Middle East Eye: Palestinian anger at America for its inconclusive assessment of the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and accusations of trying to bury the crime

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by the British "Middle East Eye" website stated that Palestinian activists expressed their anger at the "inconclusive" assessment of the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh issued by Washington, and accused her of trying to bury what was found in this crime, and criticized her for issuing it. Statements that seemed to absolve Israel of all responsibility for the killing and help it get away with it.

Palestinian activists criticized the US statement, which they described as "vague and illogical", as well as its declaration on July 4, American Independence Day, a major national holiday in which many people spend time with their families and do not focus on this declaration.

The US State Department announced this week that "shooting from Israeli sites was most likely responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Aqleh," but it denied that what happened was intentional.

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Diana Butto, a Palestinian human rights lawyer and former legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization's negotiating team, told Al-Monitor, "The Eid holiday was a long weekend when people were away, and that's the point. Since Shirin was killed by Israel, the US administration has done its best." to try to bury this case."

Butto added that the statement was carefully worded to avoid any tensions before US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel next week.

They want to calm down

Butto adds that Washington asked Israel last month to stop demolishing homes, evacuating Palestinians and any decisions on building settlements "until after Biden's visit," saying they wanted "calm" for Biden's visit.

The website quoted Omar Zahza, one of the organizers of the Palestinian youth movement, as saying, "It is not surprising to see this announcement issued by the US State Department. The imperialist capitalist US government has made it clear for a long time that the lives, dignity and freedom of Palestinians are of no value."

Shereen Washington's family gave Washington a stinging rebuke, describing her assessment as "an outright insult to Shereen's memory."

Try to rotate the novel

The family and activists who spoke to the website indicated that the focus on the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was an attempt to spin the narrative around what happened, rather than seeking actual accountability.

"The focus became on the bullet and the gun that fired the bullet and all these stupid things, instead of focusing on what we know to be true; Shireen was killed because she was writing about the Israeli military occupation," Butto said.

She added that given Israel's advanced military capabilities and advanced technologies, she suspects that Israel does not know the identity of the killer.

In 2018, the Israeli forces posted a now-deleted tweet saying, “We know where every bullet landed,” after 773 Palestinians in Gaza were wounded by live bullets from Israeli forces in mass demonstrations.

Israel knows the shooter

She explained that the Israeli occupation has the ability to know the location of its soldiers and who is shooting;

"They know the person who shot Shireen."

Ramzi Baroud, a Palestinian-American journalist and author, said that he believed it was a mistake to allow the United States to participate in the investigation, noting that giving the State Department the opportunity to express its opinion on the killing has proven the "correctness" of the previous American view and greatly confused the existing body of evidence, which She seemed decisive in asserting that Shirin was killed by Israel.

However, Noura Erekat, a Palestinian-American human rights lawyer and professor at Rutgers University, said it was time for the international community, especially journalists, to increase their scrutiny of the murder investigation.

Erekat explained that if we know that Israel blatantly lies and can kill with impunity, journalists must now change the way they cover this issue for greater scrutiny.

In response to a question about how those responsible for Shirin's killing should be held accountable, Aya Ziada, director of advocacy at the "Muslims of America Organization for Palestine", said, "Accountability must begin with the suspension of all military funding to Israel, and end with bringing those responsible for her murder to justice." .

She added that it is not acceptable for the US president to pay a normal diplomatic visit to a country that practices apartheid.