“How sweet it is to kill Jews” – Palestinians chant at funeral of Al-Jazeera journalist Abu Akleh
• Libel: “There is a decision by the occupation government to liquidate the Palestinian journalists” - Chairman of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate
• Libel: Killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was “a deliberate assassination operation” - Deputy Head of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate
As the PA is accusing Israel of deliberately having “assassinated” Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinians at one of the funeral processions held for the journalist openly expressed their ideology: “How sweet it is to kill Jews.”
Chanting at the funeral procession in Jenin, the participants called for more terror attacks – “operations and kidnapping of [Israeli] soldiers” – expressed their desire to die a “sweet Martyrdom-death,” and take “revenge”:
Crowd: “O mother, how sweet is Martyrdom-death! …
Respond to the rifle with a rifle
With operations (i.e., terror attacks) and kidnapping of [Israeli] soldiers…
How sweet it is to kill Jews…
Millions of Martyrs are marching to Jerusalem…
Revenge, revenge! O Jenin, O Al-Qassam [Brigades]! …
Tel Aviv, we will teach it [a lesson]
We will keep it under fire”[Palestine Post twitter account, May 11, 2022]
Since the death of Abu Akleh by a still unknown shooter, the PA has been actively disseminating the libel that Israel killed her in what they term “a deliberate assassination operation.” And not just that, Palestinian journalists have stated that Israel has a policy of deliberately “targeting all the Palestinian journalists” so they will not “convey the truth”:
Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate Chairman Nasser Abu Bakr: “The Martyrdom of [journalist] Shireen Abu Akleh is targeting all- the issue of Shireen Abu Akleh is an issue [that relates to] all the Palestinian journalists: The issue of targeting all the Palestinian journalists…There is a decision by the occupation state and occupation government to liquidate the Palestinian journalists. Why? Because they want to frighten the Palestinian journalists so they will not convey the truth and will not reveal the Israeli occupation’s crimes against our Palestinian people.”
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, May 11, 2022]
Deputy Head of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate Tahsin Al-Astal: “All the evidence confirms that there was a deliberate assassination operation, and that the murderer knew that he was targeting [journalist] Shireen Abu Akleh and targeting a group of journalists who were at the site [and that] he wanted to distance [them] from the scene of his crime.”
[Official PA TV News, May 11, 2022]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA’s own pathologist has stated that he could not yet determine whether Israelis or Palestinians killed Abu Akleh. Furthermore, PMW has exposed numerous examples of how the PA incited riots, violence, and terror during Ramadan – which lead to the exchange of fire in which journalist Shireen Abu Akleh died.
The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above:
Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate Chairman Nasser Abu Bakr: “The Martyrdom of [journalist] Shireen Abu Akleh is targeting all- the issue of Shireen Abu Akleh is an issue [that relates to] all the Palestinian journalists. The issue of targeting all the Palestinian journalists. The number of journalist Martyrs in Palestine since 2000 and to this moment has risen to 55 Martyrs…
The statistics of the occupation’s attacks and crimes against the journalists has reached more than 7,000 journalists [harmed]. We are all together 3,000 journalists…
The occupation army was at a distance of just meters or dozens of meters from the journalists. When [the journalists] approached, [the Israelis] did not cause them to slow down. They did not fire warning shots, did not tell them by loudspeaker to move away, did not give them an official document that this area is a closed military area. They opened fire (sic., there is no evidence Israel killed Abu Akleh, and ample reason to believe she was killed by indiscriminate gunfire by Palestinian terrorists). Therefore, there is a decision by the occupation state and occupation government to liquidate the Palestinian journalists. Why? Because they want to frighten the Palestinian journalists so they will not convey the truth and will not reveal the Israeli occupation’s crimes against our Palestinian people.”[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, May 11, 2022]
Shireen Abu Akleh - 51-year-old Palestinian-American journalist for Al-Jazeera who was shot and killed while covering a gunbattle initiated by Palestinian terrorists who attacked Israeli forces during an operation in Jenin on May 11, 2022. The PA immediately accused Israel of shooting Abu Akleh without providing evidence. Israel rejected the accusation, noting Palestinian terrorists were filmed shooting indiscriminately and saying they had hit an Israeli soldier even though no soldiers were wounded, possibly indicating they had shot Abu Akleh. The PA rejected Israel's request to conduct a joint investigation of the incident, and its request to let it examine the bullet that killed Abu Akleh to determine whether it was fired by Israeli forces. The bullet is of a type used by both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists. In a press conference following Abu Akleh's autopsy on the day of her death, Head of An-Najah National University’s Forensic Medicine Department Dr. Rayyan Al-Ali said it could not yet be determined which side shot her.
The Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades are Hamas’ military wing.