Daniel Estrin of NPR-NPR (National Public Radio), which is considered the most credible radio station in the United States , broadcast a report (radio) in which the family of Palestinian-American journalist Sherine Abu The United States is wise to conduct an investigation into her murder on May 11, 2022, because Israel is unwilling or unable to investigate the matter honestly.
Estrin has now taken the next step in Abu Aqleh´s story, asserting in a report issued on June 26 (and reviewed by Jerusalem) that the Israeli government had plenty of information about the death of the late Al Jazeera anchor, Shireen Abu Aqleh, that the Israeli occupation authorities withheld.
The Israeli army refused to answer questions from NPR (National Public Radio) about what the suspected soldier told investigators, what orders were given to the soldiers, and what footage the army obtained from the incident.
This is a fundamental angle in the investigation issue in general. Israel´s refusal to disclose information about the killing shows the occupation authorities´ sense of complete impunity in the face of credible accusations of human rights violations, according to Estrin.
The UN human rights office said last week that all evidence pointed to the killer as an Israeli soldier - echoing eyewitnesses and investigations by several international news organizations - and said Israel´s intransigence was "extremely concerning".
International human rights law requires a prompt, thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation into all uses of force that result in death or serious injury to non-combatants.
The Human Rights Office noted that "Israeli security forces have killed 58 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 13 children" this year alone.
Human Rights Watch said that Israel´s slowdown in the killing of Abu Aqila makes it urgent for the International Criminal Court to advance its criminal investigation into "serious crimes in Palestine," according to Doha News Network.
The latest NPR report is considered a pioneer for an American news organization in documenting the Israeli pattern of impunity, and Strain cites the Israeli excuse for killing Abu Akila, as the occupation authorities say, “We cannot investigate without the bullet, and the Palestinian Authority has this bullet,” but ( Strain) immediately quotes Avner Gvaryahu, of the Israeli warrior group Breaking the Silence, about the Israeli game of confusion and deception.
"This ambiguity is actually useful for the army and the Israeli government for not taking more responsibility... There is still a lot of lack of transparency regarding what the army itself knows... What were its orders? What did the other soldiers here do? I can´t," says Gvaryahu. I can even imagine a situation when we have a soldier alone in a vehicle, right? There is a driver; there are other soldiers; there are leaders with them; anyone who is searching for the truth should demand that this information be released."
The radio report considers, "This is the key. Those who seek the truth must now demand that Israel reveal it."
However, the US State Department does not show seriousness in the accountability that the "Al-Quds".com correspondent constantly raises to the Foreign Ministry´s spokesperson in this regard, but the ministry is implicitly accepting "Israeli lies", and that the US President does not want a headache in this matter between now. And the beginning of his tour in Israel and the region on the 13th of next July.
Although there are 24 senators (a quarter of the House) and 57 members of the House of Representatives who are calling for a US investigation into the murder of an American journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists has also called for a US investigation, noting that Israel is doing exactly what it did in the journalist´s murder. Palestinian Yasser Murtaja in 2018, in an attempt to discredit Murtaja and hide the case, but the US State Department still seems to accept the Israeli version.
Estrin described the history of Israeli indifference in his programme, noting that the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din studied military data for 2019 and 2020 and found that Israel prosecuted only 2% of cases in which Palestinians reported being hurt by soldiers, and found that soldiers killed more of 150 Palestinians during that period, but only 16 cases were investigated.
Estrin quotes Dan Owen, who led the study, as saying: "There are a large number of killings that go unpunished. The vast majority of killings do not reach an indictment or even an investigation."
Estrin then elaborated on Israel´s evasiveness, noting that an Israeli official said Abu Akleh was "killed in an active combat zone" and Israel refuses to criminally investigate soldiers when Palestinians are killed under these circumstances, according to the report.
