Delhi: Protest Held Against ‘Dastardly’ Killing of Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israel
The Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist was shot in “cold blood” by an Israeli sniper while covering a raid on a refugee camp in Jenin on Thursday.
Ravi Kaushal
13 May 2022
New Delhi: Terming it as “dastardly”, citizen groups in the national capital assembled at Connaught Place here on Friday to protest the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The protest, under the banner of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), saw the participation of students, women, political and peace activists. The protesters alleged that Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeted Shireen because she had shown successfully how the Israeli army had uprooted Arab people from their land and grabbed their precious resources.
Shireen, 51, who worked for Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, was shot in "in cold blood" in the head during the unrest in the Jenin refugee camp, the channel said on Thursday.
Ayub Khan, a peace activist told NewsClick that the murder should be condemned in the strongest words. “We are organising this protest at a very short notice. We came here to highlight that India should condemn this murder because it has adopted a foreign policy which advocates end to arms race. Besides being land grabber, Israel has played a pivotal role in destabilising world peace and the latest murder of journalist is only one part of it,” he told NewsClick.
R Arun Kumar, head, international relations department of Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that the protest becomes relevant in India because like Shireen, different governments have slapped charges like UAPA against journalists and put them behind bars. “The common thread between India and Israel punishing journalists remains sharing of repressive ideologies of Hindutva and Zionism. Rulers in both countries are bound by their hatred for Muslims. I think extending solidarity to Palestine is a legacy of our freedom struggles and we must reiterate it today,” he said.
Utkarsh Kumar, a student of Global Studies from Ambedkar University said Shireen was reportedly killed by a sniper of Israeli Occupation Forces even when she was wearing a press vest on duty. “For me, it is particularly important to express our anguish because governments across the world have been prosecuting journalists who have been reporting against their them. The ‘bulldozer politics’ that we talk nowadays in our country has its origins in Israel where government demolished the homes of innocent Palestinians who resisted its occupation. Through this protest, we convey our anguish to all oppressors that it will not be tolerated,” he said.
In press statement, AIPSO said an impartial enquiry must be conducted into Shireen’s killing and exemplary punishment must be given to those responsible for this brutal assassination.
“Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen, is considered as an ‘icon of Palestinian coverage’. She reported to the world with honesty the brutal deeds of the Israeli occupation forces and the atrocities they commit on Palestinians. This made her a target of the Israeli attack. It is heinous that instead of accepting its responsibility, the Israeli defence forces are laying the blame on Palestinians for the killing – which was rubbished as a blatant lie by the journalists on the ground,” the statement read.
Appalled by the killing, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Gutterres has asked the relevant authorities to carry out “an independent and transparent investigation into this incident and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”
In a statement, the Secretary-General condemned ”all attacks and killings of journalists and stresses that journalists must never be the target of violence. Media workers should be able to carry out their work freely and without harassment, intimidation or the fear of being targeted.”
The statement added that attack on Abu Akleh has to be seen in the background of the increasing attacks on journalists taking place in many places whenever the ruling forces are bothered with the true representation of facts.
The organisers of the protest in Delhi said:”India too is a witness to such increasing attacks on journalists carried out by Right-wing, authoritarian forces. Hence it is not coincidental that the Zionist forces that killed Abu Akleh and Hindutva communal forces in India leading the attacks on journalists, share deep ideological affinity and friendship. This makes it all the more necessary for Indian people to express indignation at the brutal assassination of Akleh.”
The Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist was shot in “cold blood” by an Israeli sniper while covering a raid on a refugee camp in Jenin on Thursday.
Ravi Kaushal
13 May 2022
New Delhi: Terming it as “dastardly”, citizen groups in the national capital assembled at Connaught Place here on Friday to protest the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The protest, under the banner of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), saw the participation of students, women, political and peace activists. The protesters alleged that Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeted Shireen because she had shown successfully how the Israeli army had uprooted Arab people from their land and grabbed their precious resources.
Shireen, 51, who worked for Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, was shot in "in cold blood" in the head during the unrest in the Jenin refugee camp, the channel said on Thursday.
Ayub Khan, a peace activist told NewsClick that the murder should be condemned in the strongest words. “We are organising this protest at a very short notice. We came here to highlight that India should condemn this murder because it has adopted a foreign policy which advocates end to arms race. Besides being land grabber, Israel has played a pivotal role in destabilising world peace and the latest murder of journalist is only one part of it,” he told NewsClick.
R Arun Kumar, head, international relations department of Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that the protest becomes relevant in India because like Shireen, different governments have slapped charges like UAPA against journalists and put them behind bars. “The common thread between India and Israel punishing journalists remains sharing of repressive ideologies of Hindutva and Zionism. Rulers in both countries are bound by their hatred for Muslims. I think extending solidarity to Palestine is a legacy of our freedom struggles and we must reiterate it today,” he said.
Utkarsh Kumar, a student of Global Studies from Ambedkar University said Shireen was reportedly killed by a sniper of Israeli Occupation Forces even when she was wearing a press vest on duty. “For me, it is particularly important to express our anguish because governments across the world have been prosecuting journalists who have been reporting against their them. The ‘bulldozer politics’ that we talk nowadays in our country has its origins in Israel where government demolished the homes of innocent Palestinians who resisted its occupation. Through this protest, we convey our anguish to all oppressors that it will not be tolerated,” he said.
In press statement, AIPSO said an impartial enquiry must be conducted into Shireen’s killing and exemplary punishment must be given to those responsible for this brutal assassination.
“Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen, is considered as an ‘icon of Palestinian coverage’. She reported to the world with honesty the brutal deeds of the Israeli occupation forces and the atrocities they commit on Palestinians. This made her a target of the Israeli attack. It is heinous that instead of accepting its responsibility, the Israeli defence forces are laying the blame on Palestinians for the killing – which was rubbished as a blatant lie by the journalists on the ground,” the statement read.
Appalled by the killing, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Gutterres has asked the relevant authorities to carry out “an independent and transparent investigation into this incident and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”
In a statement, the Secretary-General condemned ”all attacks and killings of journalists and stresses that journalists must never be the target of violence. Media workers should be able to carry out their work freely and without harassment, intimidation or the fear of being targeted.”
The statement added that attack on Abu Akleh has to be seen in the background of the increasing attacks on journalists taking place in many places whenever the ruling forces are bothered with the true representation of facts.
The organisers of the protest in Delhi said:”India too is a witness to such increasing attacks on journalists carried out by Right-wing, authoritarian forces. Hence it is not coincidental that the Zionist forces that killed Abu Akleh and Hindutva communal forces in India leading the attacks on journalists, share deep ideological affinity and friendship. This makes it all the more necessary for Indian people to express indignation at the brutal assassination of Akleh.”
Urging the Israeli PM to strongly condemn both incidents, the Indian journalists demanded an independent investigation to ensure that Akleh gets justice
Newsclick Report
16 May 2022
A group of senior Indian journalists have written to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett condemning the 'murder' of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces. Akleh, an American-Palestinian, was shot dead in the occupied West Bank while reporting on a raid by Israeli forces, according to Al Jazeera.
The letter mentioned that Akleh, a long-time TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, was wearing a press vest and was standing with other journalists when she was killed. It said that the journalist’s death underlined the Israeli government's inability to accept independent journalism.It also condemned the Israeli police attacking the pallbearers of the casket at Akleh’s funeral procession and said it come from an environment of impunity where Israeli military targets Palestinians at will.
Urging the PM to strongly condemn both incidents, the Indian journalists demanded an independent investigation to ensure that Akleh gets justice and such targeted attacks and killings are stopped. Read the full letter here:
To
Mr. Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel, Tel Aviv,
Israel
Through
Mr. Naor Gilon,
Ambassador of Israel to India, New Delhi,
India 16.05.2022
Dear Mr Prime Minister,
We, Indian journalists, are writing to you to express our strong condemnation of the 'murder' of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot in the face while she was reporting a raid by Israeli soldiers from Jenin. The shocking assassination -- described as such by Al Jazeera -- again underlines your government's inability to accept independent journalism that speaks the truth.
Akleh was known for her independent reporting. She was killed by an Israeli sniper, according to Al Jazeera, even though she was wearing a helmet and body armour marked "Press". Shireen Akleh was standing with other journalists when she was shot in the face. An Al Jazeera producer was shot in the back but survived.
We are also amazed that despite the worldwide condemnation, Israeli police were again directed to stop her funeral procession. And resorted to violence when the Palestinians tried to move forward, with videos recording the brutal attack on the pallbearers that made them nearly drop the casket. The videos also record the police beating and kicking the mourners. We understand that some kind of enquiry has been ordered, as well as an investigation as to whether the well known journalist was shot from an Israeli army jeep.
This attack comes from a deliberately created environment of impunity, where the Palestinians are targetted by Israeli military at will, and the journalists pay the price for independent reportage. We expect strong condemnation from you Sir, as well as a transparent investigation by an independent authority to ensure that she gets justice in death, and that more such targeted attacks and killings are stopped.
Signatories (all are senior journalists from different parts of India):
Abid Shah A.Amaraiah
Amit Prakash Singh
Amit Sengupta
Amitabh Srivastava Amitabha Roychowdhury Amita Verma
Ammu Joseph
Ajaz Ashraf
Ajoy Ashirwad
Anand Sahay
Ananth Nath
Anil Chamadia
Anjali Deshpande
Antara Dev Sen
Anuradha Bhasin
Ashlin Mathew
Bobby Naqvi
Bharat Bhushan
Bharat Sharma Chandrakant Deepak Parvatiyar
Dhanya Rajendran G.Anjaneyulu
Geetha Seshu
Jawed Naqvi
Jigeesh AM
John Cherian
John Dayal
John Thomas
Jyoti Malhotra
Jyoti Punwani
Muniraj
K.Murali
K.A.Shaji
Karuna John
Kavitha Muralidharan
Keya Acharya
K.S.Dakshina Murthy Kumkum Chadha
Kunal Shankar
Kuldeep Kumar
Latha Jishnu
Laxmi Murthy
Madhavan Narayanan Mandira Nayyar
Mannika Chopra
Masoom Moradabadi Meghnad Bose
Mehru Jaffer
Mrinal Pande
Mukesh Kumar
Murali Krishnan
A.Ravooth
N.Kondaiah
Neelam Jeena
Nikita Sharma
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
Nirmala Ganapathy Nivedita Jha
Padmaja Shaw
Pamela Philipose Pankaj Srivastava
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Paromita S.
Parsa Venkateshwar Rao
Jr. Patricia Mukhim
Poornima Joshi Prakash Dube
Preeti Mehra
Purnima Tripathi
Raghu Karnad
Rahul Bedi
Rajashri Dasgupta Rajalakshmi
Rajeev Khanna
Rathin Das
Rashme Sehgal
Revati Laul
Rita Anand
Rita Manchanda Rukmani Anandani Sandhya Ravishankar Satish Mishra
Seema Chishti
Seema Mustafa
Shaikh Azizur Rahman Sharda Ugra
Shastri Ramachandaran Shobhna Jain
Shubha Singh
Shiv Inder Singh
S.K. Pande
Soma Basu
Sonal Kellogg
Smita Gupta
Sucheta Dalal
Sujata Madhok
Sujata Shakeel
Sujata Raghavan
Sukumar Muralidharan Sunita Aron
Suresh Bafna
Tanushree Gangopadhyay
Teesta Setalvad
Tripta Batra
Uma Kant Lakhera
Urmilesh
V.Sreenivasa Rao Vaishna Roy
Venkat Parsa Venkatesh Kesari
Vidya Subrahmaniam Vijay Lokapally
Vinod Sharma
Vivian Fernandes Wadood Sajid
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