stun grenades, have left Israel exposed to a diplomatic maelstrom, with criticism coming from even the country’s strongest allies.

Israeli police has not responded to queries about its deployment of anti-terror police at the funeral, or its methods of riot control.

Videos of Abu Akleh’s coffin tipping over, slipping from the pallbearers’ hands and almost hitting the ground drew a rare rebuke from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who personally called Abu Akleh’s family to express condolences over the death of the renowned Palestinian American journalist.

The United States was “deeply troubled to see the images of Israeli police intruding into her funeral procession,” Blinken said, in a statement. “We remain in close contact with our Israeli and Palestinian counterparts and call on all to maintain calm and avoid any actions that could further escalate tensions.”

Family and friends carry the coffin of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin in the West Bank, as clashes erupted with Israeli security forces during her funeral in Jerusalem on May 13.
Ammar Awad/Reuters

More forcefully, the European Union said it was “appalled” by the scenes unfolding during Abu Akleh’s funeral and condemned “the disproportionate use of force and the disrespectful behavior by the Israeli police against the participants of the mourning procession.”

Cops and Mourners Clash at Reporter’s Funeral

An Israel police statement released at midnight on Friday, the day of the funeral, claimed that a “mob” had threatened the driver of the hearse carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin, disrupting plans “coordinated in advance by the Israel Police together with the Abu Akleh family.”

“Israeli police intervened to disperse the mob and prevent them from taking the coffin, so that the funeral could proceed as planned in accordance with the wishes of the family,” police said, in a statement that was ripped to shreds by the journalist’s brother, Tony Abu Akleh, who told CNN that the police’s actions amounted to an “intentional and brutal” attack.

Towards the end of one video, a commander appears to be reprimanding some of the officers.

On Monday, east Jerusalem’s Saint Joseph’s Hospital, where Abu Akleh’s body was prepared for burial, released a video of about a dozen Israeli police officers raiding its wards for no apparent reason.

Israel police have announced an investigation into the incident, which saw officers ripping Palestinian flags from the hands of mourners and, in one case, preventing a mourner from approaching the procession because her headdress was in the colors of the flag, which is legal to display in Israel.

Palestinian artists paint a mural in honor of slain veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City on May 12.
Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty

Over the weekend, it emerged that Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman had ordered his officers to confiscate Palestinian flags from Germany, where he was a member of a police delegation.

Turgeman has gained notoriety in recent years for the rough policing of his officers, which included attacks on foreign journalists covering protests against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Monday, Israeli media reported that the police were investigating whether officers assigned to secure the funeral had even been authorized to use batons.

The police’s definition of mourners as a “mob,” which drew worldwide attention, appeared to be a mistranslation of the words “lawbreakers and agitators,” which appeared in the Hebrew version of the police statement.

In a radio interview, former Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus slammed the police for not employing any English-speaking communications professionals before describing the incident as “a Palestinian ambush” which should have been foreseen, and included the willing cooperation of the foreign media stationed in Israel.

Conricus declined to explain his terminology when approached by The Daily Beast.

A unanimous United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an independent investigation into how the trailblazing reporter was killed, on the job, and a growing chorus of calls from the White House for an “immediate and thorough” examination do not appear to be bearing fruit.

Almost a week after Abu Akleh’s death, the investigation into its cause appears to be stagnant. A Palestinian coroner who performed an autopsy and examined the bullet that passed through her helmet said results were “inconclusive.”

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the Israeli army’s was firm in its decision “to have a full-scale investigation of this process,” but admitted not having arrived at any results.

“We are in the middle of the investigation, and I do not want to rule out any scenario at the moment,” he said, underscoring the importance he attributes to “safeguarding human life and freedom of the press,” and requesting forensic data from the Palestinian government.

But a rapid analysis of open source data undertaken by Bellingcat, the independent investigations organization, supports witness testimony that the shots that hit Abu Akleh were fired by the Israeli army.

A report entitled “Unraveling the Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh” concludes that it is most likely that Abu Akleh was shot by an Israeli soldier.

Israel has not made a good name for itself in probing the deaths of reporters killed in action. The Israeli army claims that the death of 30-year-old photojournalist Yasser Murtaja remains under investigation four years after he succumbed to his wounds on April 6, 2018. Murtaja was shot in broad daylight while covering protests on the border between Gaza and Israel. Like Abu Akleh, he was wearing a flak jacket emblazoned with the word “PRESS”.

Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai, also a former IDF spokesperson, admitted as much, telling an Israeli radio station that based on past experience, “Israel’s credibility is not very high in such events.”

Courage seeking truth: Shireen’s lesson for younger journalists

Fatima AbdulKarim
Wed, May 18, 2022

I can never forget Shireen Abu Akleh’s lesson in courage.

It is a lesson I was reminded of when I learned that my mentor and friend had been shot and killed last week, reportedly by Israeli forces, while covering an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank for Al Jazeera.

There was no point in putting ourselves in danger, Shireen constantly told us younger journalists. Courage in journalism came only through asking for the truth, not in anything else.

She was shot and killed seeking the truth, wearing her press vest and helmet.

According to the journalists who were at her side – as well as Palestinian officials, Al Jazeera, and independent researchers using material from Palestinian and Israeli military sources – she was killed by Israeli military fire during a shootout with Palestinian militants in Jenin, in a raid that followed a string of deadly attacks in Israel.

As I, other journalists, and Palestinians across the political spectrum mourn her killing, I am reminded of the bloody days of the second intifada that began more than two decades of insecurity and turmoil for the Palestinian people that continue to this day. It was an era that catapulted Shireen’s career, making her a trusted voice for Palestinians and Arabs around the world.

Shireen was a pioneer, part of a new generation of female field reporters in the Arab world at the turn of the 21st century. While women were commonly seen as anchors behind a desk, to see a woman reporting from the middle of the action broke stereotypes and led the way for dozens more Arab women to follow.

These past two decades were nevertheless also years in which my friend and colleague guided me and others through the uncertain and dangerous times with warmth.
Her voice was my chaperone

In the early days of the second intifada, which began in late 2000, I attended Birzeit University near Ramallah, studying English literature but harboring dreams of becoming a journalist. The violence between Israelis and Palestinians and the growing number of Israeli military checkpoints made my 5-mile commute dangerous.

Our main live news sources at the time were satellite channels, like Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera. Specifically, we all relied on the tenacious work of Al Jazeera’s Palestinian American correspondent, Jerusalem’s own Shireen Abu Akleh.

Shireen’s hour-by-hour updates allowed me and tens of thousands of others to know how to navigate Israeli military checkpoints, which areas were witnessing violence, and what roads were unsafe that day.

With her voice, Shireen was my chaperone to university.

Shireen’s calm presence, persistence, confidence, and professionalism brought her close to viewers, who trusted her accurate reporting. For many, their lives depended on it.

Her iconic signoff – “Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera, Ramallah” – became so well known, I would hear Israeli forces occasionally repeat it when announcing a curfew through loudspeakers on Ramallah’s streets.

It may have been meant to mock her, but it solidified her as a pillar of Palestinians’ daily lives.

I knew that if I pursued journalism, I would seek to follow in her footsteps.
Emphasis on safety

Years later, when I finally did become a journalist, I would see her in the field for every event, every incident, every crisis. She took me and many other younger journalists under her wing, and shared her stories of survival and constant lessons on safety and vigilance.

She told us how she utilized fear as an instinct to keep her safe. She drilled into all of us the importance of being alert and in the right place at the right time, of avoiding violence and being safe.

It was a mentorship that continued to her very last moments on earth; when she was shot she was working alongside journalists Shatha Hanaysha and Mujahid Al-Saadi, both in their 20s.

Off-air and away from the cameras, Shireen was a kind and generous soul. Her voice had a Zen-like quality that calmed people around her, and her account of the news was factual and direct. She was always there to lean on.

Shireen also preached the importance of the press holding those in power to account.

Over Shireen’s career, Palestinians saw violence sprawling from within and without. Rounds of peace talks started, sputtered, and collapsed, opportunities missed. Israeli settlements spread across the West Bank. Fatah-Hamas infighting divided the West Bank and Gaza. Elections were postponed, and an undemocratic leadership dug in.

Frustration grew for an entire generation that has grown up in instability, unable to choose their own leaders or their futures.

Shireen was there through it all, reporting it, helping us make sense of it. Until she was not.

Outpouring of gratitude

Her three-day funeral procession from Jenin to Nablus, then Ramallah and Jerusalem, brought people to the streets in a message of gratitude for a woman welcomed into every household like a daily meal.

As if in a state funeral, masses of mourners accompanied her body. People who had never met her stood in the streets and wept, expressing both their anger and sorrow.

In her birthplace and hometown of Jerusalem, a city of the three Abrahamic faiths, thousands of people across all backgrounds, political factions, and religions united behind her on Friday. It was an enormous emotional outpouring, but it was marred by an Israeli police crackdown and the clubbing of mourners carrying her coffin, an event caught on the lenses of the world media.

I followed the ugly scene, emotionally torn, from Jenin, where I was trying to reconstruct the story of her killing. I hadn’t slept in days, but dealing with Shireen’s death as a news story may have given me the distance I needed to focus on my job.

Even in death, Shireen cast light onto the harsh realities of Palestinians’ lives under occupation. The bullet that struck her and the turmoil of her funeral renewed Palestinians’ awareness of their urgent need: to tell their narrative, our narrative.

We shall tell it the way Shireen did, factually and unapologetically.

Vatican slams Israel for attacking funeral of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Peter Weber, Senior editor
Tue, May 17, 2022

The top Catholic officials in Jerusalem strongly criticized Israel on Monday for Friday's attack on the funeral procession of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Israeli riot police stormed the courtyard of St. Joseph Hospital, where Abu Akleh's funeral procession was starting, and kicked and beat the pallbearers, causing them to nearly drop the coffin.

"The Israel Police's invasion and disproportionate use of force — attacking mourners, striking them with batons, using smoke grenades, shooting rubber bullets, frightening the hospital patients — is a severe violation of international norms and regulations, including the fundamental human right of freedom of religion," Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of the Holy Land, said at Monday's press conference.

Monsignor Tomasz Grysa, the Vatican's representative in Jerusalem, said Israel's "violent intrusion" into Abu Akleh's funeral "brutally violated" a 1993 agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and Israel that "upholds and observes the human right of freedom of religion." Jamil Koussa, St. Joseph Hospital's director, said the target of the raid was Abu Akleh's coffin itself and declared it an attempt to "horrify people in the building."

Israel's police force defended its conduct on Friday, saying it had "intervened to disperse the mob and prevent them from taking the coffin," instead of putting it in a hearse, as Abu Akleh's family had planned. Abu Akleh's brother Anton disputed that rationale, saying he "never gave any promises to the Israeli police."

Abu Akleh, who was Catholic, was shot dead Wednesday while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp. Witnesses said Israeli forces shot Abu Akleh, who was wearing a blue protective vest clearly marked "Press." Israel, after first suggesting a Palestinian gunman had fired the fatal shot, said it will investigate whether she was hit by Israeli fire.

Dutch open-source research consortium Bellingcat said that based on evidence from Palestinian and Israeli military sources, Israeli soldiers "were in the closest position and had the clearest line of sight to Abu Akleh," suggesting she was killed by Israeli fire.

Israel's ruling coalition becomes minority after lawmaker quits


Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem

Thu, May 19, 2022

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's ruling coalition on Thursday became a minority in parliament when an Arab lawmaker from a left-wing party quit, leaving Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with a more precarious grip on power.

The defection by Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, who in a letter circulated in Israeli media said she was pulling her support for the government on ideological grounds, leaves Bennett controlling 59 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

Bennett heads a collection of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties that was sworn in a year ago, ending Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12-year run as prime minister.

It lost its slight majority last month when a lawmaker from Bennett's own right-wing party quit the coaltion.

The government is now more vulnerable and would need to find external support should the opposition bring a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In her letter to Bennett informing him she was quitting, Zoabi, a legislator from the Meretz party, referenced an escalation in violence at a Jerusalem holy site as well as hard-handed tactics by Israeli police at the funeral last week of a Palestinian journalist.

"I cannot keep supporting the existence of a coaltion that shamefully harrasses the society I came from," she said.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by John Stonestreet and Angus MacSwan)

Killing journalists: Qatar expresses ‘deep concern’ over impunity

Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli sniper in May but no one has been held accountable.

Deputy foreign minister Lolwah al-Khater underscored the need to work on protecting journalists, especially those who report from conflict zones [File: Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency]

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 5 Nov 2022

Qatar has demanded accountability for the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a conference on the safety of journalists, saying “hold Israel accountable”.

Assistant foreign minister Lolwah al-Khater addressed participants in Vienna, Austria on Friday, expressing “deep concern at the persistence of impunity for violations and crimes committed against journalists”.

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“The murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh highlights the fact that protection and prevention methods are only effective when combined with prosecution mechanisms,” al-Khater said.

On May 11, the Palestinian-American television correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic arrived in Jenin in the occupied West Bank to report on a raid by Israeli forces on a refugee camp while wearing a protective vest, clearly marked with “PRESS”.

Abu Akleh, 51, was standing with other journalists when she was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper.



“Shireen dedicated her life working to shed light on the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people, she was one of over 45 journalists killed by Israeli forces since 2000,” al-Khater said.

She underscored the need to work on protecting journalists, especially those who report from conflict zones, and “no exceptions are made when we hold those responsible accountable”.

During her speech, al-Khater also shared words from the Abu Akleh family.

“Shireen was targeted while fulfilling her professional duty as a journalist working on covering events and reporting them to the world. She sacrificed her life, and this is another reason that the international community must confront and hold Israel accountable, no matter what,” she quoted a family member as saying.

The conference on November 3 and 4 in Austria’s capital marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

In September, Israel said there was a “high possibility” that Abu Akleh was “accidentally hit” by Israeli army fire, but added it would not launch a criminal investigation.

Numerous detailed investigations, including by the United Nations, found Abu Akleh was shot by an Israeli soldier.

Her family has accused Israel of trying to “obscure the truth and avoid responsibility for killing Shireen Abu Akleh”.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/11/shireen-abu-akleh-qatar-demands.html

Will There Be Justice For Palestinian Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh?

The Israeli military’s assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is simply a more flagrant display of commonplace Israeli assaults on Palestinians. The only way to truly end the impunity is to cut off US funding.

BY ARIEL GOLD & MEDEA BENJAMIN
JACOBIN
05.14.202

Mourners attend the funeral of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, May 13, 2022.

 (Amir Levy / Getty Images)

The world, including the United States, has rightfully been in an uproar over the callous killing of the Palestinian American fifty-one-year-old veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military. The Al Jazeera journalist was shot while covering an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. As her death hit the media, the Biden administration, as well as members of Congress all the way up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, expressed condolences, called for a swift and thorough investigation, and said, “Those responsible must be held accountable.”

Does this mean that Abu Akleh’s killing won’t be pushed under the rug like so many other killings of Palestinians, even Palestinian Americans? Don’t get your hopes up.

Upon Abu Akleh’s death, Israel’s hasbara (propaganda) machine quickly kicked into overdrive. First they claimed it was Palestinian gunfire that had killed Abu Akleh and wounded her colleague Ali al-Samoudi. But by the end of the day, Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz conceded that the bullets could have been from Israeli soldiers. “We are not certain how she was killed, but we want to get to the bottom of this incident and to uncover the truth as much as we can,” Gantz told reporters.

By Friday, two days after Abu Akleh’s death, and despite video evidence showing that there were no Palestinian shooters in the vicinity, the Israeli military offered two scenerios for how she might have been killed: either she was hit by armed Palestinians firing “dozens of bullets indiscriminately” toward Israeli military vehicles or she was mistakenly killed by an Israeli soldier using a gun with telescopic sight through a slit in an the armored vehicle, intending to hit a Palestinian gunman.

Israel then offered to conduct a joint Israeli–Palestinian Authority investigation, which was rejected by the Palestinians because of their deep distrust of Israeli authorities, the enormous power imbalance, and the abysmal Israeli record when it comes to investigating itself. Instead, they are calling for an international investigation.

According to the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din, about 80 percent of complaints filed against soldiers for harming Palestinians are closed without a criminal investigation. Of the few investigations that are undertaken, only 3.2 percent result in the indictment and prosecution. Palestinian and Israeli civil society organizations have documented the deaths of 155 Palestinian children from live ammunition or crowd-control weapons since 2013, but only three indictments on criminal charges have been issued against Israeli soldiers for those killings.

There is more of an outcry when journalists are attacked, but even then, Israel acts with impunity. According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, there are hundreds of Israeli attacks on journalists every year.

Some have said that Abu Akleh’s case is different. She wasn’t only a journalist for a well-respected news outlet; she was also an American citizen. But Abu Akleh is far from the only Palestinian American to be killed by Israeli soldiers.

Sixteen-year-old Palestinian American Mahmoud Shaalan was shot and killed in October 2016 at a checkpoint near the Beit El settlement. Responding to an Israeli soldier’s instructions to stop and turn back, he had attempted to lift up his shirt and hands to show he was not a danger when he was gunned down. Upon requests by his family for an investigation, the Israeli military informed the US State Department that there had been no criminal wrongdoing by the soldiers involved.

On January 12 of this year, seventy-eight-year-old Palestinian American and Milwaukee grocery store owner Omar Assad died from a fatal heart attack while being detained, bound, gagged, and left of the ground, his face blue from lack of oxygen. Following a call for investigation by Assad’s family and some members of Congress, and the Biden administration asking for “clarification,” Israel responded that the incident had resulted from “Assad refusing to cooperate with troops operating in the area” and that it was “a grave and unfortunate event” due to “poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers.” Two officers were dismissed and a battalion commander was reprimanded, but no one went to jail.

After US peace activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, the Israeli military’s investigation, done at the request of the Bush administration, concluded that her death was a “tragic accident.” In a civil suit brought by Corrie’s parents, the court found no fault in the military’s investigation and ruled that the state of Israel was not responsible for Corrie’s death.

The Israeli military’s knowledge of its impunity has been on full display since the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. The day after the journalist was killed, they raided her family’s home and forcibly removed the Palestinian flag flying outside. While the family was accepting condolences, Abu Akleh’s brother, Anton Abu Akleh, was summoned to the police station and warned that the funeral proceedings would be dispersed if there was an “escalation.” In perhaps the grossest display of impunity, the day that Abu Akleh was laid to rest, Israeli forces attacked the funeral march, firing stun grenades and hitting pallbearers with batons, almost causing them to drop her coffin.

With all the media attention, it’s possible that this time Israel will feel obligated to charge Abu Akleh’s killer, and the individual soldier might even receive a sentence. But even if that does occur, it won’t affect the essence of Israel’s systematic, daily violence against Palestinians unless more substantial measures are taken by the international community, particularly the United States.

After Abu Akleh’s murder, US congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted, “We provide Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid annually with no restrictions. What will it take for accountability for these human rights violations?” Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib tweeted, “Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by a government that receives unconditional funding from our country with zero accountability.” The only way to really influence Israeli behavior is to cut the funding. Only when the United States decides to end its complicity in Israel’s crimes will there be a real possibility of justice for Abu Akleh and the rest of the Palestinian people.

Ariel Gold is the national codirector and senior Middle East policy analyst with CODEPINK for Peace.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace and author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

SENATORS MENENDEZ, BOOKER PEN LETTER TO POTUS ON INVESTIGATIONS INTO DEATH OF NJ RESIDENT, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH

 JULY 12, 2022

WASHINGTON –?Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to President Biden in advance of his upcoming travel to the Middle East regarding investigations into the death of Palestinian-American journalist and New Jersey resident Shireen Abu Akleh. Condemning the attack on mourners during Ms. Abu Akleh’s funeral procession, the senators urged President Biden to raise Ms. Abu Akleh’s case at the highest levels and press for accountability during his visit. The senators also called for continued U.S. participation in transparent and timely investigations into any remaining or new evidence.

“We acknowledge your Administration’s efforts to support a comprehensive and impartial investigation and recognize that the damage to the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh was determined to be too extensive to reach a ‘definite conclusion’ regarding its origin. However, it is troubling that the Administration has not provided our constituents, as they noted in their recent letter to you, with any details of a ‘thorough…credible investigation,’” the senators wrote. “Every family should be able to grieve the loss of a loved one in peace and dignity. We urge the State Department to ensure that Ms. Abu Akleh’s family continue to receive any and all support they need during this difficult time.”

The senators also requested that the Administration provide a senior-level classified briefing on investigation details, including American involvement and next steps with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Authority (PA) regarding accountability for Ms. Abu Akleh’s death.

“Ms. Abu Akleh’s courageous and unbiased reporting provided critical news not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for the international community as a whole. In her 25 years as a journalist, she became one of the most prominent names across the Middle East,” the senators added. “As a strong advocate of media freedom, the U.S. must continue to promote and protect journalists’ ability to do their jobs across the globe without threats to their lives, in and out of conflict zones. Our support as they advance truth, transparency, and accountability has never been more critical.”

Find a copy of the letter HERE and below.

Dear President Biden:

We write to you about the investigations into the death of Palestinian-American journalist and New Jersey resident Shireen Abu Akleh. The inconclusive nature of the investigations fails to provide answers to Ms. Abu Akleh’s family. 

We acknowledge your Administration’s efforts to support a comprehensive and impartial investigation and recognize that the damage to the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh was determined to be too extensive to reach a “definite conclusion” regarding its origin. However, it is troubling that the Administration has not provided our constituents, as they noted in their recent letter to you, with any details of a “thorough…credible investigation.” We urge you to raise Ms. Abu Akleh’s case at the highest levels and press for accountability during your upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank. We also ask for continued U.S. participation in transparent and timely investigations into any remaining or new evidence.

We request that your Administration provide us a senior-level classified briefing on the investigation details, including American involvement. We ask that this briefing cover the U.S. Security Coordinator’s engagements regarding the investigations conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), a full account of the ballistic and forensic analysis, and next steps with the IDF and PA regarding accountability for Ms. Abu Akleh’s death.

Further, we must be clear to those individuals who attacked mourners during Ms. Abu Akleh’s funeral procession that this behavior is unacceptable. Every family should be able to grieve the loss of a loved one in peace and dignity. We urge the State Department to ensure that Ms. Abu Akleh’s family continue to receive any and all support they need during this difficult time.

Ms. Abu Akleh’s courageous and unbiased reporting provided critical news not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for the international community as a whole. In her 25 years as a journalist, she became one of the most prominent names across the Middle East. As a strong advocate of media freedom, the U.S. must continue to promote and protect journalists’ ability to do their jobs across the globe without threats to their lives, in and out of conflict zones. Our support as they advance truth, transparency, and accountability has never been more critical.

We trust that you will treat this request for a classified briefing with the utmost urgency. We appreciate your personal consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

###

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Shireen Abu Akleh: US senators say Biden's handling of investigation is neither credible nor independent

In two separate letters, Democrats demand accountability over slain Palestinian-American journalist who was killed by an Israeli bullet

A picture taken on 6 July 2022 shows a mural depicting slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (AFP)

By MEE staff
Published date: 13 July 2022 

Senate Democrats have criticised a US-led review of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, arguing that the probe "hardly constitutes an independent investigation".

Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist with Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed on 11 May during an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp. Her death sparked outrage among Palestinians and widespread international condemnation.

Since the killing, investigations by Middle East Eye, The Washington Post, The New York Times, as well as international bodies and the United Nations, have lent support to eyewitness accounts that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces.

Burying bad news: US condemned over report on Shireen Abu Akleh's killing

Read More »

In a letter addressed to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, pro-Israel lawmaker Senator Bob Menendez wrote that the administration had not provided any details of a "thorough… credible investigation" into the killing.

Menendez, along with co-signatory Senator Corey Booker, urged Biden to provide a senior-level classified briefing on the investigation's details and what steps the administration would take next regarding accountability.

"We urge you to raise Ms Abu Akleh's case at the highest levels and press for accountability during your upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank. We also ask for continued US participation in transparent and timely investigations into any remaining or new evidence," the letter said.

In a separate communique to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senators Chris Van Hollen, Patrick Leahy, Chris Murphy, and Dick Durbin criticised the US's forensic analysis of the bullet that killed Abu Akleh as insufficient and pressed the administration for further details on the investigation.

"While we were glad to see the USSC [US Security Coordinator] involved in an independent forensic analysis of the bullet that killed Ms Abu Akleh, that hardly constitutes an independent investigation into the overall circumstances of her killing," the letter said.

Ensuring accountability

In the second letter, the lawmakers also said that the administration failed to live up to Blinken's call for an "independent, credible investigation" into Abu Akleh's killing.

The forensic analysis fails to meet "any plausible definition of the 'independent' investigation that you and members of Congress have called for," the lawmakers wrote. "Nor does it provide the transparency that this case demands."

The lawmakers specifically questioned what led the USSC to conclude that gunfire from the positions of Israeli forces likely killed Abu Akleh, and how the USSC determined that the shooting was unintentional.


"What steps will you take to ensure the 'independent, credible' investigation you called for?" the letter continued, further asking, "What steps do you plan to take to ensure… accountability?"

Palestinian activists have criticised the State Department's probe into the killing and the decision to make it public on 4 July – US Independence Day – a major national holiday when many people are spending time with their families and not focusing on the news.

Abu Akleh's family has described Washington's assessment as "frankly insulting to Shireen's memory" and demanded that Biden meets with them during his visit to Israel this week.

The White House did not immediately respond to MEE's request for comment on the letters.

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Shireen Abu Akleh's killing: A culture of impunity is the norm in Israel's occupation


In-depth: The decision not to investigate the Palestinian journalist's killing reflects a culture of impunity for the systemic violence required to maintain Israel's military occupation.

Ali Adam
23 May, 2022

The killing of veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh shocked Palestinians and led to an outpouring of grief, but the subsequent whitewashing of Israel’s accountability for her killing held few surprises.

Faced with widespread condemnation after her death, Israel initially resorted to blaming Palestinians for her killing by circulating video footage showing gunmen firing indiscriminately in Jenin.

Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem quickly debunked the Israeli army’s narrative, proving that the video was in a location far from where Abu Akleh was killed, forcing Israeli authorities to backtrack on their claim.

"It was never an understatement to say that international impunity for Israel is the backbone of the occupation"

Senior Israeli army officers then switched to a different but familiar narrative; that a soldier from an elite IDF unit may have ‘accidentally’ shot her, suggesting that there were armed Palestinians in the vicinity of Abu Akleh when soldiers opened fire.

Palestinian eyewitnesses and journalists at the scene reject this. They say that Shireen and her colleagues were clearly identifiable as journalists and were wearing flak jackets and helmets marked PRESS. There were no clashes in the area at the time, they said.

Recent video footage of the last few seconds prior to the incident confirms this. The video shows relative calm in the area, with the Al-Jazeera team, among other people, casually walking around and talking when they were targeted.

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Shireen Abu Akleh and Israel's disinformation playbook

Analysis

Marc Owen Jones

In the end, last week Israel’s military announced that it was not planning an investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing on the grounds that there is no suspicion of a criminal act. Case closed.

“Israeli investigations into its own crimes have always been little more than public relations stunts staged for damage control following a crime that caused a massive blow to Israel’s standing among its Western allies, but with no real intentions to enforce accountability,” Muhammad Shehada, from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, told The New Arab.

“But what Israel has found over the years, and especially the past few years, is that no matter how much it escalates its illegal and criminal actions against the Palestinians, Western, and especially American, support remains the same,” he added.

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din condemned Israel’s response, saying the army’s own law enforcement mechanisms are no longer even pretending to give the appearance of investigating.

“Israel didn’t even bother to stage the usual stunt of a full investigation into the killing of Shireen. You only need PR stunts when you have conditional support from your allies,” Shehada added.

“It was never an understatement to say that international impunity for Israel is the backbone of the occupation.”

The decision not to investigate Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing is consistent with Israel’s record over the decades. [Getty]

A history of impunity

For Palestinians, the decision by Israel not to investigate Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing is consistent with Israel’s record over the decades, whether with journalists or civilians.

In April 2018, journalist Yasser Murtaja was shot by an Israeli sniper as he covered Gaza’s borders protests. He was also wearing a press jacket when he was shot.

Faced with outrage over his murder, the Israeli government alleged that Murtaja was a member of Hamas’ military wing, a charge that didn’t hold given that a month before his killing he was offered a grant by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) which said that its vetting process found no ties to militant activities.

Ultimately, no one was brought to justice.

"Israel sees the brutal force it exacts against Palestinians as a necessity to maintain its military occupation regime over millions of Palestinians"

Similarly, Fadel Shanaa, a Palestinian cameraman for Reuters, was killed in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza in 2008, when an Israeli tank opened fire on him and his crew. Shanaa was also wearing body armour that identified him as a journalist. Israel conducted an investigation and exonerated its troops.

But it’s not only journalists. Palestinian medic Razan Najjar was killed by the Israeli army while she was trying to evacuate the wounded during Gaza’s border protests in 2018.

She held up her hands as she approached the injured near the border fence and was clearly wearing a white medical vest. Israeli soldiers shot her in the chest.

Israel’s military subsequently tried to insinuate that she was being used as a ‘human shield’ by Hamas. Again, no Israeli soldier was held accountable.

RELATED

The human cost of Israel's war on Gaza

In-depth

Khuloud Rabah Sulaiman

Perhaps the most high-profile incident in recent years was the killing of Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, in Hebron by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria. Caught on camera shooting the injured man in the head from close range, the incident provoked widespread condemnation.

However, after serving nine months in military jail he was pardoned and released, going on to become a hero for many in Israel’s right-wing circles and a local celebrity.

During the Second Intifada the killing of Rachel Corrie also garnered international attention. The American peace activist was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza.

After years of campaigning by her family and high-profile hearings, Israel’s Supreme Court in 2015 upheld a decision which invoked the ‘combat activities exception’, which exempts the Israeli military from liability during ‘wartime activity’.

"Only 0.7% of complaints against Israeli soldiers filed by Palestinians lead to indictments. Over 80% of cases are closed without a criminal investigation ever taking place"

Palestinians are more than aware that these well-known cases of impunity are the norm. Data collected by Israeli rights group Yesh Din shows that only 0.7% of complaints against Israeli soldiers filed by Palestinians lead to indictments.

Over 80% of cases are closed without a criminal investigation ever taking place.

Citing the failure of Israel’s army in bringing soldiers to justice, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem announced in 2016 that it would stop filing complaints of abuse altogether, as they cause more harm than good to Palestinian plaintiffs.

“Israel’s history of conducting investigations into its army’s crimes shows that they are not meant to seek accountability, but rather to grant blanket impunity to its soldiers,” Shehada said.

“These criminal actions are not outliers, they’re an everyday reality for the Palestinians, and everyday practices of the Israeli military occupation. And they’re not individuals’ behaviour, they’re meticulously designed state behaviour,” he added.

“Israel sees the brutal force it exacts against Palestinians as a necessity to maintain its military occupation regime over millions of Palestinians.”

Ali Adam is a journalist and researcher whose work focuses on issues linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Follow him on Twitter @_AliAdam_

Shireen Abu Akleh's killing is just the tip of the iceberg in Israel's war on journalism

While the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh shocked the world, it was far from an aberration in Israel's fight to contain the truth and control the narrative about its human rights abuses, writes Lowkey.

Lowkey
25 May, 2022

Demonstrators gather in Paris as part of worldwide protests against the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces. Abu Akleh was the 55th journalists to be killed since 2000. [Getty]

The violent spectacle of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing at the hands of Israeli occupation forces has exposed Israel’s multi-faceted war against journalism, and its fight to prevent the truth about its crimes from being exposed. As often is the case, it starts with the Palestinians but doesn’t end there.

The shockwaves from the 5.56 mm bullet that hit the exposed part of Shireen’s head under her press helmet continue to reverberate around the world. Her killing must not be decontextualised and separated from Israel’s wider machine targeting courageous journalists pursuing truth, whether in Palestine or elsewhere.

The morbid truth is that in the tortured logic of apartheid PR, Shireen Abu Akleh is more dangerous to the Zionist project dead than alive. It is rare that Israel is actually forced to battle the ghosts of its crimes, but Shireen will be one such ghost.

Her name is now known by millions who can’t speak the language she so diligently reported in for almost 30 years, but it must not be exceptionalised. The name Shireen Abu Akleh stands on a proud list of martyrs, who despite clothing publicly identifying them as press, were killed by Israeli occupation forces.

"The name Shireen Abu Akleh stands on a proud list of martyrs, who despite clothing publicly identifying them as press, were killed by Israeli occupation forces"

Systematic targeting of journalists

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate documented 870 violations by the occupation against journalists in 2021, but Israel’s targeting of journalists goes back decades. According to the Palestinian Journalists’ Union, 55 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israel over the since the turn of the century.

The name of Shireen Abu Akleh must be held high along others like Yasser Murtaja who was killed covering the Great March of Return from Gaza by an Israeli sniper, as well as Nazih Darwazeh, Basil Farraj, Ahmed Abu Hussein, Fadel Shana, Issam Tillawi, Khaled Reyadh Hamad, Mahmoud al-Kumi and James Miller, all killed by Israeli forces despite being clearly identified as press by their clothing.

Reporters Without Borders asserts that at least 144 Palestinian journalists have been seriously injured by Israeli forces since 2018, with methods of repression ranging from live ammunition to rubber coated steel bullets, to batons, stun grenades and teargas.

Another disturbing way in which Israel suppresses journalism is through the prosecuting of Palestinian journalists with the claim that their work is tantamount to incitement. Between 2015 and 2018, almost 500 Palestinians were arrested by occupation forces on charges of incitement merely for things they posted on social media. Many of them were journalists and some were even children.

It is believed there are 15 Palestinian journalists currently in occupation jails for supposed incitement. Several of these journalists are being held in administrative detention, which has no fixed period and can last as long as a year and six months. Lawyers have claimed that the sentences of imprisonment for social media posts can be affected by how well received they are online, and in some cases the more likes a post attracts the longer the prison sentence is.

Controlling the narrative beyond Palestine

According to the International Middle East Media Centre, any foreign journalist who attempts to report from occupied Palestine is “required to register with the Israeli military.” It is also asserted that “any footage they film is required to go through the Israeli Military Censor’s office” before it can be used outside. But the fluidity of the internet has provided ways around this totalitarian arrangement.

The NSO Group, which gave birth to the Pegasus Spyware, is described by the Jerusalem Post as an “informal arm of the Israeli government.” It was founded by IDF Military Intelligence Unit 8200 alumni and has exported its spyware to many different states across the world. This spyware has been used to target thousands of journalists from major newspapers and channels.

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Shireen Abu Akleh and the silencing of Palestine resistance

Voices

Randa Abdel-Fattah

The question that remains in contention is to what extent the NSO Group has access to the information obtained when other states use Pegasus to invade the privacy of journalists and human rights activists. Court documents reveal that Cherie Blair, a supposed human rights lawyer who sits on the Advisory Board of the NSO Group, was made aware by the company that the ruler of Dubai had hacked his ex-wife’s phone through use of Pegasus, and then passed on this information to the target.

If NSO has no access to the information Pegasus is used to obtain by other governments, how exactly would Blair be made aware of this? If NSO does, in fact, have access to the data procured using its spyware, that means an arm of the Israeli government was present in the phones of at least 50,000 people, including thousands of journalists, worldwide.

A key part of Israel’s war against journalism operations in the UK is the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), which is bankrolled by a scion of arms manufacturing family, Poju Zublodawicz. His father founded Soltam Systems, which went on to be subsumed into Israel’s largest arms giant, Elbit Systems.

Protesters hold press vests with names of journalists killed by Israeli forces during a demonstration against the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh outside the BBC office in London on May 14, 2022. [Getty]

The organisation is headed by a current reserve in the IDF and previous employee of the Israeli PM office Richard Pater. BICOM is focused on inserting a pro-Israel narrative into media coverage in Britain. It employs numerous politicians and journalists to advocate for its interests in the public sphere. It has worked extensively with US lobby group AIPAC on “developing grassroots networks” and has coordinated with the Israeli Embassy on anti-BDS campaigns in Britain.

One journalist who works closely with BICOM is the City Editor of the Daily Mail, Alex Brummer, who can factually be described as an Israel lobbyist. Simultaneous to his role at the Daily Mail, he chairs an organisation called the Abraham Initiatives, which is funded by the Israeli Ministry of Justice.

According to the Abraham Initiatives Trustees Report, it exists to "advance synergy between Israeli bodies & respective agencies & institutions in the UK." In addition to his role there, Brummer is also a Vice-President of the Board of Deputies, which also asserts in its 2020 Trustees Report that it has a “close working relationship with the Israeli Embassy in the UK and strengthened links with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and the IDF.”

"This is the lesson from history: there is no justice possible in this malignant system, only a careful management of injustice and the arrogantly curated containment of righteous indignation"

Lessons from history

The treatment of mourners at Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral, which so deeply shocked the insufferable pro-Israel liberals across English language media, while a horrific spectacle, was not an aberration for Israeli occupation forces (IOF). Lina Abu Akleh, the niece of Shireen, told me in my interview with her this week that she was “threatened personally” by the IOF with physical attack at the funeral.

Less than a year before Shireen’s killing, the IOF shot and killed Shawkat Khalil Awad at the funeral of a 12 year-old child, Mohammad al-Alaama, they had shot dead just the day before. None of this violence is new, it just appears more shorn of its pretensions than ever before.

Another lesson from history, which may be particularly harsh, is the killing of the US citizen, Rachel Corrie, in Gaza by an IOF driven bulldozer in 2003. As it did with Shireen, who was also a US citizen, the US government proceeded in the aftermath to whisper sweet nothings in hopes of containing the pulsations of rage from those mourning and demanding justice.]

The company that manufactured the bulldozer, Caterpillar, then hired the private intelligence company C2i to infiltrate the campaign and spy on Rachel's parents as they struggled for justice.

This is the lesson from history: there is no justice possible in this malignant system, only a careful management of injustice and the arrogantly curated containment of righteous indignation. Israel’s war against journalism will only escalate from here.

Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn. His latest album Soundtrack To The Struggle 2 featured Noam Chomsky, Frankie Boyle and Ken Loach and has been streamed millions of times.

Follow him on Twitter: @Lowkey0nline

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@alaraby.co.uk

Opinions expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of their employer, or of The New Arab and its editorial board or staff.

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