Israelis and Palestinians at Izbat At-Tabib, Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, 31 May 2022 [photo credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh]
That reworking of the narrative happened as the facts of the case, including video footage,
quickly began to emerge putting the lie to the initial IDF and Israeli
government claim. It is a ploy that the British public in recent days,
weeks and months has become used to from the government of Boris
Johnson: a lie, a U-turn when the lie is revealed and then an apology,
all designed to obscure the original scandal in the ensuing uproar with
the hope that it will be forgotten. It remains to be seen if the ruse
will continue to work for Johnson but undoubtedly, year after year,
crime after crime, it has worked well for the Israeli government and the
IDF.
The lawyer Diana Buttu in a 10 June article described Israel’s response to the killing as “a textbook example of hasbara,” what she calls “the Israeli effort to dehumanize Palestinians through propaganda.”
Buttu noted the three stages of hasbara: stage one is to
deflect by blaming Palestinians, stage two is the whitewashed
investigation wherein, in this case, the Israelis demanded the bullet
taken from Abu Akleh’s body be turned over to them (the US intervened to
play the role of arbiter with the PA agreeing to release the bullet on 2
July) and the third stage is the offer, pro forma, of an apology, one without any responsibility attached to it, accompanied by an _expression_ of condolences.
The State Department, operating almost as an adjunct service to the IDF, seamlessly completed the hasbara trifecta.
The family of the slain journalist responded in measured tones noting:
There were numerous eyewitnesses to the killing, and we have now had the benefit of reports from multiple local and international media outlets, human rights organizations, and the United Nations that an Israeli soldier fired the fatal shot, as there were no other armed elements in the area of Jenin where Shireen was murdered.
The family went on to point out that:
The focus on the bullet has always been misplaced and was an
attempt by the Israeli side to spin the narrative in its favor, as if
this were some kind of police whodunit that could be solved by a
CSI-style forensic test. The notion that the American investigators,
whose identity is not disclosed in the statement, believe the bullet
"likely came from Israeli positions" is cold comfort.
Shireen Abu Akleh's family has vowed to continue to fight on for
justice for her and called on the Biden administration to carry out “an
open, transparent, and thorough investigation of all the facts by
independent agencies free from any political consideration or
influence.” Abu Akleh was, after all, an American citizen, another
uncomfortable truth that Biden and the State Department have underplayed
almost to the point of ignoring it.
As her family says in their compelling statement, one that highlights the inadequacies of the USSC effort:
To say that this investigation, with its total lack of
transparency, undefined goals, and support for Israel's overall position
is a disappointment would be an understatement. We will continue to advocate for justice for Shireen, and to hold the Israeli military and government accountable, no matter the attempts to obfuscate the reality of what happened on May 11.
Arab Digest supports the Abu Akleh family's call for justice and accountability in the killing of Shireen.