U.S. and Israel Go Tit-for-Tat Over Palestinian Human Rights
By John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
Democratic representatives of the U.S. House have demanded a U.S. investigation of Palestinian American journalist Abu Akleh’s murder. Israel Ambassador to the U.S., Herzog, responds curtly to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s demand that the U.S. investigate the murder. In a related event, Tlaib introduced a House Resolution to recognize the Nakba (The Catastrophe), referring to the founding of the Israeli state in 1948.
Democratic U.S. House Members Demand FBI Investigation of Palestinian Journalist Abu Akleh’s Murder
Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder still lingers, fraught with questions of Israel’s complicity. In response, 57 Democratic representatives of the U.S. House have demanded a U.S. investigation of the murder. In a letter to the Secretary of State and the FBI, they called for an American investigation into the death of an American citizen abroad. An Israeli soldier murdered Abu AKleh on May 11 as she reported on an Israeli arrest raid in Jenin on the West Bank.
The Congressional letter expressed concern over the death of Abu Akleh, not only as an American but also as a journalist. She is one of forty-five journalists killed by Israeli soldiers since 2,000. The letter praised the State Department for its statements of support for freedom of the press. However, it requested the participation of the FBI to beef up the probe. The Reps also wanted to know if laws protecting Abu Akleh as a U.S. citizen violated her rights.
The Israeli Defense Force, according to news source The Media Staff Line, noted that the IDF was conducting its own inquiry. However, the IDF stated that its probe was not a criminal one. This was because the murder took place during an arrest raid and thus the Army did not consider it a criminal act. Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority refused to join the IDF in the probe. It said that Israel could not fairly examine actions of its own members. The PA has rejected an Israeli request to turn over the bullet that killed Abu Akleh.
Joining Democratic Reps in demanding culpability for an Israeli soldier’s killing of Abu Akleh were many leading world artists. Such artists as Pedro Almodovar, Susan Sarandon, Tilda Swinton, Mark Ruffalo, Eric Cantona, Miriam Margolyes, Jim Jarmusch, Naomi Klein, and Peter Gabriel, according to Mondoweiss news source, enlisted in the call. Specifically, more than one hundred such artists demanded: “meaningful measures to ensure accountability for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and all other Palestinian civilians.”
Actress Susan Sarandon put her special twist on the protest. She added, “I am saddened and angered by the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh and by the appalling attack on her funeral. I now know more than ever that without serious accountability and serious measures by our governments, apartheid and occupation will not end soon.”
Israel responds to U.S. Reps’ Demands
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, responded directly to Rep. Tlaib. She had twittered, according to Israel National News, “When will the world and those who stand by Apartheid Israel that continues to murder, torture and commit war crimes finally say: “Enough? Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by a government that receives unconditional funding by our country with zero accountability.”
Responding to Tlaib, Herzog wrote, “One would expect a member of Congress to support our call for an impartial joint Israeli-Palestinian investigation of this tragic event, rather than rushing to a biased conclusion. Acting as the judge, jury, and executioner undermine the causes of justice and peace.”
Herzog continued, via a tweet, “Let’s put things in context: in the past few weeks, three major deadly terror attacks in the heart of Israel were planned, orchestrated, and carried out from Jenin. The IDF went there to thwart another act of terror and was attacked by heavily armed ‘Islamic Jihad’ terrorists.”
Coming from an Ambassador, Twitter or not, those are harsh, highly subjective words. It is clear from this discourse that Tlaib and Herzog will never see eye to eye.
Yet another Congressional initiative on Palestine-Israel — Commemorating Nakba
A second initiative on the Israel-Palestine issue has recently emerged from the U.S. Congress. And, again, it arrived at the initiative of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. She offered it as a House Resolution to recognize the Nakba and Palestinian Refugee Rights. Nakba in Arabic means “catastrophe,” which refers to the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. That date was 74 years ago, Sunday May 15.
Tlaib characterized this event on her congressional media website. “This Sunday was a day of solemn remembrance of all the lives lost, families displaced, and neighborhoods destroyed during the violence and horror of the Nakba. The scars bourn by the close to 800,000 Palestinians who were forced from their family homes and their communities and those killed are burned into the souls of the people who lived through the Nakba.”
Several U.S.-based pro-Palestinian civil society organizations supported the Nakba legislative initiative. The Institute for Middle East Understanding wrote, “The Nakba did not end in 1948 and continues to this day in the form of Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land for illegal settlements and segregated communities in the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, its destruction of Palestinian homes and agricultural land, revocation of residency rights, deportations, periodic brutal military assaults…”
The Jewish Voice for Peace Action supported the legislation, stating, “Without addressing the Nakba and the ongoing attempts by the Israeli government to continue displacing Palestinians to this day, there cannot be a truly just and sustainable peace…For more than 74 years, the international community has failed the Palestinian people and denied them their legitimate and inalienable rights.
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action also testified on behalf of the Nakba legislation, noting, “The Palestinian people deserve the right for self-determination, the Israeli apartheid must no longer enjoy impunity and the U.S. must live up to the values it holds dear.” Finally, Policy and Advocacy Campaigns for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights averred, “To acknowledge the historic and ongoing injustice of Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people is a vital first step. By recognizing this history, we can shift U.S. foreign policy toward justice and accountability.”
We find all the right words in this expansive testimony—whether they fall on deaf ears is another matter. In any case, they are here for all to see with their own eyes.
Sources
• “57 Democratic US House Members Demand Abu Akleh Investigation,” The Media Line Staff, 05/22/2022
• “Leading artists demand accountability for Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh,” Mondoweiss, 5/19/2022
• “Israeli Ambassador responds to Tlaib: Why not support our call for a joint investigation?” Israel National News, 5/12/2022
• “Congresswoman Tlaib Introduces House Resolution Commemorating the Nakba,” U.S. Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, 5/17/2022
• “Incoming White House press secretary criticized over past Israel remarks,” Middle East Eye, 5/9/2022
John Mason, PhD., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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