The family of journalist Abú Aklé accuses the US of covering up her death by Israeli gunfire

July 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The family of the US-Palestinian journalist Shirín Abu Aklé, killed during an Israeli military incursion into the West Bank on May 11, has sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, in which he accuses the US Administration of “whitewashing” his death and “perpetuating impunity” in Israel.

The conclusions of the independent investigation carried out by the United Nations Office for Human Rights on the death of the journalist coincide with the evaluation carried out by the Palestinian authorities, who point to the Israeli forces as being responsible for the death of the reporter.

In the letter, the family of the Al Jazeera journalist expresses their “sense of betrayal” by the “miserable response” of the United States to the “extrajudicial killing” of the journalist at the hands of Israeli forces in Jenin.

This morning, our family sent this letter to @POTUS demanding that he meet with us during his upcoming trip to the region. We deserve accountability. #JusticeForShireen pic.twitter.com/BfBHUhkOXB

— Lina Abu Akleh (@LinaAbuAkleh) July 8, 2022

In particular, they criticize that despite all the evidence collected by the press and human rights organizations that point to an “extrajudicial execution”, “his Administration has meticulously denied any minimal possibility of a rapid, thorough, credible, meticulous, credible investigation , impartial, independent, effective and transparent”.

“Instead, the United States has flirted with the erasure of any crime by the Israeli forces” to finally “assume the Israeli government’s narrative on July 4,” the journalist’s family argued.

In addition, the family has requested to meet with Biden during his imminent visit to the region “so that he can hear directly from us our demands for justice” and “provide us with all the information gathered by his government on Shirin’s death.”

The conclusions of the investigation also dismantle the narrative that there was activity by armed Palestinians in the vicinity of the position where the reporters were, as Israel pointed out at the time. The Israeli Army admitted several days later the possibility that the journalist died from a shot fired by her own forces, but always unintentionally.