On May 11, the Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. Abu Akleh was hit by a live bullet while covering Israeli raids in the city of Jenin.
Misleading News Regarding Who Killed Abu Akleh
Western media has angered many because of its adamant use of a neutral, flattened, and passive language that avoids accusing the Israeli soldiers of murdering the journalist.
Reuters for example presented both claims in a tweet, which can be seen below.
The New York Times coverage of the incident has caused a strong backlash because if its choice of passive terms and avoidance of denouncing the murder of Abu Akleh.
Following the news of Abu Akleh’s murder, prominent Israeli social media users purported that she was killed by armed Palestinian men. A video of alleged clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers was circulating with the claim.
Israeli journalist Edy Cohen shared a video featuring a Palestinian man claiming to have shot an Israeli soldier. Cohen asserts that the video proves Abu Akleh was shot by Palestinians and not by Israelis. In his tweet Cohen claims: “Proof and evidence that those who killed the journalist were the armed militants. They say a soldier has been shot and is down. This is not a soldier, it is a journalist. Listen to them, condemn them based on what they say.”
Avichay Adraee, the head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, also shared the video claiming that Abu Akleh was killed by a Palestinian gunman.
Abu Akleh’s Colleagues Tell the Story
In a video footage of the incident, Abu Akleh and one of her colleagues can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word “PRESS.”
Shatha Hanaysha, a local journalist who was standing next to Abu Akleh, at the time of her shooting, says there had been no clashes between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army. Journalists were directly targeted, according to her: “We stood until we saw the soldiers and moved as a group from the protection gate. We were in front of a street. We moved forward and after we advanced, the Israeli army waited for us to reach a closed area, which is hard to go back from, and started shooting at us. If they wanted us to stop advancing, they could have warned us by shooting warning bullets on the floor.”
“We were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets,” Hanaysha said, “when Ali got shot, Shireen screamed saying Ali was injured, Ali was injured, the shooting did not stop, I sought protection behind a tree, Shireen was shot, and she stopped moving right after it. We were clearly targeted. The army of occupation adamantly and deliberately shot us.”
Hanaysha, Ali Al-Samoudi, and other reporters at the scene disputed Israeli claims, directly refuting the possibility that Palestinians were involved.
Al-Samoudi says: “We were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” he adds: “The first bullet hit me, and the second bullet hit Shireen … there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene.”
Two Different Locations and Two Different Incidents
Since this morning, Israeli social media users have been posting a video purporting to show clashes between Israelis and Palestinian armed men. A Palestinian man is heard saying an Israeli soldier has been wounded in the video.
According to the circulating claims, Shireen Abu Akleh, the assassinated Palestinian journalist, was later revealed to be the Israeli soldier Palestinians believed they had injured. The video was shared to show that Israeli soldiers were not responsible for Abu Akleh's death. Misbar's team investigated the circulating footage and found that the circulating claims are misleading. Having seen the footage of Abu Akleh lying on the ground, it appears that she was near a main road junction. However, footage of the clashes suggests that it was taken in a refugee camp.
Hence, Misbar reached out to journalists in Jenin, Palestine, who confirmed the distance between the two incidents. The video depicting the murder of Abu Akleh was filmed on a main road. In contrast, the video depicting clashes was filmed in a refugee camp, as can be seen on Google Earth below.
Photo Description: The location of Abu Akleh’s assassination (YouTube).
Photo Description: The alley where Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli troops (Twitter).
B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, also shared their findings proving that the two locations are different.
Autopsy Results
According to Rayyan al-Ali, the director of the Forensic Medicine Institute at An-Najah University in Nablus, the journalist was shot in the head.
“The bullet caused a complete laceration of the brain and skull bones,” Al-Ali stated at a press conference after the autopsy adding that the journalist was shot from “a range of more than one meter.”
The Assassination of Journalists
Nasser Abu Bakr, the head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, asserted that the incident will be reported to the International Criminal Court.
Abu Bakr called the martyrdom of the journalist Abu Akleh “a catastrophe, and a full-fledged crime targeting journalists.”
According to Abu Bakr, the number of murdered journalists has risen to 55 since 2000, explaining that since 2013, more than 7,000 attacks on journalists have been documented.
Abu Bakr added that the occupation seeks to discourage journalists from covering its violations, especially in the camp of Jenin. He also explained that all evidence and videos refute the occupation's narrative regarding the assassination of Abu Akleh.
Global Outrage Following Abu Akleh’s Assassination
As a result of the Israeli troops murdering Abu Akleh, condolences and condemnations have poured in, along with calls for the death to be thoroughly investigated so those responsible can be held accountable.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lolwah Alkhater called the killing a form of “state sponsored Israeli terrorism” and called for an end to “unconditional support to Israel.”
Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, said on Twitter that he was "very sad" to learn about the journalist's death and called for "a thorough investigation into the circumstances."
The UK’s ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan, expressed his sadness on Twitter: “Journalists must be allowed to work safely and freely. I urge a rapid, thorough and transparent investigation.”
The International Federation of Journalists, the global media rights group, powerfully condemned the killing and called for an “immediate investigation.”
The Arab League also strongly condemned the murder of Abu Akleh, which they considered to be a war crime, in a statement accusing the Israeli occupation government of this horrendous act of crime and calling for the punishment of the guilty.
Human rights group Amnesty International has called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its unlawful killings.
“The killing of veteran journalist Shirin Abu Akleh is a bloody reminder of the deadly system in which Israel locks Palestinians. Israel is killing Palestinians left and right with impunity. How many more need to be killed before the international community acts to hold Israel accountable for the continuing crimes against humanity?” said Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The Secretary General and Director General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Christophe Deloire, shared a tweet in which he states that the killing of Abu Akleh “constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions that mandate the protection of civilians, and of UN Security Council resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists.”
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which represents journalists in the UK and Ireland, demanded that those responsible be held accountable immediately: “Attacks against Palestinian journalists in Israel have been condemned by the NUJ and International Federation of Journalists and action must be taken by Israeli authorities to ensure the safety and protection of journalists in the country.”
Clashes in Jenin
In Jenin, Israeli forces raided a village in the occupied West Bank and demolished the home of a Palestinian who they claim killed an Israeli settler last December.
An Israeli army statement said soldiers destroyed the home of Omar Jaradat in Silat al-Harithiya near the city of Jenin on Saturday using explosives.
According to Al Jazeera, Abu Akleh sent an email to Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau at 6:13am (3:13 GMT) saying: “Occupation forces storm Jenin and besiege a house in the Jabriyat neighbourhood. On the way there – I will bring you news as soon as the picture becomes clear.”
Shireen Abu Akleh
During her time covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh became an iconic name across the Arab world thanks to her bold and insightful reporting.
The Jerusalem-born Abu Akleh was born in 1971. After studying architecture, she went on to study journalism at Jordan's Yarmouk University. As soon as she graduated, she returned to Palestine and worked for several media outlets, including Voice of Palestine Radio and the Amman Satellite Channel. Her coverage of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000 garnered her fame and global recognition. She joined Al Jazeera a year after it was launched in 1996 as one of its first field correspondents.
As a TV journalist, Abu Akleh covered various news events, such as the Gaza wars of 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021, as well as the story of the six Palestinians who escaped a maximum-security prison in northern Israel last September. Additionally, she covered regional news, including the 2006 war in Lebanon.
“I chose journalism to be close to the people,” Abu Akleh said, “it might not be easy to change the reality, but at least I could bring their voice to the world.”
Ouissal Harize, Bayan Hamdan, Hind Khoudary, and Mohammed Suliman contributed in writing this blog.
Misbar’s Sources:
