Middleboro Review 2: 05/13/22

Friday, May 13, 2022

RSN: FOCUS: The Problems With Israel's Version of the Killing of Reporter Shireen Abu Akleh

13 May 22

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FOCUS: The Problems With Israel's Version of the Killing of Reporter Shireen Abu Akleh
Orly Halpern, TIME
Halpern writes: "When word got out on Wednesday that esteemed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Israeli forces has been making military arrest raids, Israel convened its National PR staff to form a plan of action."

When word got out on Wednesday that esteemed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Israeli forces has been making military arrest raids, Israel convened its National PR staff to form a plan of action. It decided to circulate a video of a Palestinian gunmen shooting indiscriminately from inside the Jenin refugee camp and blame them for the Al Jazeera reporter’s death. But its strategy fell flat when another video revealed that Abu Akleh died nowhere near there.

Abu Akleh was a 51-year-old Catholic Palestinian who switched to journalism after studying to be an architect and became one of the Arab world’s most famous TV journalists. Most nights for 25 years, her face lit up millions of TV screens as she shared the stories of Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation. Arab girls and women looked up to her. And foreign journalists who reported from the Palestinian territories held her in high regard. Now Al Jazeera has accused Israel of “assassinating her in cold blood” and Arab journalists from Washington to Tunisia to Syria are staging sit-ins. Qatar lit up a building with her image. Cartoons are circulating of Abu Akleh holding a bleeding microphone with an M-16 rifle pointed at it, the type of rifle used by Israeli soldiers. A few Arab parents have named their newborn daughters ‘Shireen.’ Abu Akleh has become a Palestinian symbol.

To Israel, her death risks damage to essential relationships in the Arab world, while Abu Akleh’s U.S. citizenship brings relations with Washington into the equation, raising both the stakes and the level of scrutiny. The State Department declared ” the investigation must be immediate and thorough and those responsible must be held accountable.”

Deny and deflect is Israel’s usual strategy for dealing with high-profile civilian deaths. The deflection has come in three forms: One is claiming Palestinians killed the civilian (famous examples are British cameraman James Miller, 10-year-old Abir Aramin, the three daughters and niece of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish inside their home in Gaza while he begged on live television for Israel to stop firing). Often Israel claims that the victim was near a site from which Palestinian gunmen were attacking Israelis and, hence, got killed by accident by Israeli gunfire (four Gaza children on the beach, 40 people taking refuge at a U.N. school in Gaza, the British U.N. worker Iain Hook in Jenin). Israel has also claimed that the civilian was involved in an attack on Israeli soldiers or was a member of a Palestinian militant organization (photojournalist Yaser Murtaja in Gaza). In other cases, Israel said that the facts around a killing are unclear, but definitely not Israel’s fault (Palestinian family killed by shell on beach in Gaza). In the case of the 2003 death of American pro-Palestinian activist, Rachel Corrie, who was run over by a military bulldozer, the Israeli army claimed “a slab of concrete” was likely what killed her. When Israeli missiles brought down an 11-story media building last year in Gaza, where Palestinian media networks and the Associated Press were located, Israel justified it by saying it was being used by Hamas.

Back in 2006, Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, initially apologized for the killings of seven members of the Ghalia family in Gaza by Israeli artillery. “But the military swiftly realised it was confronting another PR disaster to rival that of the killing of Mohammed al-Dura,” wrote Guardian journalist, Chris McGreal, referencing the wrenching footage of the Gaza boy killed cowering beside his father during a 2000 firefight. “The army quickly convened a committee to investigate the deaths on the beach and almost as swiftly absolved itself of responsibility.”

Within a half hour of Abu Akleh’s killing, the Israeli state PR machine went to work on a deflection strategy. Israeli journalist Barak Ravid revealed in a Hebrew report on Walla! website that “there was an urgent consultation of the National Hasbara (PR) Headquarters together with representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces. They decided that the main goal was to try and fend off the narrative that was emerging in the international media, according to which Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire.” (The English version of Ravid’s report on the Axios website did not include this information.) So Israel used a short video that was filmed that morning by Palestinian militants in a residential area, in which the men were heard saying that they had shot a soldier. Bennett posted the video and claimed that, since no Israeli soldier was injured in Jenin that day, the footage was evidence that the militants had mistaken Abu Akleh, in her helmet and body armor, for a combatant.

But then Al Jazeera posted footage showing Abu Akleh face down on the ground in a less built-up area and her colleagues trying helplessly to reach her as bullets continued to fly. The word PRESS was visible in large letters on her protective gear. “We saw the soldiers in the area and there were no Palestinians there,” said producer Ali Samudi, who was also shot. The soldiers were about 150 meters away….I did not see who was shooting, but I see [sic] from where the bullets coming. They coming from the area where the soldiers. There were no fighters in the area.” Two hours later a local researcher for the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem filmed a video geolocating the clip of the Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp, hundreds of yards and several turns away from the spot where Abu Akleh was killed.

By then the U.S. Ambassador to Israel had confirmed that Abu Akleh was a U.S. citizen. President Biden is considering a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories in June. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called Abu Akleh a “reporting legend.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called her killing a “horrific tragedy.” Congress members Betty McCollum and Mark Pocan condemned it and Rashida Tlaib accused Israel of murder. Israel regrouped, the army quickly backtracking from its claim. On Wednesday evening, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was on a conference call with reporters, saying he was “very sorry for what happened,” that Israel wants to conduct a full-scale investigation and that he had asked the Palestinians to share the bullet that was found embedded in Abu Akleh’s head, promising to share all forensic findings with the Americans and the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians declined, saying they do not trust Israel—a point an Israeli minister appeared to concede in an interview with a Israeli radio outlet on Thursday. “Israel’s credibility is not great in situations like this,” said Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai.

When Palestinian Americans come to harm by Israeli forces, Israel is quick to investigate, but the process rarely ends in severe punishment. Four months ago, following a U.S. demand, Israel conducted an investigation into the killing of an elderly Palestinian-American man, who Israeli soldiers detained in the middle of the night. Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad had returned to Palestine after living in Milwaukee for almost 40 years. He died of a heart attack outside in the cold at a construction site where soldiers had left him on the ground, gagged with his hands tied tightly and his eyes covered, after beating him. The top commander of the unit was rebuked; the soldiers were not punished. In 2014, an Israeli policeman beat 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir to a pulp and then put him under house arrest. The attack was caught on video. But it wasn’t until it was revealed that he was a U.S. citizen that he was allowed to return to Florida and Israel opened an investigation, at the demand of Washington. An Israeli judge sentenced the police officer to community service; the State Department expressed disappointment.

Abu Akleh was killed just days after the International Federation of Journalists, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) filed a formal complaint at The Hague for “systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists.” An estimated 50 Palestinian journalists have been killed since 2000, according to the PJS. Israeli forces have a “track record of employing lethal force and systematically targeting Palestinian journalists with complete lack of accountability,” said the ICJP. Four years ago, Haaretz journalist Amira Hass uncovered court files that revealed that in 2012 Israeli soldiers beat Palestinian journalists with batons and arrested them, on their commanders’ orders, with the declared intention of disrupting their coverage of a Palestinian demonstration. Last August, Israeli soldiers detained seven Palestinian reporters covering non-violent protests in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. During the May 2021 war, Israel said it bombed the Gaza City media building because it was being used by Hamas. But it produced no evidence, and the devastating strike also had the effect of discouraging reporting from the ground in Gaza, where 254 people were killed. Thirteen people in Israel were killed.

In Jenin, where Israeli forces were carrying out anti-terrorism operations after a spate of fatal attacks on Israeli Jews, hundreds of Palestinians carried Abu Akleh’s corpse from the morgue, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, her press flak jacket laid over her chest. IPriests prayed over her body. In Ramallah, it was received with a state marching band. A state funeral was held Thursday with burial on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem on Friday.

Hours after she was killed, Israeli police shot and severely injured a young Palestinian who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and charged at them in the Old City. Police did not say whether he had a weapon, and no police were injured. And in East Jerusalem Israeli police stormed Abu Akleh’s home, demanding that her family and friends remove the Palestinian flag from the building. Visitors shouted at them until they voluntarily left. In the streets outside Palestinians demonstrated carrying Palestinian flags, one attaching a flag to an Israeli police car and getting detained for it. But remarkably, Israeli police did not intervene with force.

The next day, Thursday, unnamed Israeli officials told reporters that soldiers in a military vehicle had been about 150 yards from where the journalists were working, and fired repeatedly about the time Abu Akleh was killed.

Special Coverage: Ukraine, A Historic Resistance
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POLITICO NIGHTLY: What H.W. Bush could teach Biden

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BY DAVID SIDERS

Presented by

With help from Myah Ward

Former President George H.W. Bush addresses the nation on television from the Oval Office in December 1989. | AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File

WHEN 46 STARTS TO EQUAL 41 — It won’t be long before “George Herbert Walker Biden” creeps into the vernacular, given the parallels surfacing between the 41st president and the 46th.

Like the first President Bush, President Joe Biden is viewed by much of Washington as fundamentally decent — good at democracy and foreign policy but bamboozled by an economy that, apart from inflation, he keeps suggesting is fine. People didn’t feel that way in 1992, and despite job growth and low unemployment, they certainly don’t now.

The price for Bush was a second term. Looking back 20 years, Time suggested that the echoes “should worry Joe Biden.”

But there’s also something Biden could learn from Bush’s experience — either for his own reelection prospects, or for posterity.

In 1991, Dave Carney, a Republican strategist then working for Bush, was watching the news on TV when H.W. was asked, during a golf outing, about a 120-point drop in the stock market — the kind of development that tends to put people on edge.

“No reason at all to get concerned,” Bush said at the time. “The fundamentals are all right.”

In his office, Carney knew the answer was a disaster.

“It was totally true, but it was a blunder in terms of communicating to the public that was worried about the economy, and it just gave the opening for [Bill Clinton strategist James] Carville to talk about, ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’ and all that shit,” Carney said.

Today, he said, “This is what Biden is doing, too.” Jobs? Great, “except people are lining up for baby formula they can’t get or lining up for gas.”

“It doesn’t matter what the economists think,” Carney said. “People are worried about their pocketbook and their cash, and I think that is a similarity. … Biden is doing the exact same thing. He’s relying on the economic eggheads to tell him everything is going to be fine, without showing any empathy or any ability to tell them things suck.”

Biden, for the most part, does not suffer from the Kennebunkport caricature of an out-of-touch politician that afflicted Bush. Yes, Biden is still trying to sell an economy that he insists is “on the move.” But he also called inflation his “top domestic priority” this week. He told union workers in Chicago, “I understand.”

But neither Bush nor Biden “are what you would call great communicators,” Carney said. And no matter who the president is, “anytime the economy has trouble, anything the incumbent says sounds clueless.”

Biden is not a one-term president yet. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama recovered from weak economies and weak public approval ratings to win second terms. And in the political environment now — in our hyper-partisan, post-Donald Trump era — any comparison to previous presidencies is fraught.

“The easy parallel is ‘Effective on the global stage, not so effective at home,” said Jon Meacham, the Bush biographer and presidential historian who occasionally advises Biden. “I get the trope. But I just don’t know. These are two good men trying their best in incredibly difficult circumstances. And President Biden is having to govern in a climate of destructive distrust. President Bush was dealing with the beginnings of contemporary right-wing populism, not that populism’s full fruition, which is what we’re experiencing now. Nobody stormed the Capitol in the early 1990s.”

Still, there may be one line to draw from Bush to Biden, in Meacham’s view. Having studied Bush, he’d expected that “the moment Covid became a non-existential threat, too few people would give Biden credit for fixing it, or for stabilizing the economy from its pandemic uncertainty.”

“That’s a 41 thing,” Meacham said. “Forty-one wins a war, brilliantly manages the end of the Soviet Union, reunifies Germany, and he watched his numbers steadily decline. That’s in part because 20 minutes later, not enough people cared. … The political marketplace rarely gives you long-term credit for things done, or terrible things prevented from being done. Politics is a future-oriented business.”

So Bush, to Meacham, is an example of the longer arc by which presidencies are judged. By the time of his death, in 2018, his image and historical reputation had improved.

“He was buried and hailed a statesman of the republic and a defender of democracy and of decency,” Meacham said. “I once asked him, late in his life, what he made of all the praise that was coming his way.”

Bush told him, “It’s kinder and gentler all over the place.”

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. As your recycling bin becomes weighted down with political literature, a request from some of our colleagues: Send us photos of campaign ads you receive in the mail. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at dsiders@politico.com, on Twitter at @davidsiders.

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WHAT'D I MISS?

— Veil of secrecy surrounds the Jan. 6 subpoenas for GOP lawmakers: The subpoenas issued to five House Republicans by the Jan. 6 select committee remained shrouded in secrecy, with lawmakers refusing to describe the scope or contents of the historic demands. Members of the select committee declined to say whether they had also subpoenaed telecom companies to obtain the phone and email records of the GOP lawmakers — a step they’ve taken with dozens, if not hundreds, of other witnesses. And they wouldn’t specify whether the subpoenas demand their Republican colleagues’ documents, in addition to their testimony.

— Pelosi vows action on infant formula shortages: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that Democrats on Capitol Hill would take several steps to address an infant formula shortage as political pressure grows from parents struggling to find the critical nutrition for their children. Pelosi, in a letter to congressional Democrats, said the shortage was “unconscionable and tragic.” Unlike other Democrats, Pelosi made no effort in the letter to credit the Biden administration for continuing to work with the FDA while taking other steps to resolve the shortage, which stems from a February shutdown of an Abbott Nutrition processing plant in Sturgis, Mich.

— Trump attorney faces sharp questions in suit targeting New York AG's probe: A federal judge pointedly questioned a lawyer for former President Donald Trump today as Trump presses his bid to shut down New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into possible fraud in his business empire. The suit Trump filed last December is considered a longshot because federal judges almost never step in to halt state court proceedings or investigations conducted by state or local officials.

— Detention of WNBA’s Griner in Moscow extended for 1 month: The lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner said today her pre-trial detention in Russia has been extended by one month. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at the Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.

AROUND THE NATION

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

THE ROE FIGHT HEADS TO THE STATES — As we approach the Supreme Court’s official decision on whether it will overturn abortion rights, the possible post-Roe fallout is already unfolding across the country.

Leading up to the court’s ruling, Nightly’s Myah Ward will zoom in on individual states that elevate an interesting aspect of the abortion rights debate. Tonight, we start with Michigan, one of the nine states that maintains its pre-Roe abortion ban and is a prime example of the political divides fueling the fight.

State of play:

Michigan’s 1931 law defines abortion as a felony and was never appealed. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, abortion under nearly all conditions, including rape and incest, will be illegal in the state. The law also bars the use of drugs to induce an abortion. The law’s one exemption is abortions to “preserve the life” of a woman.

In April, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s 1931 law. Whitmer’s move employs an extraordinary power afforded to governors in her state, which allows her to ask the state Supreme Court to take up the case directly. She hopes the Court’s ruling will protect the right to abortion in the state constitution, regardless of what happens at the national level. The governor is still waiting on the court’s decision about whether, and how quickly, it might take up the case.

Key players, and what they’re saying:

Governor: Whitmer is making the issue a priority during the election year. “At this juncture, abortion is still safe and it’s still legal in Michigan, but I am going to pull out all the stops to make sure that women in Michigan have agency over their bodies and their health care decisions,” Whitmer said this week.

Attorney general: If Roe is overturned, Democratic state Attorney General Dana Nessel said she will refuse “to enforce this draconian law that will endanger their lives and put to jeopardy the health, safety and welfare of the lives of each and every woman in the state of Michigan.”

County prosecutors: Nessel might not enforce the law, but the state’s 83 local county prosecutors could, she warned. “I don’t think that I have the authority to tell the duly elected county prosecutors what they can and what they cannot charge,” Nessel said. More than 60 of these prosecutors are Republicans.

Secretary of State: Democrat Jocelyn Benson has said there are three options for protecting abortion rights in the state: The governor’s lawsuit, voters electing candidates who will protect these rights in November and a potential ballot initiative to enshrine the right in the state Constitution. “Our fundamental freedoms, our rights are on the ballot this year,” she said on May 6.

Reproductive Freedom for All: The group, a coalition of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Mighican, ACLU of Michigan and Michigan Voice, is gathering signatures in an effort to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to eliminate the 1931 law. Hours after the disclosure of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion, more than 10,000 people signed up to volunteer for the petition drive.

State Legislature: Republicans hold the power in both the Senate (22-16) and the House (57-52). Democrats in the House have put forward a package of bills to protect the right to abortion, but it’s largely symbolic, given leaders of both the Republican-controlled House and Senate have expressed interest in keeping the 1931 law in place.

The state Supreme Court: The Court is one bright spot for Whitmer. The 4-3 majority flipped from Republican-nominated justices to Democratic-nominated ones after the 2020 election, though it’s not obvious that the court will take on the case, or rule in Whitmer’s favor.

2022 stakes:

Michigan is one of a handful of states where abortion will play a key role in the midterms.

All seats in both the state House and Senate are up for election in 2022, and up and down the ballot, candidates are leaning into the abortion rights debate.

Whitmer is seen as one of the most vulnerable Democratic governors up for reelection, though POLITICO’s election forecast predicts the race leans Democratic. Nessel and Benson will also face tough races, where Trump has endorsed Republicans vying for their jobs.

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AROUND THE WORLD

HURDLE OUT OF ANKARA? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said today his country doesn’t like the idea of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Laurenz Gehrke writes.

Finland’s leaders announced Thursday their intention to pursue membership in the transatlantic military alliance “without delay.” Sweden is expected to follow suit in the coming days. But those moves, which come in response to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, have sparked criticism in Turkey, which has been a NATO member since 1952.

“Right now, when it comes to Sweden and Finland, we follow the developments but not with a positive opinion,” Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul, adding that he wouldn’t want to repeat what he claims were “mistakes,” including the admission of Greece into NATO. Without evidence, Erdoğan also accused the Nordic countries of harboring terrorists — a charge he often lobs at domestic opponents and Western countries during disagreements.

Erdoğan’s comments could create hurdles for a NATO expansion, as current members would need to unanimously accept Finland and Sweden’s bids to join. But the Turkish leader may also simply be posturing ahead of the expected upcoming discussions on the membership bids. Sweden and Finland’s foreign ministers later said they would discuss Ankara’s reservations with their Turkish counterpart in Berlin on Saturday.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

NIGHTLY NUMBER

Over $8 per million British thermal units

The forecast average price of natural gas for the rest of 2022 , well above the $2 to $4 range the fuel has typically traded inside for the past decade. Prices for another crucial fossil fuel — natural gas — have surged, raising costs for everything from home heating and cooking to fertilizer, chemicals and wholesale electricity.

PARTING WORDS

SUMMER READING LIST — You’ll have plenty of options this year for books to read on vacation, courtesy of the multiple Trump administration tell-alls published recently. And Matt Wuerker covers the best political satire and cartoons on them and the other big stories of the day in the latest Punchlines Weekend Wrap.

A message from Save American Solar Jobs:

The Biden administration’s Commerce Department is threatening to implement massive tariffs of up to 250% on solar panel components imported by American solar manufacturers for assembly in the U.S. This tariff threat is devastating the American solar industry, costing U.S. jobs, hurting domestic manufacturing, raising inflation and undermining efforts to address climate change.

There is a better solution already on the table. Congress should pass the clean energy tax credits and incentives that have been stalled since last year. These policies will drive the expansion of domestic solar panel component manufacturing and ensure we have the infrastructure needed to fight climate change and create jobs.

President Biden: Tell Your Commerce Department to Stop Undermining U.S. Solar Manufacturing.

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Notably Crass, Trumpy Republican Defeated By Democrat In Very Red District

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