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Palestinian-American Journalist Killed in West Bank

May 11, 2022 John Friend World 1

By John Friend

Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a native of East Jerusalem whose Christian family originally hailed from Bethlehem, has died after being shot in the head while covering a raid by Israeli military forces near the city of Jenin in the West Bank earlier this morning.

Abu Akleh, an internationally renowned and beloved journalist who has reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Al-Jazeera since 1997, was shot and killed during an Israeli army operation launched against a refugee camp near Jenin, a West Bank city that has been targeted following numerous attacks against Israeli civilians in recent weeks.

“What we know for now is that the Palestinian health ministry has announced her death,” Nida Ibrahim of Al-Jazeera explained earlier this morning. “Shireen Abu Akleh was covering the events unfolding in Jenin, specifically, an Israeli raid on the city, which is north of the occupied West Bank, when she was hit by a bullet to the head.”

Palestinian officials and on-the-scene witnesses immediately blamed Israeli forces, possibly an Israeli sniper, for firing the fatal shot that killed Abu Akleh. Other gunfire injured another journalist, a reporter for the Al-Quds newspaper as well as Al-Jazeera named Ali al-Samoudi, who was assisting Abu Akleh.

Israeli political and military officials, on the other hand, have blamed Palestinian gunmen. Video footage from the scene of the attack show Abu Akleh wearing a clearly marked vest identifying her as a member of the press.

Israeli military forces have long been accused of deliberately targeting civilians, including journalists, and failing to take precautions to prevent death or injuries to civilian populations in proximity to military raids and operations carried out by Israel Defense Forces.

Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennett and other political and military figures in Israel have released statements backing the military’s actions in Jenin, arguing the tragic death was likely caused by errant Palestinian gunfire rather than Israeli military forces.

“According to the information in our hands right now, there is a good chance that armed Palestinians, firing wildly, brought about the tragic death of the journalist,” Bennett said in a statement.

Palestinian officials have blamed Israeli forces, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas describing the journalist’s death as “an ugly cime” and an “execution.” Hamas stated that Israeli forces deliberately assassinated her.

“The assessment is that she was killed by Israeli gunfire, and witnesses at the scene attest to this as well,” a Palestinian health official told reporters.

Al-Samoudi explained to reporters following the attack that he and Abu Akleh were with a small group of other journalists who went to cover the Israeli raid. He noted that all the reporters were wearing protective gear visibly identifying them as members of the press and that they had even passed by Israeli military forces in order to show them that journalists were present in the area. He explained that “there were no armed Palestinians or other civilians in the area—only the reporters and the army,” according to The Times of Israel.

“We were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” al-Samoudi told Al-Jazeera. “The first bullet hit me and the second bullet hit Shireen . . . there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene.”

Ned Price, a U.S. State Department spokesman, condemned Abu Akleh’s death and called for an immediate investigation, arguing that “those responsible must be held accountable.”

1 Comment on Palestinian-American Journalist Killed in West Bank

  1. Anyone who regurgitates the defunct Palestinian nationality, that was created for the Jewish Homeland by the League of Nations in 1923, is a Marxist following Marx’s directive for the “abolition of religion”…

    The eleventh edition of the Encylopaedia Britannica was published in 29 volumes in 1910 and 1911. They were published by Cambridge University and by the Encyclopaedia Britannica Company. (Except where noted by ‘(EBC)’, the Internet Archive page scans linked below are from the Cambridge University Press imprint. The Gutenberg transcriptions may be from either imprint.)…

    http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/metabook?id=britannica11

    Palestine – Volume 20, P. 626

    Druze – Volume 8, P. 603

    Alawites – Ansarieh (Nusayri)- Volume 26, P.307

    If the distinct ‘Palestinian People’ existed pre-World War I, then the Encylopaedia Britannica would list them, so let’s take a look at the 1910 Encylopaedia Britannica.

    The Druze are mentioned under their own heading, Volume 8 (p. 603). The Alawites (Nosairis) are mentioned under the heading Syria, Volume 26 (p.307). The ‘Palestinian People’ are neither to be found listed under their heading nor the heading for Palestine, Volume 20 (p. 604), and not listed under the heading for Syria, Volume 26 (p. 307).

    Historical Palestine under the Turks was a stretch of area that includes today’s Israel and southern Lebanon, ending just outside Beirut. It had no political administrative significance under the Turks, nor any relationship to a specific people named after it. The term Palestine is akin to Appalachia in the United States that encompasses several states and has no political administrative apparatus nor specific ethnic habitation.

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