Whitewashing of Israel!
May was another dark month in the history of the Palestinians. A veteran journalist of Al-Jazeera and a Palestinian-American famously known as Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered on 11th May 2022 while doing her job covering a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Shireen was wearing a helmet and more importantly, a flak jacket marked “PRESS”.
The first preliminary investigations by the Associated Press news agency, CNN, Washington Post and the New York Times have all concluded that the Israeli forces have deliberately killed Shireen Abu Akleh. The office of the United Nations Human Rights chief has lent credence to the versions of many Palestinians that Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces.
And on or around 4th July, the US State Department said (without doing any ballistic test) that the investigation could not conclusively determine the origin of the bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh. If you are of Palestinian origin, you should not expect any justice when you are involved in the line of fire of the Israelis.
On the 2nd of July, Palestinian officials stated they handed the bullet over to US officials. But on the next day, conflicting reports emerged:
- To whom did the Palestinians remit the bullet?
- Did the Palestinians remit the bullet to the Israelis, knowing that the Israelis can’t be trusted ? Whenever the Israelis are at fault, their institutions will slog to find a means to whitewash whatever crimes (Believe me, from ecocide to genocide) they have committed.
- Was the European or Russian option considered by the Palestinian officials?
How can we or any Palestinian official trust to conduct a fair and transparent investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh?
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem called the investigation a “US-backed Israeli whitewash”. B’Tselem went further by stating “It is not clear on what grounds does the US State Department seek to dismiss her killing.”
Moreover, the secretary-general of Amnesty International said that the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh must be investigated as an act of “excessive use of force”. She further tweeted: “Israel must be held accountable. Justice must be delivered. Journalists must be protected when doing their work. Not a target.”
Biden’s role: rotten
Why is Biden silent? Why is the Biden’s administration so economical with words?
I am not asking for actions but for words of comfort. All human rights activists and militants around the world are unanimous to say that Washington continues to ensure TOTAL IMPUNITY for Israel’s gross abuses of human rights even if they target journalists and United States citizens.
Can we believe the US Department of State when it dismissed the incident as the unintentional result of tragic circumstances?
Can we believe that the bullet was so much badly damaged that it prevented a clear conclusion?
Can we believe the Americans that they did not conduct their own inquiry but that their conclusion (laughable!) was a “summation” of investigations by the Palestinian Authority and Israel?
Can we be accused of paranoid views when the statement of the US State Department was issued on the 4th of July? 4th of July, the date of American independence!
Can we conclude that the probe was merely analytic and not scientific?
RAMA VALAYDEN
NOTE : Les points de vue exprimés dans cette rubrique ne reflètent pas nécessairement ceux de la rédaction et n’engagent que les auteurs eux-mêmes.
