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.
RELATEDAnalysisMarc 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.
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.
RELATEDIn-depthKhuloud 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
RELATEDVoicesRanda 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 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment