On May 11th, al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head while covering Israeli army raids in the occupied West Bank. Her colleague Ali al-Samoudi was also shot in the back but survived to tell the tale.
"We were going to film the Israeli army operation and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming," recounted al-Samoudi. Another journalist on the scene said that "we were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets…The [Israeli] occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed. I couldn't even extend my arm to pull her because of the shots being fired. The army was adamant on shooting to kill."
Shireen Abu Akleh was a household name across the Middle East, having covered Israeli politics and the Palestinian occupation since 1997.
This is an absolutely horrifying tragedy and as a close ally of Israel's — and the provider of $4 billion in military aid every year — America must condemn the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.
President Biden did the right thing by standing up to Saudi Arabia over the gruesome murder of Jamal Kashoggi. Now it's time for America to take a stand once more for the integrity of the free press and the protection of those who keep the powerful honest.
Tell Congress to condemn Israel's murder of a veteran journalist!
