Journalist Abu Aglai killed: sacrificed to reveal the true face of the occupied Palestinian territory

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Al Jazeera journalist Shereen Abu Aqleh was shot and killed on May 11 during an Israeli military attack on the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine. Afterwards, Israeli police tried to stop her funeral in East Jerusalem, and even nearly pushed her coffin to the ground.

Ariel Gottieb Member of the Executive Committee of the Israel Journalists' Union (personal position only), Member of the Socialist Struggle Movement (ISA Israel/Palestine)

(This article only represents my personal position, and the remarks in the article do not represent the position of the Israeli Journalists Union; the original article was first published on May 26, 2022, and the last edited date was May 27 of the same year)

Abu Aghley was shot in the head and her producer Ali Al-Samoudi was shot in the back during a brutal IDF attack on the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine on May 11. But this incident is just the tip of the iceberg, as countless Palestinian journalists have been attacked for documenting the real situation in the occupied territories. In April this year, the Palestinian Journalists' Union and the International Union of Journalists formally filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accusing the Israeli authorities of a systematic crackdown on Palestinian journalists, including the killing of 50 media workers since 2000.

"It's not easy to change reality, but at least I can speak for the world," said Abu Aghley, who was born in Occupied East Jerusalem and worked as a reporter for Al Jazeera for 25 years. Over the course of her career, Abu Aglei has debunked many lies from IDF spokespersons and has become a household name in the Palestinian West Bank and the Middle East. Her sacrifice to expose the tragic situation in the occupied territories sparked the anger of many people in the Middle East and around the world, and many protests broke out on both sides of the Green Line, which is the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire line (in the territory of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in 1967). .

The Arab and Middle East Journalists Association has publicly demanded that "a transparent and independent investigation is needed to establish the cause of Shireen's death...the killer should be held accountable." The basic and necessary demand is that there should be an investigation that emphasizes independence from the military and the authorities. .

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces have stated that military lawyers are still pending, so no formal investigation will be held. Human rights group Yesh Din responded: "IDF law enforcement units have been reluctant to initiate public investigations. 80% of complaints have been withdrawn without any criminal investigation."

Witnesses, including producer Samodi, reported that it was Israel Defense Forces who shot the reporters and that there were no armed Palestinian militias around at the time of Shireen's death. The Palestinian Authority's interior minister, Hussein Al-Sheikh, clarified that the Palestinian Authority's investigation would be referred to international agencies, claiming that "every indication is that she was killed by Israeli special forces."

In the face of the evidence, even the IDF spokesman changed his usual steadfast denial of the IDF attack on civilians, but when the media asked again whether Abu Aghlai died of Palestinian fire as he claimed, he was forced to Restraining his remarks, he said, "I can't be sure," and then traced that "of course, Shireen may still have died under Palestinian gunfire." Meanwhile, the IDF admitted in its operational report that the 5.56mm bullet that caused the death was fired from an M16 rifle, the same weapon used by the IDF. And, it is now confirmed that the IDF has committed at least six incidents of firing on journalists in the occupied territories.

Since Abu Aghley is also a U.S. citizen, the State Department has also issued statements publicly condemning the killing and calling for an immediate investigation. The State Department said the attack on Abu Aghley was also an attack on all freedom of speech. Nahman Shay, a former Israel Defense Forces spokesman who is now the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and a member of the Israeli Labour Party, admitted in a radio interview that "in an event like this, the credibility of the Israeli government is not good. We all know that bad Credibility is based on past experience, and the United States will not accept the findings of any non-independent agency." He called for the investigation to invite a US forensic doctor to join the investigation "to increase the credibility of the investigation."

The death of Abu Aghley also shook the crumbling coalition government of the bourgeoisie and occupation, against a backdrop of already escalating national tensions. In response, the United Arab List (Raam for short, a member of Israel's current ruling coalition) decided to cancel a press conference announcing whether they would remain in the ruling coalition (they decided to stay in the coalition anyway). In addition, Meretz's party MP Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi was the first to announce that she would quit the coalition government, citing the authorities' attack on Abu Aglai's funeral as one of the reasons for her withdrawal.

Impressively, thousands turned out for the funeral procession on Friday, May 13. The Jerusalem police threw salt in their wounds, attacked funeral participants such as the coffin, and nearly dropped the coffin on the ground. These shocking actions reflect both their extreme insensitivity and Jewish supremacist attitude and their attempt to stop all Palestinian protests in the East Jerusalem public sphere. Police tried to force the funeral procession's family to sign an agreement to ban Palestinian flags, national songs and slogans at funeral processions.

Israeli police tried to ban the Palestinian flag on the grounds of stone-throwing by Palestinians, set up checkpoints at Damascus Gate in Old Jerusalem, provocatively walked to coffins and attacked a large number of participants (injuring dozens), and declared that they would not Take disciplinary action against police officers. This is actually a poor cover-up. Labour's public safety minister Omer Bar-Lev MP had to announce a police investigation into the incidents amid strong international condemnation, but he spoke up for the police, blaming funeral attendees for the violence .

While it is right to call for an independent investigation by journalists' organizations, trade unions and international experts, it is more important to remember that Abu Aghley was ultimately killed in the Israeli army's invasion of Palestinian refugee camps Millions of Palestinians were killed when they were disenfranchised under Israeli occupation. The destruction of the media building housing Al Jazeera's offices during the May 2021 attack on Gaza is a vivid example of how defenders of occupation, siege, poverty and inequality have suppressed media records, reports, expose reality. The Israeli regime has shut down Palestinian media in recent years, arresting, attacking and even shooting journalists — including two journalists who reported on the severe military crackdown on demonstrations near the fence in the Gaza Strip in 2018.

The scandal between former Prime Minister Netanyahu and several media tycoons has shown the relationship between the bourgeois media and the regime, and has also drawn attention to the fact that bourgeois media directly serve the interests of politicians and capitalists, and as such they often try to Cover the truth. When launching military operations or attacking Palestinian civilians, the Israeli media is often mobilized to serve as a mouthpiece for government and IDF propaganda, helping to incite nationalism, a blow to journalism itself, and to pressing social issues such as the occupation Keep going.

In addition to the need for Israeli journalists to show solidarity, it is especially important that we oppose attacks on press freedom and journalists on both sides of the Green Line - a regime that allows journalists to be attacked and silenced in broad daylight endangers all journalists work. In addition, the persecution of Palestinian and other journalists to cover up the reality of the occupation has fueled the spread of fake news that hides from both Israelis and the global population what they need to know. This is a sign of the urgent need for the Israeli Journalists' Union to act strongly to stop the authorities' repeated attacks on Palestinian journalists.