Who Killed Shireen? also lifts lid on US attempts to stifle truth about the 2022 killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist.
Filmmakers behind a new documentary on the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces say they have uncovered the identity of the soldier who pulled the trigger.
Who Killed Shireen?, a 40-minute investigative documentary released on Thursday by Washington, DC-based media company Zeteo, identifies the killer as a 20-year-old Israeli soldier who was on his first combat tour in the occupied West Bank and lifts the lid on attempts by the United States to avoid holding ally Israel accountable for the murder.
Dion Nissenbaum, the executive producer of the documentary, told Al Jazeera that its makers had set out to uncover exactly who was behind the killing – a secret closely guarded by Israel up to now, according to Zeteo – and that they hoped the findings would lead to further investigations by the US.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden had “concluded early on that an Israeli soldier had intentionally targeted her, but that conclusion was overruled internally”, he said.
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“We found some concerning evidence that both Israel and the Biden administration had covered up Shireen’s killing and allowed the soldier to get away without any accountability,” he added.
Anton Abu Akleh, Shireen’s brother, said the documentary was “really important” for her family. “I’m sure it will shed more light and prove that she was systematically targeted like other journalists in Palestine by the Israeli army,” he said.
The documentary features exclusive interviews not just with ex-US officials but also former top Israeli officials and soldiers, as well as journalists who knew Shireen personally.
“We hope that people will be reminded of what an icon Shireen was,” said Nissenbaum.
In ‘cold blood’
Abu Akleh was wearing a helmet and a clearly marked press vest when she was killed while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, 2022, an act that the Al Jazeera Media Network condemned as a “cold-blooded assassination”.
Investigations into her killing carried out by news agencies, rights groups and the United Nations have all concluded that Abu Akleh was killed – likely deliberately – by Israeli soldiers.
Israel initially tried to deflect blame for the incident and suggested that Palestinian fighters killed the journalist, but it eventually walked back that claim and acknowledged its troops were responsible for her death, saying it was “an accident”.
A year later, Israel’s military said it was “deeply sorry” for the death of Abu Akleh, but said it would not launch criminal proceedings against the soldiers believed to be behind the killing.
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The US dropped its request for an Israeli criminal investigation after Israel’s apology.
Abu Akleh’s death shocked the world and focused an international spotlight on Israeli killings of Palestinian journalists.
Reporters Without Borders said on Friday that Israeli forces killed nearly 200 journalists in the first 18 months of Israel’s all-out assault on Gaza, at least 42 of whom were slain while doing their job.