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Demand justice for Palestinian-American Veteran Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Today, I am writing to express my outrage at the assassination of Palestinian American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11th, 2022, and seek your condemnation of the perpetrators responsible for killing an American citizen.

Shireen was murdered on Wednesday morning after being shot in the head by an Israeli sniper. She was wearing a vest prominently identifying herself as a member of the "PRESS." She was covering Israeli army raids in the city of Jenin, in the West Bank, at the time of her demise. Her colleague, Ali Al Samudi was shot in the back but survived the attack. Samudi had been shot seven times on previous occasions while working as a news producer. Ali Al Samudi, journalists, and other witnesses on the scene indicated that the journalists were directly targeted by the Israeli military, despite having "PRESS" vests and helmets.
For more than 20 years, Mrs. Abu Akleh, had been reporting for Al Jazeera Arabic on the crimes committed by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The murder of journalists and the gross human rights violations committed against Palestinians must stop.
Shireen’s death is not an isolated incident. Israel has targeted journalists trying to cover the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and silence those who report on its crimes. In 2018, two Palestinian journalists were shot and killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. And, in May 2021, Israel attacked and destroyed a press building in Gaza housing the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and other media outlets. In addition, Palestinian reporters have been systematically wounded by Israeli rubber-coated bullets or tear gas while covering demonstrations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
We respectfully demand that the U.S. Congress must impress upon the State Department to open an urgent investigation and seek the prosecution of those responsible for the assassination of American citizen Shireen Abu Akleh. We echo the UN Human Rights office's plea for an “independent, transparent investigation into her killing."
We wholeheartedly agree with the UN that "impunity must end.” Condemnation and outrage are futile without justice for Shireen and others killed by Israeli occupying forces.