“Who Killed Shireen?”
In two days, it will be the third anniversary of the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Abu Akleh, aged 51, was born in Jerusalem and raised in the US, a proud Palestinian as well a US citizen. She was the face of the Palestinian cause on Al Jazeera’s newscasts for the last 25 years; by all accounts she was a wonderful person, a supporter for Palestinians’ rights, and a darn fine journalist.
Many of us saw the news of her killing that day in May 2022. A gaggle of reporters stood with press vests on top of brightly-coloured shirts and wearing helmets in the area Israel designated them to stand. They were there to cover an illegal Israeli military operation that targeted militants in Jenin on the West Bank. Within hours of her killing, Israel’s claim that it was a Palestinian militant who shot her was proved a deliberate lie.
The IDF was “likely responsible” for Abu Akleh’s murder
A new documentary produced by Zeteo goes a long way to explain not only what happened that day, 11 May 2022, but the years’ long struggle to find out who did kill Abu Akleh, a US citizen. On hearing about her death, then-president Joe Biden said his government demanded a “full and transparent accounting of her death…” But barely eight weeks later, a US State Department investigation into Abu Akleh’s death said that the IDF was “likely responsible” for the shooting, but that there was “no reason to believe” she was intentionally targeted.
Case closed; the US then dropped its inquiries about Abu Akleh. In fact, many in the press corps saw what happened, and knew she was shot by an Israeli sniper. But the question was – was it an accident or an assassination?
Who Killed Shireen? goes further than anyone in the media has gone before. In this 40 minute film (free to stream here) you can see the smug Israelis boasting they have nothing to do with her death; you can see the Zeteo reporters connect with an Israeli journalist who has his ear to the ground for men in the IDF.
Zeteo finds out exactly who did the killing. Zeteo names the name of the sniper who was from the elite Unit 217, usually called the Duvdevan Commando brigade. It’s known for carrying out targeted killings of Palestinians.
In an incredible twist of fate, knowing who he is won’t help resolve the issue. I won’t say more.
Though it’s a bit slow at times, we get to see how investigative journalists work, and we get to meet another Palestinian woman journalist who accompanies Zeteo to Jenin and beyond.
The US – and virtually all of the western governments and media have dropped the ball on the Abu Akleh murder – we find out why in the film. No matter, no Israeli government source even mentions the more than 200 journalists who have been picked off by Israeli snipers, targeted by its armed drones, or whose bodies are decaying under mountains of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment.
The other day, a Jewish friend asked me whom did I think was responsible for the deaths and injuries in Gaza. I said Israel – of course. Perhaps I detected a second’s hesitation –as if she was going to insist the 1200 Jews killed by Hamas on 7 Oct. justified Israel’s killing 50 times more Palestinians in the last 18 months. Hamas killed 28 Israeli children on and after 7 Oct. From that date, Israel has killed at least 17,400 Palestinian children – that is 620 times the number of children that Hamas killed. 620 by Israel.
Even by Israeli math, the disproportionality beggars the imagination. Perhaps that’s why my friend didn’t object when I told her Israel was to blame. It’s a genocide, and not one western nation will stand up and call an immediate halt to it.
Photo at the top: The bodies of two infants, Yahya Sinwar and Seif Sinwar, who were killed in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, are carried by their father and grandfather on May 3, 2025 [credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
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