On 2nd anniversary of Abu Akleh killing, press advocates push for justice

In 214 days, Israel has killed 142 journalists in Gaza, approximately one every 36 hours. The staggering death toll makes the war the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history.

But activists say the case of renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a United States citizen, underscores the fact that Israel has been killing journalists with impunity long before the current war.

Saturday marks the second anniversary of her death after she was shot by Israeli forces while reporting in the occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022.

The lack of accountability in her killing helped pave the way for the rampant Israeli abuses taking place in Gaza, said Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel Program at the Arab Center Washington DC.

“What we have seen Israel do in terms of killing a record number of journalists in Gaza is directly connected to the lack of accountability for Shireen,” Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

“If you can kill an American citizen, who was among the highest profile journalists in the Arab world, on camera and get away with it, that sends a very clear message about what’s permissible.”

Dressed in a blue vest marked with the word “press”, Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin, a city in the northern part of the West Bank.

Initially, then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett falsely accused Palestinian fighters of shooting her – an allegation that was quickly disproven by independent reports.

How the US re-defined accountability

Immediately after Abu Akleh’s shooting, the administration of US President Joe Biden called for accountability, saying that “those responsible for Shireen’s killing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”.

But Washington shifted its position after Israel admitted that its soldiers killed Abu Akleh and dismissed the incident as an accident, refusing to open a criminal investigation.

By September 2022, the US dropped its demand that the perpetrators be prosecuted.

Accountability, officials said, could instead be accomplished by Israel changing its rules of engagement — a demand that was openly rejected by Israeli leaders.

Washington has also rejected calls for an independent probe into the incident, arguing that Israel has functioning institutions capable of investigating the case.

But Palestinian rights advocates have long said that Israel rarely prosecutes its own soldiers for abuses and should not be trusted to investigate itself.

To Munayyer, the Biden administration paved the way for Israel to allow the killing to fade into the background.

“It really sent a very dangerous message and, I think, contributed to an open season on Palestinian journalists in Gaza,” Munayyer said.

Even when Al Jazeera referred the Abu Akleh case to the International Criminal Court for investigation, the US publicly opposed the court’s involvement, reiterating its stance that Israel should take up the matter itself.

The Biden administration also failed to condemn the Israeli assault on Abu Akleh’s funeral in Jerusalem, wherein armed officers beat her pallbearers with batons.