ACT and FORJIM Condemn Shooting of Al Jazeera Journalist by Israeli Forces

ACTNews, JAKARTA – On Wednesday (11/5/2022), Shireen Abu Akleh, a senior Al Jazeera journalist from Palestine died after being shot in the face by Israeli forces. Abu Akleh was shot while she was covering an attack by Israeli forces on residents in the West Bank City of Jenin with other journalists.

In response to the incident, Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) and Forum Jurnalis Muslim (Muslim Journalist Forum /FORJIM) expressed their strong condemnation of the brutal actions of the Zionist army who shot Abu Akleh. ACT and FORJIM consider the murder of the 51-year-old journalist an illustration of Israel’s brutality.

FORJIM Chairman Dudy S. Takdir said the violence carried out by the Israeli forces could not be tolerated. Not only that it is a human rights violation, but it also violated the International Humanitarian Law which states that journalists should be protected from all kinds of military attacks.

"This is a very heinous crime and clearly violates international humanitarian law. Any member of the press who is on duty and wearing their press identity must not be the target of violence by any party," said Dudy when visiting ACT's head office in South Jakarta, Friday (5/13/2022).

Furthermore, Dudy explained that shootings or other forms of attacks against journalists by Israeli forces often occur in Palestine. Based on data compiled by FORJIM, there are dozens of Palestinian journalists who have died as a result of Israeli attacks since 2001.

"In 2021, Israel hit the offices of Al Jazeera and Associated Press (AP) in Gaza. This was part of a series of Israeli attacks on members of the press that year and their efforts to cut off information so that the international community could not know what they had done to Gaza," explained Dudy.

Andi Noor Faradiba from ACT's Global Humanity Network team stated that the shooting of Abu Akleh was proof that the Israeli forces carry out their attacks indiscriminately. Not only journalists, but small children were often become the victims of the attack, said Faradiba.

"Even though Abu Akleh has United States citizenship, she didn't stand there to support Israel. Hence, the Israeli forces considered her an enemy. What Israel has committed is not only a religious issue but also a very serious humanitarian problem," said Faradiba.

Faradiba invited the entire community to unite their voices and give their support for Palestinian independence. One of the forms of support is by contributing to ACT’s humanitarian programs for Palestine as an effort to reduce the suffering of the Palestinians as well as to fight for their independence.

"In last Ramadan, for example, Palestine was one of several countries that received a lot of aid from our donors through ACT’s various programs, from medical assistance, food and clean water distribution, to zakat distribution. However, ACT cannot do this all alone. We need the power of civil society to achieve freedom for Palestine. For Generous Friends who want to participate and support the welfare of the Palestinians, they can visit the Indonesiadermawan.id/Palestine to give their best alms," concluded Faradiba. []