Jakarta – The Head of Foreign Affairs of the Indonesian Cyber Media Union (SMSI) Aat Surya Safaat assessed that the shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist in Jenin, the West Bank of the Palestinian territories on May 11, 2022, which was strongly suspected to have been carried out by the Israeli army again proves that Israel is implementing politics. apartheid.
“I even agree with the Director of the Amnesty International Office in Jerusalem who stated that the shooting of the Palestinian journalist really proves that Zionist Israel is not only implementing the apartheid policy, but also being racist towards Palestinians,” he said in Jakarta, Monday (16/5). 2022) night.
The Head of Foreign Affairs of SMSI made this statement in the “Webinar MINA Talks” special edition of the 74th Palestinian Nakba Day with the theme “The role of journalists in conflict fields: Track record of Israeli crimes against the press”.
Apart from Aat, the webinar also featured speakers, Director of Amnesty International Office in Jerusalem, Saleh Hijazi, and correspondent for Mina News Agency in Palestine, Mohammad Shaaban, who replaced Shadah Hanasiyah, a Palestinian journalist who witnessed the shooting of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Shadah was unable to attend because he was prevented and even persecuted by the Israeli army when he was about to appear at the webinar which was held to commemorate the 74th Palestinian Nakba Day. Palestinian Nakba Day is the first day of expulsion of Palestinians by Israel which is usually celebrated on May 15.
The Head of Foreign Affairs of SMSI further stated that America and European countries apply double standard politics. The Western countries immediately implemented sanctions against Russia who carried out the attack on Ukraine, but they did not carry out any defense to the Palestinian people who continued to accept the atrocities of the Israeli army.
Regarding the shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh, Aat asked Amnesty International to immediately report the murder case to the International Criminal Court so that the perpetrators are given the appropriate punishment so that similar cases do not happen again to journalists who must be protected even on the battlefield.
In the previous webinar, the Director of Amnesty International’s Office in Jerusalem, Saleh Hijazi, stated that the shooting of the Palestinian and American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh proved that Zionist Israel was not only implementing apartheid politics, but also being racist towards Palestinians.
Apartheid is a politics that is applied to differentiate the treatment of race and ethnicity, in this case distinguishing Palestinians from Israelis, where Israelis have special rights over Palestinians, and apartheid is a crime against humanity as defined in the Rome Statute and the Apartheid Convention.
Violence after violence carried out by the Zionist regime in Palestine to date illustrates Israel’s apartheid system that allows state violence to continue without punishment.
Amnesty International’s 182-page report published on February 2, 2022 also found incriminating evidence that Israel must be held accountable for its crimes of apartheid against Palestinians.
Saleh Hijazi also said that the shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh added to the long list of journalists who died in the course of covering the war, and as in the past, the Shireen murder case may also just disappear if no party takes legal action.
“Therefore we are ready to report it to the International Criminal Court and ask for a thorough investigation into the shooting case,” he said, adding that Shireen had previously reported atrocities by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians.
Shireen was reported to have died from being shot in the face while covering the Israeli army raid on the refugee camp in Jenin on May 11, 2022. The 51-year-old journalist is said to have complied with the procedures for covering the war, namely wearing a bullet-proof vest that reads PRESS and wearing a helmet.
But all these procedures are meaningless when a bullet pierces Shireen’s face, killing her. Many people think that Shireen’s shooting was not an accident. It’s very possible that he was deliberately aimed as a target, considering that only one bullet hit the exposed part of Shireen’s body, namely his face.
Anang Fadhilah
