Months later, after Israel said this week that there is a “high probability” that one of its soldiers killed Abu Akleh, United States officials have redefined the concept of accountability in the case. The Biden administration is now calling on Israel to review its civilian harm mitigation policies, effectively abandoning its earlier demand that those responsible for the killing of Abu Akleh, who was an American citizen, be punished. “It’s a very embarrassing response from the US government. It just shows at this point that they’re doing everything they can to cover it up and just close the case,” Lina Abu Akleh, the slain journalist’s niece, told Al Jazeera in an interview on Tuesday. Lina, who advocated for justice for her aunt, added that “the definition of accountability” has changed for Washington because Abu Akleh was a Palestinian American killed by Israel. “This just shows their bias and their lack of commitment to accountability and their own values,” he said of the US government.
US “responsibility”.
Abu Akleh’s killing on May 11 has sparked international outrage and calls from her family and press freedom advocates for an independent investigation. Top US officials, including President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, had also called for “accountability” when asked about the case. On Tuesday, State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel was pressed by reporters on the concept of accountability, but continued to reiterate that the administration would press Israel to reevaluate its rules of engagement in the future. “The role we continue to play is to pressure Israel to carefully review its policies and practices to ensure that this does not happen again,” Patel said. When asked what “responsibility” meant, he said again: “We continue to press Israel to review its policies and practices.” Patel repeated a variation of that statement seven times during Tuesday’s news briefing. Lina Abu Akleh called Patel’s efforts to “deflect” from the issue “disgraceful,” criticizing Washington’s apparent inability “to define what accountability looks like.” The focus of the “defense” in this IDF report is that a soldier was “returning fire” from the fighters. But the @NYTimes @AP @CNN @washingtonpost & @UN investigations found no such fire at the time. This underscores the need for an independent American investigation into the death of this American journalist. — Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) September 6, 2022 Meanwhile, the Israeli government on Monday released a report saying there is a “high possibility” that one of its soldiers shot Abu Akleh, but dismissed the killing as “accidental”, ruling out a criminal investigation into the incident. Israel initially falsely blamed Palestinian militants for the killing of Abu Akleh, who was covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank but was not in the immediate vicinity of the fighting when she was fatally shot. Video, several witnesses and multiple independent media investigations show that there were no armed Palestinians in the area where Abu Akleh and other journalists were standing before they started shooting at the Israeli soldiers. Lina Abu Akleh stressed that her aunt’s killing was intentional, noting that the shot that killed her was “so accurate” that it hit the small area between her helmet and protective vest. “We know there was continuous shooting at her and her colleagues, even after it became known, but she was still shot,” Lina Abu Akleh said. “Let’s not forget that 16 bullets were fired in their direction.” The younger Abu Akleh and her relatives have been leading calls for a US-led investigation into the killing, a demand that has found receptive ears in the halls of Congress. But Biden administration officials rejected the request, stressing that Israel can search its own military.
“She just loved life”
Lina Abu Akleh said that although Washington appears ready to turn the page, the family will continue to fight for justice through all possible avenues, including the International Criminal Court. He also called on US journalists to continue to press the Biden administration for an independent investigation to ensure accountability for the killing of a fellow journalist. “It’s easy to lose hope when you see the lack of action from the US, from the international community – the fact that there are no investigations,” he told Al Jazeera. “But it’s also encouraging to see that we have the support of many members of Congress on the Hill. We have the support of millions of people from all over the world. “Four months have passed and people are still supporting our fight, supporting our fight for justice for Shireen. So that fills me with some sense of hope and is what drives me and my family to continue our fight for justice.” Lina Abu Akleh said amid this pressure for accountability, however, the family was unable to grieve and process the loss of their relative. “She was my only aunt,” Lina Abu Akleh said. “We are a very small family of six so it is very sad that he is no longer with us. We lost her too soon. He just loved life. It always made me feel better. He was always there to comfort me, to guide me.”
