A wall painting of the journalist killed Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by a bullet during an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin of the West West Bank, adorned a wall in Gaza the city on May 15, 2022.
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A new documentary from the Zeteo media questions the official position of the American government that the murder of the American Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank in May 2022 was a tragic error. The film, Who killed Shireen?Also claims to reveal the name of the Israeli soldier who killed her and alleged him that the Biden administration intentionally softens his internal conclusions to protect a key ally.
Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist from Al Jazeera, wore a blue flak jacket clearly marked “Press” when she was shot by an Israeli soldier while covering an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin, in the West Bank. No one has been held responsible. At the time, the soldiers of Israel said in a statement that it was “a strong possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally affected by FDI shots drawn towards suspects identified as armed armed men armed during an exchange of fire in which deadly, widespread and non -discriminating soldiers were fired.”
In the documentary, a former head of the Biden administration, whose voice is distorted to protect his identity, said that an American review initially concluded that the murder of Abu Akleh was intentional and that the soldier who shot deadly would have been aware that he was shooting a journalist. Daniel Estrin of NPR spoke with the same former civil servant who made the same statements. Investigator of investigation and old Wall Street Journal The correspondent Dion Nissenbaum was one of the executive producers of the film. He spoke to Morning edition Leila Fadel host.
On what the documentary reported the Biden administration review:
“We were able to find a key American civil servant to speak to us who told us that the American staff had gone to the scene in the city of Jenin in the West Bank, where Shireen was killed to try to understand what happened. And their initial evaluation was that the Israeli soldier intentionally targeted Shireen.”
“This initial assessment was mainly canceled by the Biden administration, and they have explicitly said that it was not intentional.”
On the soldier, the documentary identifies as the shooter – and their confirmation process:
While the documentary names the soldier, NPR does not do it because we have not independently confirmed his identity.
“He was a 20 -year -old soldier who was on his first deployment of fighting in the West Bank. And we were able to find him. And he was actually killed in Jenin last summer. He was therefore killed in the city where he killed Shireen.”
“We confirmed him with Israeli soldiers who knew him and served with him. And we talked to the Israeli army on this subject. The Israeli army, you know, refuses to comment on this. I can tell you with great confidence, we have identified the shooter.”
On the importance of the murder of Akleh and the way in which Israel and the occupied territories have become more and more dangerous places for journalists to work:
(The Committee to protect journalists (CPJ) named More than 176 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the start of the War of Israel-Gaza. CPJ says that at least 17 of these journalists and two media workers were directly targeted by Israeli forces. CPJ classifies them like murders.)
“His murder was in a way the beginning of a trajectory for the Israeli army. Before Shireen, Israel has never been on the list of countries most dangerous for journalists. And now, according to the committee to protect journalists, Israel is considered the most dangerous country for journalists because of what is happening in Gaza. And two other journalists from Gaza were killed in new states. becomes more and more dangerous for journalists to work there.
The Israeli army deliberately denies it targeted journalists and says that some of the journalists documented by CPJ were Hamas agents.
In response to the issue of NPR on documentary claims, the Israeli army sent this declaration:
“Zeteo decided to publish the name of the TSAhal soldier who fell during an operational activity, despite the family’s request not to publish the name, and even if they were informed that there is no final determination concerning the identity of the individual responsible for the shooting who caused the journalist’s death.”
On the question of whether American policy may have led to more murders of Americans:
“”As we do to note it in the documentary, there are people like Senator Chris Van Hollen who believe that the failure of the Biden administration to take an account of accounting and to change their functioning has led to the death of other Americans in the West Bank. The United States should have taken Israel to account and lead it to change its commitment rules, to tighten its operation so that they do not open fire on unarmed civilians. “”
On what Nissenbaum hopes that the film accomplishes:
“I hope that this will lead to certain reflections of Israeli soldiers on the way they operate in the West Bank around civilians and journalists. I hope that the American government will reflect on its own responsibility and try to ask for justice from an American citizen who was killed by Israeli Americans. I hope there is a certain reflection on the part of American officials in the ways.
This story was produced for radio by Milton Guevara.
