
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. []