Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Shireen Abu Akleh. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Shireen Abu Akleh. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Initial probe shows that Israeli forces shot rounds towards Shireen Abu Akleh: HAARETZ

Ahram Online , Wednesday 11 May 2022

An initial probe by the Israeli Army showed that the Israeli forces have fired dozens of bullets during the raid in the West Bank that led to the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (51) on Wednesday, Israeli newspaper HAARETZ reported.


Slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh


While the initial probe says that most of the Israeli fire was directed southwards, and Abu Akleh and a Reuters photographer who was wounded were positioned to the north of the Israeli forces, it admitted that ‘it appears that some Israeli fire was directed northwards as well, according to HAARETZ.

The probe is inconclusive if Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire or Palestinian gunmen while she was covering a military raid in Jenin on Wednesday.

According to sources, who spoke to the Hebrew newspaper, the probe showed that Abu Akleh was about 150 meters away from Israeli military forces when she was shot and killed.

M-16 Rifle

Israeli soldiers from the elite Duvdevan Unit fired a few dozen bullets during the raid in Jenin, the investigation shows, but whether it was Israeli or Palestinian gunfire that killed the Al Jazeera reporter is unknown.

The bullet, which struck her in the head, is 5.56 millimeters in diameter and was shot from an M16 rifle, but Haaretz said that ‘since such rifles are used by both the Israeli forces and Palestinian cells in the West Bank, the information is insufficient to determine which side fired the bullet’.

Sources told the newspaper that in the course of an arrest outside the Jenin refugee camp, 'hundreds of bullets were shot at Israeli troops, who responded by firing dozens of bullets at specific targets'.

The sources claimed that some of the rounds fired at them came from a gunman who they spotted on the roof of a house, an armed man peering from a window and others.

Most of the Israeli fire was directed southwards, while Abu Akleh and a Reuters photographer who was wounded were positioned to the north of the Israeli forces. Nevertheless, it appears that some Israeli fire was directed northwards as well, the proble claimed.

The paper said that officials believe that a ballistics examination of the Israeli troops' weapons could either confirm or refute the claim that the bullet that hit Abu Akleh was fired by an Israeli soldier.

UN demands probe into killing of Al Jazeera journalist in West Bank


AFP , Wednesday 11 May 2022

The UN human rights office on Wednesday said it was "appalled" at the killing of a veteran Al Jazeera reporter in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and demanded a transparent investigation.



Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks to the media about the Tigray region of Ethiopia during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 3, 2021. AP


Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead as she covered an Israeli army raid.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet's office said it was on the ground and trying to verify the facts.

"We are appalled at the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin, Palestine," UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet's office said on Twitter.

"Our office is on the ground verifying the facts.

"We urge an independent, transparent investigation into her killing. Impunity must end."

The Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera charged that Israeli forces deliberately and "in cold blood" shot Abu Akleh in the head during the unrest in the Jenin refugee camp earlier on Wednesday.

While Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was "likely" that "armed Palestinians, who were indiscriminately firing at the time, were responsible for the unfortunate death of the journalist".


EU condemns killing of Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in West Bank

Ahram Online , Wednesday 11 May 2022

The European Union has condemned the killing of Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank on Wednesday.


Palestinians carry the flag-draped body of veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as it is carried toward the offices of the news channel in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on May 11, 2022. - Al-Jazeera said Abu Akleh, 51, a prominent figure in the channel s Arabic news service was shot dead by Israeli troops early Wednesday as she was covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.


Abu Akleh was killed by what Al-Jazeera says was Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank. Another journalist, Ali Al-Samoud, was wounded in the incident.

"Our condolences go to her family, friends, and colleagues," EU spokesperson said in a statement.

"It is essential that a thorough, independent investigation clarifies all the circumstances of these incidents as soon as possible and that those responsible are brought to justice. It is unacceptable to target journalists while they perform their job. Journalists covering conflict situations must be ensured safety and protection at all times."

The EU spokesperson affirmed that the European Union stands in solidarity with journalists and will continue to support their fundamental work, in particular while covering conflicts.

Marcel Khalife, Fairuz, Assala mourn killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Ahram Online , Wednesday 11 May 2022

Shortly following news of the death of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by alleged Israeli gunfire in the West Bank, Arab artists took to social media to express their sorrow and condemn the killing.


Palestinians hold posters displaying veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, who was, according to the network, shot dead by Israeli troops as she covered a raid on the West Bank s Jenin refugee camp on May 11, 2022. AFP


Among the first to mourn Abu Akleh was Lebanese composer and oud player, as well as strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, Marcel Khalife.

“Shireen Abu Akleh will continue living with us through her message of tenderness and love, under the blazing sky,” Khalife wrote on his Twitter account.

Iconic Lebanese singer Fairuz posted a photo of Abu Akleh, adding a quote from lyrics to one of her songs: “We cannot stop the humiliation, killing, fear and displacement.” The song is based on John Lennon’s Imagine, which calls for peace.

“The wounded girl of Palestine,” Syrian singer Assala wrote on Twitter, adding that “she believed in her homeland and her work, and paid with her life for the truth.”

Independent musicians also offered their condolences. El Far3i, a Palestinian and Jordanian songwriter and rapper, wrote on Twitter, “she covered the news of the land and the martyrs until she was martyred herself.”

Photos of the journalist were also shared by dozens of Arab artists, including Palestinian-Egyptian poet Tamim Al-Barghouti.

Abu Akleh was killed, seemingly by Israeli soldiers, in the northern West Bank city of Jenin earlier today.

Al-Jazeera and a reporter who was wounded in the incident have blamed Israeli forces for the killing. Israeli authorities say they are still investigating.

Abu Akleh, 51, was born in Jerusalem. She began working for Al-Jazeera in 1997 and regularly reported on-camera from across the Palestinian territories. In video footage of the incident, she can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word “PRESS.”

Abu Akleh’s producer Ali Samoudi, who was wounded in the incident, told The Associated Press they were among a group of seven reporters who were covering the raid early on Wednesday.

Israeli minister pledges full probe into killing of Al Jazeera reporter in West Bank


AP , Wednesday 11 May 2022

Israel's defense minister promised a thorough investigation of the killing of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh on Wednesday and asked that Palestinian officials hand over the bullet that killed her.

Benny Gantz. AP

Benny Gantz told reporters that Israel has been in touch with US and Palestinian officials, and said all parts of the investigation would be made public.

The Israeli army initially suggested that Abu Akleh might have been killed by stray fire from Palestinian militants. The military chief, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, later stepped back from that assertion, saying it was unclear who had fired the deadly bullet.

But Gantz was more cautious Wednesday evening. ``We are trying to figure out exactly what happened....I don't have final conclusions.''

``I am very sorry for what happened,'' Gantz told reporters.

``Currently, we do not know what was the direct cause of Shireen's death. We are very decisive to have a full-scale investigation of this process, and we hope to get Palestinian cooperation on this issue. Without the report of the pathological findings and the forensic findings, it would be very hard for us to find out what happened on the ground.''

``We investigated all the troops that were part of the operation,`` he added. ``So far, we don't have any final conclusion.''

Abu Akleh's death could draw new scrutiny to Israel's military justice system, which is being examined as part of a war crimes probe conducted by the International Criminal Court. It also threatened to further strain often rocky relations between the army and the international media.

Slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was icon of Palestinian coverage


AP , Wednesday 11 May 2022


A veteran Al Jazeera correspondent who was shot dead on Wednesday during an Israeli raid in the West Bank was a highly respected journalist in the Middle East whose unflinching coverage was known to millions of viewers.


Women watch an Al Jazeera obituary report on TV at the family home of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem on Wednesday, after she was killed as she covered an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. AFP

News of Shireen Abu Akleh's death reverberated across the region. The 51-year-old journalist became a household name synonymous with Al Jazeera's coverage of life under occupation during her more than two decades reporting in the Palestinian territories, including during the second intifada, or uprising, that killed thousands of Palestinians.

Abu Akleh's name trended across Twitter in Arabic on Wednesday, setting social media alight with support for the Palestinians.

Her image was projected over the main square in the West Bank city of Ramallah as mourners flooded the Al Jazeera offices there and her family home in east Jerusalem.

Abu Akleh's coverage of the harsh realities of Israel's military occupation was inextricably linked with her own experiences as a Palestinian journalist on the front lines.

Her death underscores the heavy price the conflict continues to exact on Palestinians, regardless of their role as journalists.

Although she was also a US citizen who often visited America in the summers, she lived and worked in her homeland Palestine in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Abu Akleh, a Palestinian Christian whose family was originally from Bethlehem, was born and raised in Jerusalem. She leaves behind a brother and her parents.

In an Al Jazeera video released last year, Abu Akleh recalled the scale of destruction and "the feeling that death was at times just around the corner'' during her coverage of the second intifada, from 2000-to 2005.

"Despite the dangers, we were determined to do the job," she said.

"I chose journalism so I could be close to the people,'' she added.

"It might not be easy to change the reality, but at least I was able to communicate their voice to the world.''

Abu Akleh joined Al Jazeera in 1997, just a year after the groundbreaking Arabic news network launched.

Among her many assignments were covering five wars in Gaza and Israel's war with Lebanon in 2006. She reported on forced home evictions, the killings of Palestinian youth, the hundreds of Palestinians held without charge in Israeli prisons, and the continuous expansion of Jewish settlements.

Her longtime producer, Wessam Hammad, said Abu Akleh possessed an incredible ability to remain calm under pressure.

"Shireen worked all these years with a commitment to the values and ethics of our profession,'' he said of Abu Akleh, who the network called "the face of Al Jazeera in Palestine.''

He and Abu Akleh were often caught in Israeli cross-fire during the many stories they covered together, he said. On one assignment, their car was filled with tear gas and they struggled to breathe, When they would think back on these moments, he said Abu Akleh would laugh and marvel at how they managed to survive.

Images of the moments after Abu Akleh was shot in the head in the West Bank town of Jenin circulated online and were broadcast on Al Jazeera and other Arabic news channels.

Wearing a helmet and a vest clearly marked "PRESS," Abu Akleh's body was shown lying face down in a patch of sand. A Palestinian man jumped over a wall to reach her as gunshots rang out, dragging her motionless body to a car.

In a video from the West Bank hospital where Abu Akleh was pronounced dead, a male colleague was seen weeping at her hospital bed as others choked back tears.

A female correspondent for Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip wept on air as she reported from a vigil for the journalist.

Later Wednesday, Abu Akleh's body, draped in a Palestinian flag and covered by a wreath of flowers, was carried through downtown Ramallah on a red stretcher. Hundreds chanted, "With our spirit, with our blood, we will redeem you, Shireen.''

An outpouring of condemnation came from governments around the world. The US State Department called her death "an affront to media freedom.''

Al Jazeera and witnesses, including her producer who was shot in the back Wednesday, said Israeli forces killed her.

Israel said it was unclear who was responsible, calling it "premature and irresponsible to cast blame at this stage.''

It had started as another routine assignment for Abu Akleh. She'd emailed colleagues that she was heading to the Jenin refugee camp to check on reports of an Israeli military raid.

"I will bring you the news as soon as the picture becomes clear,'' she wrote.

"Generations grew up seeing her work,'' producer Hammad, said.

"People listened to Shireen's voice and were influenced by her to study journalism so they could be like her.''

Abu Akleh's niece, Lina Abu Akleh, described her as a "best friend'' and "second mom''.

"She is someone that I was looking up to since I was a kid, watching all of her reports," she told journalists from the family's home. "I never thought this day would come where the news would be about her."

Monday, July 04, 2022

‘We will fight for justice’: Abu Akleh family slams killing probe

Abu Akleh’s niece tells Al Jazeera her aunt was killed ‘intentionally’ by Israeli forces, disputing US-announced report.

Abu Akleh stands next to a TV camera above the Old City of Jerusalem
[File: Al Jazeera]

By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 4 Jul 20224 Jul 2022

The niece of Shireen Abu Akleh said her family is “very disappointed” at the US State Department statement that said independent investigators could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the bullet that killed the Al Jazeera reporter on May 11 but said they remain undeterred in their fight for justice and accountability.

On Monday, the State Department said investigators had found Israeli military gunfire was “likely responsible” for Abu Akleh’s death, but that forensic analysis showed no reason to believe that the shooting was intentional.

“Yes, Shireen was killed intentionally,” said Lina Abu Akleh, the niece of the slain Al Jazeera journalist.

“The entire investigation is disappointing considering the fact we [were] not aware of any of the process; there was no transparency. We were not given enough information regarding the investigation and we found out about it last minute,” she told Al Jazeera from Geneva.

Abu Akleh was shot in the head while covering an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, despite wearing a flak jacket and helmet clearly marked “Press”.



Palestinian officials, international rights groups and media outlets carried out their own independent investigations that concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli military.

The United Nations human rights office last month said that information it had gathered showed that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was fired by Israeli forces. Several witnesses said Israeli forces killed the Palestinian American journalist.

Abu Akleh’s family said that irrespective of the probe’s findings they will continue to fight for justice and accountability for her killing, her niece said.

“It’s very disappointing but at the same time, it’s not discouraging. We will continue to fight for justice. We will continue to fight for accountability and an end to this impunity because this result, that we received today, just adds on to the impunity that Israel enjoys,” she said.

“But we will not be discouraged and we will continue on our path for justice and accountability.”

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that “independent” examiners had undertaken an “extremely detailed forensic analysis” of the bullet that killed Abu Akleh after it was handed over by the Palestinian Authority.

According to the Times of Israel newspaper, Israel examined the bullet in the presence of a US representative.

The State Department said that the bullet was too badly damaged to reach a conclusive determination, and while it was likely fired by Israeli forces, there was “no reason to believe” Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted.

“From day one, Israel has been trying to change the narrative and using the bullet has been one of their many narratives. But this is not the end,” Lina Abu Akleh said.

That the report found the bullet was likely fired by Israeli forces “does provide us with some kind of a cold comfort but that’s not enough,” she said.



“We still continue to call for a transparent and just investigation, and we call on the UN, especially the ICC [International Criminal Court] to handle the case of Shireen with the same enthusiasm it has been showing to Ukraine – as is rightfully so,” she added.

“We still call for accountability. We still call for justice. And for the US to actually carry out an independent investigation, free from any political pressure, and to provide its citizen, Shireen Abu Akleh, the right investigation that she deserves as a [US] citizen.”

Lina Abu Akleh also said that the media and broader civil society had a role to play to ensure that justice is found and those responsible for the killing are held accountable.

“All journalists should also take up their platforms and continue to advocate because Shireen, at the end of the day, was a journalist and she was targeted, and she’s not the first journalist and not the last [that will] be killed by Israeli forces,” she said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA



U.S. ‘insults Shireen’s memory’ by spinning her killing for Israel — Abu Akleh family says

BY PHILIP WEISS
MONDOWEISS
PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS HOLD POSTERS DURING A PROTEST AGAINST THE KILLING OF AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST SHIREEN ABU AKLEH, WHO WAS, SHOT DEAD BY ISRAELI TROOPS AS SHE COVERED A RAID ON THE WEST BANK’S JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, IN GAZA CITY ON MAY 11, 2022. PHOTO BY ASHRAF AMRA (C) APA IMAGES

The Biden administration needs to get Israel’s killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh out of the headlines before he goes to Israel and Palestine next month, so today, July 4th, the State Department issued a statement on the killing that is as weasely as they get. We can’t tell anything from the misshapen bullet the Palestinians turned over. Yes it looks like Israel killed the Palestinian American journalist on May 11. But they were fighting terrorists. It was tragic and not intentional.

State’s Ned Price says:

The USSC [U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority] concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, which followed a series of terrorist attacks in Israel.

Shireen Abu Akleh’s family issued a powerful statement in response this morning that calls for an open and transparent investigation, free of “political consideration.

The Abu Akleh family dismisses the State Department findings as an assumptive and irrelevant effort to “spin the narrative” in Israel’s favor, ala a CSI-style test.

The focus on the bullet has always been misplaced and was an attempt by the Israeli side to spin the narrative in its favor, as if this were some kind of police whodunit that could be solved by a CSI-style forensic test. The notion that the American investigators, whose identity is not disclosed in the statement, believe the bullet “likely came from Israeli positions” is cold comfort. We say this in light of the addition of a conclusory pronouncement that the killing was not intentional but rather the result of a purported Israeli counterterrorism raid gone wrong, which is frankly insulting to Shireen’s memory and ignores the history and context of the brutal and violent nature of what is now the longest military occupation in modern history.

The family says the truth is that Israel killed Shireen Abu Akleh under policies that regard all Palestinians as targets.

The truth is that the Israeli military killed Shireen according to policies that view all Palestinians – civilian, press or otherwise – as legitimate targets, and we were expecting that an American investigation would focus on finding the responsible parties and holding them accountable, not parsing over barely-relevant details and then assuming good faith on behalf of a recalcitrant and hostile occupying power. In other words, all available evidence suggests that a US citizen was the subject of an extrajudicial killing by a foreign government that receives billions of dollars in American military aid each year to perpetuate a prolonged and entrenched military occupation of millions of Palestinians.

Palestinians had been urged by the U.S. to turn the bullet over for testing. The examination of the bullet included Israeli officials and was apparently held at the U.S. Embassy. The New York Times toes the official line, it says, Biden is about to visit and he doesn’t want the matter to “overshadow” his trip. Any more than the Jamal Khashoggi murder when Biden goes to Saudi Arabia.

This whole thing is a charade. Israel knows who shot that bullet and the shooter’s motivation and they are not turning over that evidence. And the U.S. is now doing Israel’s bidding to try to make the matter go away. As the Abu Akleh family says, this statement does nothing to dispel the possibility that Israel targeted Shireen Abu Akleh that morning. A tight group of bullets were fired near her head. These were not ricochet bullets.

Journalists should be demanding that Israel produce its evidence in the case. They should be publicizing the family’s demand:

We continue to call on the American government to conduct an open, transparent, and thorough investigation of all the facts by independent agencies free from any political consideration or influence.

Israel is not happy with the U.S. conclusion that the bullet “likely” came from an Israeli soldier, as everyone has already told us. It wants zero responsibility for the killing even as it refuses to release information. Writes Jeet Heer: “The State Department went about as far as possible to whitewash this horrific killing & that’s still not good enough for Israel’s government, which wants nothing less than a complete lie.”

h/t Dave Reed.

Palestinian Authority Rejects US Conclusion on Reporter’s Death

Fadwa Hodali and Daniel Avis
Mon, July 4, 2022 


(Bloomberg) -- The Palestinian Authority rejected the inconclusive findings of a US investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.

The US Statement Department said Monday an American investigation had found the bullet that killed the Al Jazeera television journalist was too badly damaged to offer a definitive conclusion as to who was responsible for her death.

Palestinian Acting Attorney General Akram Hassan Al-Khateeb issued a statement expressing his “surprise” at the findings.

Abu Akleh was shot dead while reporting on an Israeli military operation in the West Bank town of Jenin in May. The Palestinian Authority said Israel killed Abu Akleh. Israel has said Palestinian militants may have been responsible for her death.

The Palestinian Authority released the bullet that killed her last week to Michael Fenzel, the US Security Coordinator responsible for Israel and the Palestinian authority, for investigation.

Gunfire from Israeli army positions was “likely responsible” for Abu Akleh’s death, the US statement said, but the investigators weren’t able to “reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet.”

The US State Department said it found no reason to believe the killing was intentional, “but rather the result of tragic circumstances.”

Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says US investigation in the killing of Abu Akleh biased, unprofessional

RAMALLAH, Monday, July 4, 2022 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said today that the report of the American experts on the killing of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli occupation forces is biased and unprofessional.

In a statement, the syndicate said "the experts deviated from their professional role to come up with a political security report aimed at evading Israel's responsibility for targeting Shireen Abu Akleh and her deliberate assassination so that the occupation would not be held accountable for its crime against a Palestinian journalist, in addition to being an American citizen."

It explained that the US report legitimizes the killing of Palestinian journalists and justifies Israel's crimes against journalists, considering it as very dangerous because it cancels international protection for Palestinian journalists working in the Palestinian territories.

It affirmed its confidence in the report of the Palestinian Attorney General in the case of the assassination of Abu Akleh as well as the United Nations report and a number of important international media investigations, including prominent American media organizations, as well as eyewitnesses' testimonies who confirmed the assassination of Abu Akleh by the Israeli occupation forces.

The syndicate noted that it is proceeding to the end with the partners, led by the International Federation of Journalists, in its judicial procedures at the International Criminal Court against the Israeli army commanders, its government and the perpetrators of the crime so that they receive their punishment in accordance with international law.

A.D./T.R.


‘US-backed Israeli whitewash’: Abu Akleh probe sparks anger

US State Department says investigation could not conclusively determine origin of the bullet that killed the journalist.

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera journalist, was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank 
[File: Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo]

Published On 4 Jul 2022

Palestinian officials, human rights advocates, and the family of Shireen Abu Akleh have reacted with anger and condemnation to a report announced by the US State Department that failed to conclusively find that the Al Jazeera journalist was killed by deliberate Israeli gunfire.

On Monday, the US State Department said a report by independent investigators had found that Abu Akleh was likely killed by “unintentional” gunfire from Israeli positions, but could not reach a definitive conclusion about the origin of the bullet that struck her.

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera journalist and a Palestinian American, was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, despite wearing a helmet and flak jacket clearly marked “PRESS”.

Prior investigations by The Associated Press news agency, broadcaster CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post newspapers, as well as monitoring conducted by the Office of the UN human rights chief have lent support to witness accounts that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces.

On Saturday, Palestinian officials said they had handed the bullet over to US officials but conflicting reports over who would conduct the tests on the bullet emerged the following day – with an Israeli military spokesman saying the Israelis would test the bullet in the presence of US officials. Palestinian officials maintain that Israel cannot be trusted to conduct a fair and transparent investigation into the killing.

Here are the reactions so far to the report:

Abu Akleh’s family

In a lengthy statement, Abu Akleh’s family said they were disappointed by how the investigation was conducted, as well as with its conclusions but pledged to keep fighting for justice.

“We are incredulous,” the family said in a statement published on social media.

“To say that this investigation, with its total lack of transparency, undefined goals, and support for Israel’s overall position is a disappointment would be an understatement,” her family said.
The Palestinian Authority

 (PA) denounced the findings and called on the US to hold Israel accountable for Abu Akleh’s killing.

“We express our regret that the Israeli government has evaded its responsibilities towards the assassination of Abu Akleh,” PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, according to the Wafa news agency.

“We call on the US administration to maintain its credibility and to hold Israel fully responsible for the murder of the martyr Abu Akleh, because the Palestinian and international facts confirm the responsibility of the Israeli army without any doubt,” Rudeineh said.

Palestine Liberation Organization


Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused the US of protecting Israel.

“The truth is clear but the US administration continues to stall in announcing it,” Abu Youssef told the Reuters news agency. “We say Israel killed Shireen Abu Akleh and it has to be held responsible for the crime it has committed.”
Israeli prime minister

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that an internal Israeli army investigation had found that there was no intention to harm Abu Akleh.

“The [Israeli military] investigation was unable to determine who is responsible for the tragic death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but it was able to determine conclusively that there was no intention to harm her. Israel expresses sorrow over her death,” Lapid said in a statement on Monday.

B’tselem

B’tselem, an Israeli human rights group, called the investigation a “US-backed Israeli whitewash”.

“All investigations published so far conclude that Israel is responsible for the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” the group said in a tweet on Monday.

Mai El-Sadany, human rights lawyer

Mai El-Sadany, a human rights lawyer based in Washington, DC, denounced the findings, calling them “shameful”.

“Words matter,” El-Sadany said in a tweet. “Shameful US State Department statement today on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh which facilitates erasure & impunity with vagueness & distractions – in the face of independent reporting which has already made clear findings, including presence of no militants near Abu Akleh.”
Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian politician

Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi also slammed the report as “disgraceful”.

“Many independent international investigations have concluded that Shireen was killed by an Israeli sniper. Once again, Israeli evasive tactics & lies + American collusion & cover-up combine to maintain Israel’s impunity,” she wrote on Twitter.

Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International

Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard said the killing of Abu Akleh must be investigated as an act of “excessive use of force”.

Callamard also said that while intention matters, “its possible absence does not absolve Israel of its responsibilities”.

“And #Israel must be held accountable. Justice must be delivered,” she tweeted. “Journalists must be protected when doing their work. Not a target.”



SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES


OF COURSE THEY DO
US clears Israel of intentionally killing Shireen Abu Akleh

Maureen Clare Murphy
ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
Rights and Accountability 
4 July 2022

Protesters demonstrate against the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh in Paris on 11 May. 
Anne Paq ActiveStills

On the day that the US celebrates its so-called independence on colonized land, Washington signed off on Israel’s clearing itself of direct responsibility for the killing of prominent Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

statement attributed to Ned Price, spokesperson for the US State Department, said that American officials “could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed” Abu Akleh because it was too badly damaged.

Price’s statement added that US officials “concluded that gunfire from IDF [Israeli military] positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.”

But the State Department seemingly attempted to justify Abu Akleh’s killing by saying that US officials “found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad … which followed a series of terrorist attacks on Israel.”
Abu Akleh’s family said in a statement that it was “incredulous” following the State Department announcement.

The family pointed to the “numerous eyewitnesses to the killing” and the independent investigations from “multiple local and international media outlets, human rights organizations and the United Nations.”

Those probes all concluded that Abu Akleh was shot by Israeli soldiers and there was no Palestinian gunfire or militants nearby at the time. Some of those probes indicated that Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted.


Yet the US has persistently deferred to Israel’s long discredited self-investigations and pressured the Palestinian Authority to hand over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh for ballistics testing.

The Palestinian Authority meanwhile demanded that Israel hand over the rifle fired by a member of an elite Israeli military unit during the raid in Jenin.

Israel also zeroed in on the bullet as a means of deflecting responsibility to the PA while it has not released any of the drone and body camera footage or the GPS locations of its soldiers present in Jenin at the time of Abu Akleh’s killing.

The Abu Akleh family said that “the focus on the bullet has always been misplaced … as if this were some kind of police whodunit that could be solved by a CSI-style forensic test,” referring to the American police procedural television series.

“The truth is that the Israeli military killed Shireen according to policies that view all Palestinians – civilian, press or otherwise – as legitimate targets,” the family added.

The family called on Washington to open an “open, transparent and thorough investigation” and “clarify the extent to which American funds were involved in Shireen’s killing.”



“US-backed Israeli whitewash”

The US probe into Abu Akleh’s killing was led by Michael R. Fenzel a US lieutenant general who oversees so-called security ties between Israel and the Palestinians.

Someone with a vested interest in maintaining the Palestinian Authority’s role as a security subcontractor for the Israeli occupation is hardly an independent observer.

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, described the State Department statement as a “US-backed Israeli whitewash.”

Through a spokesperson, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, demanded that “the US hold the Israeli government fully responsible for the crime of killing the martyr Abu Akleh.”

Akram al-Khatib, the Palestinian Authority attorney general who led Ramallah’s investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing, rejected the conclusions of the US probe. He said that “the technical data in our possession indicates that the condition of the shell is viable for matching with the firearm [that shot it].”

The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry said that it would pursue justice for Abu Akleh at the International Criminal Court.

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera correspondent and a US citizen, was shot and killed while covering an Israeli raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on 11 May. Her producer, Ali Samoudi, was shot in the back and survived.



Abu Akleh was wearing a protective vest and helmet identifying her as a journalist when she was killed.

The State Department added that it would “remain engaged with Israel and the PA [Palestinian Authority] on next steps and urge accountability.”

The US has, however, given Israel the benefit of the doubt every step of the way after Abu Akleh’s killing.

Israel determined ahead of the conclusion of its military’s self-investigation that no soldier would face criminal charges for Abu Akleh’s death.

By definition, according to Israel, her killing could not be a crime because it was a “combat event” – a baseless interpretation of international law that Tel Aviv relies upon to justify its lax open fire regulations resulting in the fatalities of countless Palestinians.

Israeli soldiers are almost never tried and convicted over abuses against Palestinians, and certainly not their commanders or the authors of military policy.

Israeli police meanwhile determined that no police officers will be punished for attacking the pallbearers carrying the slain journalist’s coffin, nearly causing them to drop it, during her funeral in Jerusalem.



PR crisis


Both the US and Israel have treated Abu Akleh’s killing as a public relations crisis rather than a crime demanding justice and accountability.

The State Department’s insistence that the US reached its conclusion “after an extremely detailed forensic analysis” is unlikely to change the perception that it is party to a cover-up.



Nor is the statement’s timing, shortly before US President Joe Biden travels to Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia. The White House has stated that Biden intends to reinforce Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”

The US provides at least $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel per year.

Biden is also overlooking the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA has concluded was committed with the approval of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden’s visit will be the first meeting between a US president and Saudi leadership since Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment with a bone saw inside the oil-rich kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

An unnamed senior White House official who briefed journalists said that Washington seeks to “recalibrate relations” rather than rupturing them “because Saudi Arabia has been a strategic partner of the United States for eight decades.”

Saudi Arabia is also the United States’ largest arms customer, accounting for a quarter of US weapons sold worldwide.

The bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh was designed and manufactured in the US, according to Al Jazeera.

Abu Akleh’s killing has attracted rare attention from US Congress, with some 60 legislators, including half of all Democratic senators, calling on the Biden administration to launch an investigation.

The 1997 Leahy Law prohibits the US from providing military assistance to units of foreign militaries when there is credible information that those units violated human rights with impunity.

That law is named for Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who signed on to a letter to the Biden administration calling for a US investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing.

As The New York Times observed, the “need for a resolution” regarding her killing “became more urgent in recent days because it threatened to overshadow discussions” during Biden’s visit to Israel.

“Biden loves Israel”

Abu Akleh is one of only several Palestinians killed in Jenin in recent weeks.

The UN monitoring group OCHA stated last week that “Israeli forces have shot and killed 26 Palestinians, including six children, during search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank” since the beginning of the year, with nearly half of those fatalities occurring in Jenin.

The UN human rights office stated last week that it “is alarmed by the impact of intensified Israeli forces’ operations on the right to life of Palestinians” in the West Bank.

The human rights office said that many of the cases it monitored “indicated that Israeli forces used lethal force in a manner that appears totally inconsistent with international human rights law.”

The State Department didn’t acknowledge those additional deaths or express concerns over Israel’s use of force in its statement.

Meanwhile, Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, tweeted a video of himself grilling hotdogs with Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the US.

“Looking forward to our own official celebration tomorrow in Jerusalem,” Nides said in his tweet on Monday.


Nides told the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz that “Joe Biden is coming here for the Israeli people.”

“Joe Biden calls himself a Zionist,” Nides added, referring to Israel’s state ideology.

“Joe Biden loves Israel.”


US concludes unintentional Israeli fire likely killed American journalist

Shira Rubin1 Jul 05 2022

An American-led analysis of forensic and ballistic evidence, as well as the separate Israeli and Palestinian investigations, found that the bullet that killed Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh likely originated from an Israeli soldier, but added that there was "no reason to believe this was intentional," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday.

Price said that investigators concluded that the bullet which hit Abu Akleh - a longtime correspondent for Al Jazeera news who was shot on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin - "was badly damaged," preventing "a clear conclusion." The statement sparked angry responses from her family and Palestinian officials.

The Palestinian Authority handed over the bullet to the US Security Coordinator on Saturday, complying with a long-standing demand from Israel.


KEVIN STENT
Justice for Palestine did a guerilla projection of the Palestinian flag on Te Papa after Wellington Mayor Andy Foster vetoed a plan for one on the Michael Fowler Centre. One of the images featured slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.


Since the incident, Israel has claimed that without the bullet, it would not be able to determine whether Abu Akleh had been shot by an Israeli gun or by weapons from armed Palestinians in the area at the time of the shooting.

"The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on May 11, 2022, in Jenin, which followed a series of terrorist attacks in Israel," the statement said, referring to a string of Palestinian attacks in Israel in recent months in which a number of the assailants hailed from Jenin and the surrounding area.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that "the IDF investigation was unable to determine who is responsible for the tragic death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but it was able to determine conclusively that there was no intention to harm her. Israel expresses sorrow over her death."

IDF spokesman Ran Kochav said on the day of Abu Akleh's killing that it was "likely" that she was killed by armed Palestinians before the military later backtracked and conceded that it was possible that an Israeli sniper could have been responsible.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF
Abu Akleh's killing has sparked outrage and has shone an international spotlight on what Palestinians and human rights activists have for years called a policy of impunity in Israel's military. (File photo)

The investigation, which the Israeli army said has been stalled due to the Palestinian refusal to transfer the bullet, had been looming over US President Joe Biden's July visit to the Middle East, his first as president.

Abu Akleh's killing has sparked outrage and has shone an international spotlight on what Palestinians and human rights activists have for years called a policy of impunity in Israel's military.

Palestinian officials immediately called Abu Akleh's killing an "assassination". Last month, the Palestinian Authority published the results of its own inquiry and said it found that she was killed by a 5.56mm round fired by a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle, though it did not say if that model was used by either or both sides - who were exchanging fire the morning of Abu Akleh's killing.

In response to the US State Department announcement, Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), told the Palestinian news agency that officials believed the United States was looking to protect Israel.

He said that, absent American support, the Palestinian Authority would continue to pursue the case in the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague.

MAHMOUD ILLEAN/AP
Mourners carry the coffin of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral in Jerusalem.


"We will not allow attempts to conceal the truth or to have shy references in pointing the finger of accusation to Israel," said al-Sheikh.

The Israeli group B'Tselem, which documents Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement that "the odds that those responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh will be held to account are all but nonexistent."

On June 24, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Israel was the most probable source of the bullet that killed Abu Akleh. The UN findings– along with the investigations published by The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN and the investigative group Bellingcat - added momentum to a growing calls for the United States to push more publicly for a thorough and transparent probe.

In June, 24 senators called for the United States to be "directly involved in investigating" the case, while Abu Akleh's brother, Anton, said America should take it over completely from the Israeli military.

"The focus on the bullet has always been misplaced and was an attempt by the Israelis to spin the narrative in its favor," said a statement from the Abu Akleh family.

The statement said that the family had hoped, and still hopes, that the FBI or another American authority would regard Abu Akleh's death as grounds for a "murder investigation".

The Washington Post

CLAIMS SHE WAS NOT TARGETED
US: Shot that killed Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh likely fired from Israelis

Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Lee and Joseph Krauss
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have concluded that gunfire from Israeli positions likely killed Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh but that there was "no reason to believe" her shooting was intentional, the State Department said Monday.

The finding, in a statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price, came after what the U.S. said were inconclusive tests under U.S. oversight of the bullet recovered from Abu Akleh's body. It said "independent, third-party examiners" had conducted an "extremely detailed forensic analysis."

"Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion" as to who fired the shot, Price said in the statement.

Journalist killed:Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh killed during Israeli raid in West Bank

Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American correspondent who was well known throughout the Arab world, was shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid on May 11 in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian eyewitnesses, including her crew, say Israeli troops killed her and that there were no militants in the immediate vicinity.


Israel says she was killed during a complex battle with Palestinian militants and that only a forensic analysis of the bullet would confirm whether it was fired by an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian militant. It has strongly denied she was deliberately targeted, but says an Israeli soldier may have hit her by mistake during an exchange of fire with a militant.

U.S. security officials had examined the results of separate Palestinian and Israeli investigations and "concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh," Price said.


The U.S. "found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad," Price said.


Israeli military's findings, media reconstructions

The Israeli military presented the findings as part of its own investigation in a statement that was likely to anger the Palestinian Authority, which had adamantly rejected any Israeli role in the probe and refused to share the bullet with Israeli authorities.

The military said that while the bullet remained in the custody of U.S. officials throughout the process, it was examined by Israeli experts in a forensic laboratory in Israel.

Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, the army chief of staff, ordered the investigation be continued "using all available means," the military said in a statement. It said any decision on whether to launch criminal investigation would only be made after the operational investigation is completed.

The Palestinian Authority and Al Jazeera accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting Abu Akleh within hours of her death.

An Associated Press reconstruction of her killing lent support to accounts by Palestinian eyewitnesses, including her crew, that she was killed by Israeli forces. Subsequent investigations by CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post reached similar conclusions.

Krauss reported from Ottawa, Ontario. Associated Press reporter Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.



SHE WAS DELIBERATELY TARGETED

Palestine rejects 'manipulation' of investigations into journalist’s death

Shireen Abu Akleh killed while covering Israeli military raid in West Bank in May

Awad Rajoub |04.07.2022


RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday rejected “manipulation” of investigations into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

While Palestinian officials and her employer Al Jazeera accused Israel of killing the reporter, Tel Aviv denied any responsibility.

On Saturday, the PA said it had handed the bullet that killed Abu Akleh to a US team to conduct a forensic examination.

The US, however, said Monday that there was no "definitive conclusion" on the origin of the bullet. It, however, concluded that the gunfire from the Israeli position was "likely responsible" for the reporter’s death.

“We will not accept under any circumstances the manipulation of the outcomes of Palestinian investigations, and will continue the procedures on her assassination in international courts, particularly the International Criminal Court, since Israel is responsible for her killing and must bear the consequences,” PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said statements cited by the state news agency Wafa.

Abu Rudeineh “deeply regretted” the Israeli government’s disavowal of its responsibilities for the journalist’s death, calling on the US administration to maintain its credibility and hold Israel fully responsible for Abu Akleh’s murder.

On May 26, Palestinian Attorney-General Akram al-Khatib announced that an examination of Abu Akleh’s body confirmed that she was killed by an armor-piercing projectile fired directly at her head by an Israeli sniper.

Several leading media agencies, including Al Jazeera, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, and the New York Times, conducted their own investigations, which all came to an end that Abu Akleh was killed by an Israeli bullet.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat in Ankara


Bullet Too Damaged to Determine Who Killed Al Jazeera Journalist, US Finds

A woman lights a candle in front of a poster depicting veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin, at the the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank biblical city of Bethlehem on May 11. (Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)

By    |   Monday, 04 July 2022 12:37 PM EDT



Test results of the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May were inconclusive, the U.S. State Department announced on Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"After an extremely detailed forensic analysis, independent, third-party examiners, as part of a process overseen by the US Security Coordinator (USSC) could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh," the State Department statement read. "Ballistics determined that the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion."

However, the U.S. said that after examining additional information and reviewing the probes carried out by the IDF and the Palestinian Authority, it was "likely" that Abu Akleh was killed by gunfire originating in Israeli positions.

The State Department stressed that "in addition to the forensic and ballistic analysis, the USSC was granted full access to both Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Authority (PA) investigations over the last several weeks.

"By summarizing both investigations the USSC concluded that gunfire from IDF positions was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. The USSC found no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances during an IDF-led military operation against factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad."

The ballistic examination was conducted by Israeli experts in a forensic laboratory in Israel, with USSC representatives present during the entire process, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in mid-May. During the arrest operation, a firefight broke out between IDF forces and Palestinian gunmen, and Abu Akleh was shot in the head, The Times of Israel reported.

The PA only agreed to transfer the bullet to the US Embassy in Jerusalem for examination on Saturday after it had refused Israel's request for weeks for a joint investigation or for the PA to make the round available so that a proper test could be carried out.

Defense Ministry Benny Gantz expressed condolences for Abu Akleh's death, although he stressed that the responsibility for her killing remained unclear, according to The Times of Israel.

Gantz further emphasized that during the Jenin gun battle "hundreds of bullets were fired at IDF troops, which responded with firepower of their own, only in the direction of the sources of the shooting."