Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss / September 7, 2022
Matt Lee mocks State Dep’t acceptance of Israeli report on killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. “That’s not what accountability is, unless you guys have a different definition than the dictionary.”
VIDEO :
On Monday the State Department welcomed Israel’s belated admission that its forces killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh nearly 4 months ago, and the statement went on that the U.S. must “underscore the importance of accountability in this case, such as policies and procedures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”
That statement was promptly denounced by Rep. Marie Newman of Chicago:
The [State Department’s] response to Israel’s statement refusing to prosecute the soldiers responsible for killing Palestinian American Shireen Abu Akleh is woefully inadequate. I expect nothing short of a US investigation that leads to accountability. It’s the least we can do.
And at the State Department briefing yesterday, two reporters, Matt Lee of AP and Said Arikat of Al-Quds, said that is no accountability at all, and the Biden administration is letting Israel get away with “gunn[ing] her down in the street.”
Here are some of Matt Lee’s comments:
This is an American citizen who was killed. You have called for accountability, and yet there does not seem to be any accountability there.
Vedant Patel of State then repeated the phrase that the U.S. “underscores the importance of accountability.” Lee mocked him:
That doesn’t mean anything. I mean, I continue to underscore the fact that it’s important that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, but – and which it does. But there is – do you consider that – do you believe that Israel has taken steps to hold whoever is responsible for her death accountable?
What does accountability mean to this administration?
[Patel says the U.S. is “pressing Israel to closely review its policies and practices to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”]
Okay. But that’s not what accountability is, unless you guys have a different definition of it than the dictionary does. So what does accountability mean for this administration? An apology? We’re sorry. It happened maybe – it looks like it happened by accident. But it won’t happen again. That’s the – that’s what accountability is, or is it something more?
Reviewing their practices and policies does not mean accountability for this woman’s death, does it? Maybe it does in your view. I don’t know. You tell me.
Said Arikat then took up the questioning and pointed out that Israel won’t even identify who killed her.
“The Israelis obviously know who the solider is and they said basically they are not going to press any charges. There will be no accountability, and that’s the Israelis’ statement that you have supported. There will be no accountability. So how is that – how does that juxtapose with – you talk about the family and your thoughts are with them, all this good stuff. But how are they going to receive accountability or justice in this case?…
And hypothetically if this had happened elsewhere, would your position be the same? If an American journalist was killed, let’s say, somewhere else, in another democratic country, that the police gunned her down in the street, let’s say in India or elsewhere. Would your position be the same, in your opinion?
Arikat said that the U.S. passivity has allowed Israel to do this again and again.
You know what? It happened right after Shireen Abu Akleh – there were two journalists that have been killed. It happened time and again. There are 21 Palestinian journalists in Israeli prisons and so on. The Israelis are killing kids every day, teenagers and so on. So I don’t know when you say that we’ve talked to them at the highest level – I mean, do they heed your call? Do they listen to you? Or they just pretend that you’re not saying anything?
It must be noted that Shireen Abu Akleh’s family rejects the Israeli statement on her death and calsls for pressure on the Biden administariotn.
We continue to call on the many members of Congress, civil society organizations, journalists, and the public to keep the pressure on President Biden and Secretary Blinken to follow through with meaningful action. Since Israel is incapable of holding themselves accountable…”
Arikat and Lee are listening.
This press briefing is remarkable not just for the fact that reporters are refusing to accept D.C. propaganda about an Israeli killing, but that Arikat and others also took up the issue of the new Israeli requirement that visitors to the West Bank report romantic relationships and the issue of Israel trying to shut down seven Palestinian human rights groups. Israel was a main controversial topic.
So Israel is becoming a hot potato in a mainstream forum. And all these issues will cause further outrage among progressives (and feed the young Jewish disaffection from Zionism.)
Philip Weiss is senior editor of Mondoweiss.net and founded the site in 2005-2006
