Honoring Palestinian Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Death As in Life

by Stephen Lendman 

Murdered by an Israeli sniper on May 11, Abu Akleh was targeted for assassination by the Bennett regime to silence her truth-telling reports about life in Occupied Palestine.

Multiple eyewitnesses and video evidence refuted claims by Israel that Palestinians were responsible for her death.

During an Israeli raid on a Jenin refugee camp, an Israeli sniper targeted Abu Akleh — assassinating her by a lethal shot to her ear.

Palestinian protesters were far from where six Palestinian journalists were fired on by Israeli forces.

Investigations conducted by Al Jazeera's Sanad news' verification and monitoring unit and the Middle East Eye revealed the above reality.

"Palestinian fighters…were not located near Abu Akleh in the Jenin refugee camp at the time of her shooting," Al Jazeera reported.

On its website, B'Tselem reported the following:

Its "field researcher in Jenin documented the exact locations in which the armed Palestinian depicted in a video distributed by the Israeli army, fired, as well as the exact location in which Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed." 

"The GPS coordinates of the two locations, as well as an aerial photograph of the sites…demonstrate that the shooting depicted in this video could not possibly be the gunfire that hit Shireen Abu Akleh and her colleague."

Separately, B'Tselem tweeted:

"Documentation of Palestinian gunfire distributed by the Israeli military cannot be the gunfire that killed Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh."

Citing an initial IDF investigation, Haaretz reported that she was about 150 meters from Israeli forces when lethally shot, adding:

"Soldiers from the elite (IDF) Duvdevan Unit fired a few dozen bullets during the raid in Jenin, the investigation shows."

Abu Akleh and other Palestinian journalists were in their line of fire.

Using telescopic lens, IDF soldiers can hit targets aimed at with pinpoint accuracy.

In response to interventionist Bliniken's spokesman Price, saying that Israel is able "conduct a thorough, comprehensive investigation (sic)," Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said the following:

We do "not accept" an Israeli whitewash that masquerades as an investigation.

The Bennett regime's IDF "assassinat(ed)" Abu Akleh.

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians — including Palestinian Authority officials — turned out for her funeral to honor her in death as in life.

Draped in a Palestinian flag, her coffin was carried by a Palestinian honor guard in Ramallah from the Istishari hospital to the PA complex.

The PA holds the Bennett regime responsible for her assassination, adding:

It intends to seek justice by holding Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court — even though chances of achieving this objective are virtually nil.

Following the Ramallah procession, Abu Akleh's coffin was taken to Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem where she was born — to be laid to rest in a cemetery alongside her mother.

Israeli police reportedly intercepted the convoy en route to her final resting place after it passed through the Qalandia military checkpoint.

According to the Wafa News Agency:

"Police inspected the ambulance carrying Abu Akleh's body."

They "seized her scarf which had traces of blood and was decorated with the Palestine flag" before letting convoy proceed.

On Wednesday, Thursday and likely Friday, vigils honoring Abu Akleh were held across Occupied Palestine in cities and towns.

According to Al Jazeera on Friday: 

"Israeli police stormed the grounds of a Jerusalem hospital to forcibly prevent a funeral march for Shireen Abu Akleh," adding:

"TV images…showed (her) coffin nearly falling to the ground as police grabbed Palestinian flags from the crowd close to the procession…in Occupied East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood."

Mourners were targeted with batons. At least four Palestinians were arrested.

Al Jazeera explained that Israel "forbids public displays of Palestinian flags."

Police "often storm individuals who hoist them at rallies or protests in the city." 

"When Shireen's car carrying the casket actually came in, there was a Palestinian flag on display in the back of the car." 

"Israeli police smashed (its) window (to remove) the flag." 

Her assassination reflected how Israel targets truth-telling journalists.

Since 2018 alone, its forces killed nearly 150 Palestinian journalists, wounding many others.

Because of her prominence and advocacy for Palestinian rights, it's virtually certain that the Bennett regime wanted her silenced — ordering her assassination.

On Thursday, the Al Haq human rights group condemned her killing, adding:

Its "initial field investigation indicates that on the morning of Wednesday 11 May 2022, at approximately 5 am, the IOF raided Jenin refugee camp and attacked the Al Housari family home, firing live ammunition and sound bombs and attacking civilians found therein, under the guise of searching for 'wanted' individuals."

"(C)lashes between the IOF and armed Palestinians (then) erupted in the area." 

"Around an hour later, a group of journalists wearing marked 'PRESS' vests and helmets gathered near the Jenin refugee camp's" western entrance. 

They walked down Jenin-Burqin street heading west towards a byroad where the IOF was deployed, and were soon directly facing (its) vehicles, without any barriers obstructing the vision of the IOF situated to their south." 

"The journalists stopped for a while to allow the IOF to identify them with their clearly marking 'PRESS' vests, and slowly approached the IOF from the north." 

"This is when the journalists were fired at from the south, where the IOF were situated."

Journalist Ali Samoudi was leading the way when the IOF opened fire on" them. 

"He turned around and screamed 'bullets being fired' and started running back towards Jenin-Burqin street." 

"He was hit with a bullet in his left shoulder from the back side, which exited from the front side of his body." 

"Shireen, who was standing against a wall and a tree, screamed 'Ali is hit.' " 

"(S)econds (later she was lethally shot) with a bullet to her head and fell immediately to the ground." 

"Journalist Shatha Hanaisheh…standing next to (her took) cover next to a tree." 

"The IOF continued shooting at the journalists, as well as at residents trying to rescue them."

"Shireen was then taken…to Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital in Jenin where she was (pronounced) dead at 6:15 am."

Dr Rayyan al-Ali, director of the Forensic Medicine Institute at An-Najah University in Nablus city explained the following: 

"(D)isfigured shrapnel was found inside (Abu Akleh's) brain."

It "indicates that the bullet may be a type only available and used by the IOF." 

The above evidence strongly indicates Israeli responsibility for Abu Akleh's death.

There's virtually no ambiguity about it.

Killing her "is a grave breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law."

It "constitutes an attack on journalism, freedom of expression and gives rise to state responsibility," Al Haq stressed. 

Its "initial field investigation indicates that the murder of Shireen amounts to willful killing, a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)."

It's also "an arbitrary deprivation of her right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."

Israel's settler-colonial and apartheid regime crimes continue to take place against the Palestinian people, with full impunity and without concrete measures to hold Israeli authorities accountable."

In 2022 alone, the IOF killed 49 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. 

Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists is longstanding practice by its ruling regimes to silence their truth-telling voices. 

In April 2022, international organizationals and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate submitted a formal complaint to the ICC on behalf of four Palestinian journalists who were killed or maimed by Israeli snipers while covering demonstrations in Gaza.

Throughout its history since 1948, Israeli regimes and their officials were virtually never held accountable for flagrant rule of law breaches against long-suffering Palestinians.

As long as the apartheid Jewish state has strong US/Western support, no accountability is likely to follow for the worst of its high crimes of war, against humanity and cold-blooded murders of Palestinians it wants silenced.