LATHEEF FAROOK
COLOMBO- On Wednesday 11 May 2022, Israeli forces shot Popular Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the head by a live bullet and killed in cold blood .It happened while she was covering an Israeli military raid on the city of Jenin– city which has become the symbol of Palestinian resistance in Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Popular journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, born and raised in Jerusalem and belonged to a Christian family, worked as a reporter for the Arabic-language channel Al Jazeera for 25 years. She was a household name across the Middle East for her reporting in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
Abu Akleh had reported about the miserable plight of Palestinians under Israeli occupation for over two and a half decades. Her reports exposed daily Israeli atrocities, crime and lawlessness causing misery to Palestinians who were the sons and daughters of Palestine which was turned into Israel for Jews brought in from US, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
The cruelty of Israeli soldiers was such that they forcibly prevented the funeral march for Shireen Abu Akleh, by attacking mourners carrying her casket in her hometown of Jerusalem with batons, almost causing it to drop, before eventually allowing it to be moved in a hearse. Later the casket of Shireen was taken to the Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery, in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem where she was buried alongside her late parents.
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously condemned the killing of Shireen. The statement, a rare case of Security Council unity on an issue related to Israel, also called for “an immediate, thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation” into her death.
The final text merely says “journalists should be protected as civilians” and does not mention violence during the funeral on Friday for Abu Akleh However the resolution has not condemned Israel for the killing.Earlier, the US said it was “deeply troubled to see the images of Israeli police intruding into her funeral procession”.
A Washington datelined report by Palestinian rights advocates Ali Harb stated that the United States needs to “look in the mirror” and reassess its unconditional support for Israel as calls to condition billions in annual US aid are growing in the aftermath of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing.
President Joe Biden and his top aides have repeatedly promised not to condition, restrict or reduce US aid to Israel, which totals $3.8bn annually. “According to reports the United States government is complicit and is a perpetrator of Israeli war crimes because of the aid that they give them, the unconditional support, the blank cheques,.“The US is 100 percent hand in hand with Israel when it comes to these abuses that are happening.”
Shireen was targeted while wearing a flak jacket clearly displaying the word ‘Press’ and a helmet while standing in an open area surrounded only by journalists.
She joined Al Jazeera when it was established in 1997, at the age of 26, and became the face of Palestinian coverage for millions of Arab households. She covered the Gaza wars of 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021 as well as the 2006 war in Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera.
“Every house … inside or outside of Palestine, mourn Shireen because she is our voice to the world,” said Terry Bullata, a friend and former schoolmate of Abu Akleh. “She is the voice of our suffering under the occupation. She is the voice of our aspiration for freedom.”
Palestinian writer Mariam Barghouti recalled Abu Akleh’s “voice echoing in the house as she covered the brutality of a military invasion” when she was a child. The Al Jazeera reporter was the only journalist to cover her own arrest by soldiers, Barghouti said.
Columnist Motasem A Dalloul of Gaza said that almost all the official international bodies and the great powers have called for Israel to investigate Shireen’s killing. I know, they are not serious, but trying to pacify people’s anger. If they were serious, they would have obligated Israel to investigate previous murders. Shireen is the 55th Palestinian journalist killed by Israel.
British columnist Yvonne Ridley stated that like a worm on a fish hook, Tel Aviv is slithering and wriggling over the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh. Showing absolutely no shame, the Zionist State began spewing out lies and a false narrative the moment the iconic Al-Jazeera journalist hit the ground, taking her last breath.
Be in no doubt, Israel is guilty of a war crime and, if there is any justice left in this part of the world, then the Israeli sniper who pulled the trigger should be put before the International Criminal Court.
The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, is a “potential war crime”, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, said in an interview with a Turkish news agency yesterday.
This gruesome killing attests to the fact that the Israeli soldiers’ fingers are so nimble on the trigger that there is no immunity for any Palestinian in the field. They know that they are backed by a government willing to justify every violation they commit, even when they target Press correspondents.
There is no need for Israel to worry as it has the blind support of US and Europe .They also know that the Arab tyrants in the region will not lift a finger in support of Palestinian sufferings.
East Jerusalem. [
It is worthy to note that before 1948, there was no Israel. It was Palestine where Palestinians lived . Jews were brought in from US. Europe and Middle East, settled in Palestinian lands and created Israel by manipulating the United Nations. The Zionist Jews descended to the lowest level by resorting to lies, deception, bribe, blackmail, killing, massacres and genocide.
Israel has been disseminating lies to justify its existence and its continuous killing of Palestinians, displacing them, stealing their land and property and demolishing their homes. The world and the international media have been complicit in it.
