WASHINGTON, DC — The family of slain Palestinian-American journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh
on Tuesday pressed the US for an independent probe and accountability from
Israel on a visit to Washington at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony
Blinken.
اضافة اعلان
The family, which
is also meeting lawmakers, said it was calling for the US to launch its own
“thorough, credible independent, and transparent investigation” into Abu
Akleh’s murder.
“For far too long,
the
US has enabled Israel to kill with impunity by providing weapons, immunity,
and diplomatic cover,” Shireen’s brother Tony Abu Akleh and her niece and
nephew said in a statement.
“Impunity leads to
repetition. We are here to do our part to ensure that this cycle ends,” they
said.
“If we allow
Shireen’s killing to be swept under the rug, we send a message that the lives
of US citizens abroad don’t matter, that the lives of Palestinians living under
Israeli occupation don’t matter, and that the most courageous journalists in
the world, those who cover the human impact of armed conflict and violence, are
expendable.”
Shireen Abu Akleh,
an Al Jazeera journalist and a prominent Palestinian reporter, was killed on
May 11 as she covered an Israeli operation in the West Bank.
The US on July 4
released a statement saying she was likely shot by Israeli fire but that there
was no evidence her killing was intentional and that the bullet was too damaged
for a conclusive finding.
The statement
outraged Abu Akleh’s family and
Palestinian leaders who say that the US is not
seeking accountability from Israel over the death of the journalist, who also
held US citizenship.
Israel says it is
still probing her death and rejects suggestions it targeted a journalist.
Abu Akleh’s family
unsuccessfully sought to meet President Joe Biden when he visited Israel and
the West Bank earlier this month.
Blinken, however,
invited the family to visit Washington, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
said during the trip.
Blinken had spoken
earlier to her family by phone and publicly criticized Israel for using force
at her funeral, when police grabbed Palestinian flags and pallbearers struggled
not to drop her casket.
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