The US must fight for press freedom: even against its closest allies

When American journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered in Pakistan​ in 2002, the United States sent the FBI to investigate the killing of one of its citizens. After American Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank ​earlier this year, FBI agents never budged.

Why has the Biden administration not sent a team to carry out a thorough on-the-ground investigation into the shooting of the Al Jazeera TV reporter? Are U.S. citizens of Palestinian origin less important than others? Is Israel treated more favorably than other U.S. allies?

These are some of the questions raised by the inaction of an administration that has been urged by 57 Democratic members of Congress and 24 senators to launch an independent inquiry into the shooting. The administration condemned the killing but has effectively absolved Israel of moral responsibility for yet another in a long line of journalist killings in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

Abu Akleh was shot in the head while reporting on an Israeli army raid in the West Bank town of Jenin on May 11. She was wearing a helmet and a protective vest marked “PRESS” as she had done on countless assignments covering the Israeli-Palestinian story for almost 25 years.

Israel immediately blamed the death on Palestinian militants. One army spokesman even described Abu Akleh and other journalists as “filming and working for a media outlet amidst armed Palestinians. They’re armed with cameras, if you’ll permit me to say so.”

Analysis of footage conducted by Al Jazeera and others immediately cast doubt on the army’s version of events. Investigations by CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Bellingcat and the United Nations found that she was most likely shot by the army.

In July, after its own brief forensic investigation, the U.S. acknowledged that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was “likely responsible” for the shooting but added that there was “no reason to believe that this was intentional.” The statement added that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was “badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion” into who fired the shot.

In September, an IDF report concluded that one of its soldiers had shot Abu Akleh by mistake. In line with previous investigations into journalist shooting deaths, the IDF declined to publicize evidence, name those responsible or pursue criminal charges. It even left open the possibility that Palestinian gunmen were responsible, a theory discredited by every independent inquiry.

The State Department welcomed the report and pledged to continue to push Israel to review its policies and practices to ensure a similar incident cannot happen again. For everyone from the Abu Akleh family to ​other journalists, the U.S. response was late and lacking.

Once again Washington had shielded its Middle East ally from international scrutiny and criticism. Just days before the killing, on World Press Freedom Day, Biden had vowed to uphold press freedom globally. Here was a chance to do so, but Israel’s political influence in the U.S. won out. 

That did not surprise Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina, who has taken up the fight for justice for her aunt. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, she noted how other U.S. citizens had been killed with impunity in the Palestinian territories — including the 2003 bulldozing-death of peace activist Rachel Corrie.

Realpolitik was on display in July when Biden traveled to Israel but declined to meet with the Abu Akleh family. On that same Middle East trip, he went to Saudi Arabia, the country responsible for the murder of Washington Post columnist and U.S. permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi. Before becoming president, Biden had vowed to hold the ​Saudi kingdom and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, to account for the killing. Instead, the crown prince is on the road to rehabilitation. 

The failure of the United States to act decisively in these cases fuels the cancer of impunity which is increasingly eating away at the foundations of a free press globally. 

Israel routinely shrugs off accusations of misconduct by its security forces towards Palestinian reporters, knowing that the U.S. will shield it from meaningful international sanction. In the past two decades, 18 of the 19 journalists killed in the occupied territories died from suspected Israeli fire according to ​the Committee to Protect Journalists, the press-freedom watchdog where I work as the director of special projects. Their cases have never been fully investigated and the detailed findings of IDF internal inquiries have not been published. 

This lack of transparency and self-examination means that the IDF is unlikely to change the way it behaves towards journalists covering its interactions with a Palestinian population who want it out of their lives. 

Israel has powerful allies and political influence in the United States. But Washington equally has influence over a state that it props up with nearly $4 billion a year in aid. It can do more than give Israel a slap on the wrist from press-briefing podiums. It can pressure Israel to accept an FBI or other independent investigation. 

The investigation into the 2002 beheading of the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Pearl was later criticized as flawed, and several convictions in relation to the murder were overturned by a Pakistani court. But at least there was an investigation. That sent a message that violence against American journalists would not go unpunished.  

The Abu Akleh family says Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered. Israel denies it. Without a thorough, independent investigation by a credible agency like the FBI, we will never know and reporters, even those wearing “PRESS” vests, will continue to be potential targets.

Robert Mahoney is director of special projects at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He writes and speaks on press freedom and has led CPJ missions to global hot spots from Iraq to Sri Lanka. He worked as a reporter, bureau chief and editor for Reuters around the world.

Editor’s Note: The FBI has informed the Israeli government that it has opened an investigation into Abu Akleh’s death.