Ariel Gottlieb is a member of Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA in Israel-Palestine).
Fell in the Struggle to Expose the Reality of the Occupation
Al Jazeera journalist Shereen Abu Aqleh was shot to death during a military raid
at the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, and during her funeral march in East
Jerusalem her casket was almost dropped due to the actions of Israeli police.
The vicious attack by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on 11 May, during which Abu
Aqleh was shot in the head and her producer Ali Al-Samoudi injured by shots to
his back, is one of too many cases in which Palestinian journalists documenting
the reality of the occupation have been attacked. This April, the Palestinian
Journalists’ Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists have filed
an official complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague
outlining the systematic repression of Palestinian journalists, including the
killings of 50 media workers since 2000.
“It might not be easy to change reality, but at least I could bring their voice to
the world”, Abu Aqleh was quoted from the archives. She was born under the occupation in East Jerusalem and had been an Al Jazeera reporter for 25 years. During her professional and dedicated
work Abu Aqleh exposed many lies and cover ups by the IDF Spokesperson, and was
known in every household in the West Bank and throughout the Middle East. Her
death in the struggle to expose the horrors of the occupation has angered many
in the Middle East and throughout the world, and protests took place on both
sides of the Green Line [both within Israel proper and in the occupied
Palestinian territories of 1967].
The Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) published a statement demanding
“a transparent and independent investigation into the actions that led to
Shereen’s death… The perpetrators have to be held accountable.” The emphasis on
an investigation that is independent from the military and authorities is a
basic and necessary demand.
Meanwhile, the IDF has already declared,with the pending approval of the Military Attorney, that no official investigation will take place. As the Yesh Din (Volunteers for Human Rights) organization
responded, “the IDF law enforcement is no longer even bothering to provide the
appearance of an investigation. 80% of complaints are dismissed without any
criminal investigation.”
Eye witnesses, including the producer Al-Samoudi, reported that the IDF is the
force that shot the journalists and that during the shooting there were no
armed Palestinian militants around Shereen. Hussein Al-Sheikh, Head of the
General Authority of Civil Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, clarified that
investigation findings by the Palestinian Authority will be reported to
international authorities, and has argued that “all signs point to the special
Israeli forces killing her.”
Facing the evidence, even the IDF Spokesperson, who usually rushes to deny any IDF
attack on civilians, was forced to restrict himself when asked if he can
confirm with certainty that Abu Aqleh was shot by Palestinian fire: “I can’t
say for certain”, he said and added that “it can definitely be that she was
shot by Palestinian fire.” The IDF has meanwhile confirmed that from an action
report it appears that the killing bullet was 5.56mm from an M16 rifle, which
the IDF also uses, and that at least six instances of fire by the IDF towards
the space occupied by the journalists were identified.
Since Abu Aqleh also had US citizenship, the US state department published a
statement denouncing the killing and called for an immediate and thorough
investigation, adding that Abu Aqleh’s killing is an attack on the freedom of
the press as a whole. Former IDF Spokesperson and now minister of the diaspora,
Labor Party MP Nahman Shay, admitted in a radio interview that “Israel’s credibility isn’t the highest during these types of cases. We know that. It’s based on the past, and the Americans won’t
accept results that aren’t based on independent authorities.” He called to add
a U.S. pathologist in order to “add credibility to the investigation.”
The shockwaves from Abu Aqleh’s death also rocked the shaky coalition government of
occupation and capitalism, with already existing international tensions in the
background. The Raam Party [Arab-Palestinian Islamist party, participating in
the Israeli coalition government] decided to respond by canceling the press
conference where the party was supposed to present its stance regarding
continuing to remain in the coalition (they eventually decided to remain).
Additionally, for the first time, MP Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi from the Meretz Party
announced she is leaving the coalition, pointing towards the attack on Abu
Aqleh’s funeral march as one of the reasons.
Impressively, thousands participated in the funeral march on Friday, May 13. The Jerusalem
police added insult to injury when they attacked the participants, including
the pallbearers, and almost caused the casket to fall. The shocking images have
reflected not only an extreme lack of sensitivity and a Jewish supremacist
attitude, but also an attempt to prevent any type of Palestinian protest in the
public sphere of East Jerusalem. The police attempted to force the Abu Aqleh
family to sign an agreement according to which the funeral march will feature
no Palestinian flags, national songs or slogans.
The police attempted to justify the ban of flags, the positioning of checkpoints at
the Damascus Gate of Old Jerusalem, provocative Israeli movement towards the
casket and the widespread attack on the participants — which led to dozens of
injuries — with claims of Palestinians throwing stones, and clarified that no
disciplinary actions will be taken against the police officers. This is, in
fact, a blunt cover up. Minister of Public Security MP Omer Bar-Lev from the
Labor Party has defended the police and put the blame for the violence on the
participants, although intense international denunciations forced him to open a
police investigation of the events.
Ultimately, while it is correct to demand an independent investigation by journalist
organizations, trade unions and international experts, it is important to bear
in mind that Abu Aqleh was killed during an Israeli military invasion of a
Palestinian refugee camp, in the context of an occupation forced upon millions
of Palestinians deprived of rights. The destruction of the media building that
hosted the Al Jazeera office during the attack on Gaza in May 2021 was a
graphic example of the barbaric war against documenting, reporting and exposing
the reality on the ground by the defenders of the status quo of the occupation,
siege, poverty and inequality. The Israeli regime in recent years has shut down
Palestinian media, arrested reporters, attacked and even shot and killed
journalists — including two who reported on the heavy military oppression
against the demonstrations near the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip in 2018.
Scandals showing the ties between the capitalist media and the regime, involving former
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several media moguls, have provided a
reminder of the phenomena of serious cover ups among the capitalist media,
which directly serves the interests of government figures and of capitalists.
Also, the phenomena of a mobilized media in Israel, which is regularly used as
a bullhorn for government and IDF propaganda when it comes to military
operations and attacks on Palestinian civilians, serves to cultivate
nationalist incitement, weaken journalism itself and prolong the burning social
problems, including the occupation.
Beyond the necessary solidarity that is required of Israeli journalists, it is of
special importance to oppose the attacks on freedom of the press and on
journalists on both sides of the Green Line — a regime that is allowed to
attack and silence journalists in one arena jeopardizes the work of journalists
everywhere. Additionally, persecution of Palestinian and other journalists in
the service of covering up the reality of the occupation adds to the spread of
fake news and the withholding of necessary information from millions of
Israelis and others around the world. This point emphasizes the need for The
Union of Journalists in Israel to build a strong defense against the repeated
attacks on Palestinian journalists.
