Israel Never Targets Journalists Palestinians refused a joint investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. By Yair Lapid
Less than two hours after the death on May 11 of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, I contacted Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian minister responsible for cooperation with Israel. We all agree that something awful happened, I told him. I proposed that we hold a joint investigation into her death.
The Palestinians refused. We may never know exactly what caused her death, but the important thing is that, like 511 other journalists who were killed in recent years around the world, she died while carrying out her duties. Being a journalist in wartime is a dangerous business. I know—I was a journalist for 31 years and covered the First Lebanon War.
What happened next can’t be excused by the fog of war. Palestinian propaganda used Abu Akleh, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting her. She would surely have known better.
If the outrageous claim that Israel targets journalists were true, why would she have worked in the region for more than 20 years? How can it be explained that still today hundreds of foreign journalists work in the same place? Al Jazeera, a network run by an Islamist state that is openly hostile to Israel, has permanent staff in Israel who are protected by the state the network slanders on a regular basis?
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict receives disproportionate coverage compared with any other conflict on earth. Explain that to yourself however you wish, but everything you know about this conflict is the product of hundreds of journalists who work in the field under the protection of a democratic state that believes with all its heart in both freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Missing from the media coverage of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death is the reason for the outbreak of the fighting that led to it. Israel conducted antiterror operations around the city of Jenin because terror cells that murdered innocent Israeli civilians came from there. Six days before Abu Akleh’s death, three Israelis were slaughtered with axes in the city of Elad.
The current Israeli government, formed exactly a year ago, is the most diverse in Israel’s history, and one of the most diverse in world history. It is made up of Jews and Arabs, liberals and conservatives. It was created out of a deep commitment to strengthening the foundations of Israel’s democracy—independent courts, protection and support for minorities, equality before the law and freedom of the press. Israel has survived wars and waves of terrorism without ever losing sight of its core values. In the constant struggle between our security needs and our democratic principles, we never forget that one is hollow without the other.
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