The tragic murder of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank was Israel’s latest attempt to silence journalists working to expose its atrocities against Palestinians.
When she was mercilessly shot in the face and killed, Abu Akleh was wearing a press vest and helmet. She was with other colleagues. There was no armed Palestinian fighter in her vicinity. All this has been confirmed by witnesses and verified by videos taken on the scene.
Israel, of course, immediately tried to distort the story, claiming that Abu Akleh may have been killed by a Palestinian fighter shooting aimlessly into the streets. Or that she may have been caught in crossfire.
Of course, we know that Abu Akleh did not get caught in crossfire. Her killing was not a “mistake”. It was deliberate. It was an assassination aimed at silencing Palestinian voices, intimidating Palestinian journalists, and obscuring the truth.
We know this not only because the evidence is clear, but also because Abu Akleh’s murder follows a well-known pattern.
Indeed, the veteran Al Jazeera reporter was hardly the first Palestinian journalist killed, injured or intimidated by Israeli forces for the crime of reporting on the Palestinian struggle. In 2018, Ahmed Abu Hussein and Yasser Mortaja were fatally shot by Israeli snipers while covering the Great March of Return protests. Muath Amarneh and Nedal Eshtayeh were maimed by Israeli sniper fire in 2019 and 2015, respectively. Basil Faraj, Fadel Shana, Hussam Salama, Imad Abu Zahra, Issam Tillawi, Khaled Reyadh Hamad, Mahmoud al-Kumi, Mohamed Abu Halima and many other journalists also suffered at the hands of the Israeli forces over the years.
It was only last year when Israeli air raids bombed buildings housing media organisations in the Gaza Strip, including the 11-storey al-Jalaa building, which housed Al Jazeera and The Associated Press offices.
Israel has a well-established history of targeting journalists and getting away with it.
But the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, a household name across the Arab world, revered for her insight into the Palestinian story and objectivity, can and should change this.
Given the gravity of this murder, immediate action must be taken to bring those responsible to justice – not only the person who pulled the trigger but also the authorities who paved the way for such an atrocity to be committed in the first place.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/5/13/only-the-icc-can-deliver-justice-for-shireen-abu-akleh
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