CNN: "Israel" purposely murdered Shireen Abu Akleh

The US news channel, with evidence, paints a clear picture of the crime scene of Shireen Abu Akleh's assassination.

A report published in CNN provides evidence and testimonies regarding the death of slain Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was assassinated by an Israeli sniper earlier this month.

The report starts off with a descriptive narration of the moment Abu Akleh was murdered, when her colleague, Shatha Hanaysha, watched the veteran journalist drop to motionlessness, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the situation before her. Both were wearing Press vests, yet were nonetheless attacked. Although a man tried to come to aid, he was deterred back by gunfire.

Eyewitnesses narrated to CNN that the Israeli forces present on the same street fired, deliberately, at the journalist even though the entourage followed journalist protocol, making sure they were seen, as a group, before moving around.

"We stood in front of the Israeli military vehicles for about five to ten minutes before we made moves to ensure they saw us. And this is a habit of ours as journalists, we move as a group and we stand in front of them so they know we are journalists, and then we start moving," Hanaysha told CNN.

Lies met with proof

When the shooting occurred, Israeli military spokesperson Ran Kochav casually said that Abu Akleh had been "filming and working for a media outlet amidst armed Palestinians. They're armed with cameras, if you'll permit me to say so," saying it's "not clear" who fired the shot, and that Abu Akleh was hit either by Palestinian gunfire or by an Israeli sniper aiming at Palestinian gunmen. However, as written in the CNN report, "neither Israel nor anyone else has provided evidence showing armed Palestinians within a clear line of fire from Abu Akleh."

"Israel" seems like it won't be conducting any investigation into the murder - US lawmakers, the UN, and the international community on the other hand are demanding an independent investigation.

CNN obtained two videos that show that there was no evidence of combat nor any Palestinian gunmen on the field before Abu Akleh's time of the assassination. The videos were endorsed by eight eyewitnesses who were around, in addition to an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert. Abu Akleh, was in fact, "shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces," as written in the report.

The footage obtained shows calm before the reporters were attacked with bullets just outside Jenin refugee camp, near Awdeh roundabout. Hanaysha, including four other journalists, said it was a typical morning in Jenin - relatively quiet.

One video provided to CNN exposed the fact that there were snipers before the assassination. In a 16-minute video filmed by Salim Awad, he walks towards the spot where the journalists had gathered, zooming in on Israeli armored vehicles which were parked in the distance, eyeing, probing sinisterly. In the video, the man says: "Look at the snipers."

Awad gave a testimony, too: "There was no conflict or confrontations at all. We were about 10 guys, give or take, walking around, laughing and joking with the journalists," he said. "We were not afraid of anything. We didn't expect anything would happen, because when we saw journalists around, we thought it'd be a safe area."

His video captured the moments when the shots were fired at Abu Akleh and three of her colleagues, including Hanaysha, Al Jazeera producer Ali Al-Samoudi, and another Palestinian journalist, Mujahid Al-Saadi. There was, in the video, a direct line of sight toward the Israeli convoy.

>>16338844

"We saw around four or five military vehicles on that street with rifles sticking out of them and one of them shot Shireen. We were standing right there, we saw it. When we tried to approach her, they shot at us. I tried to cross the street to help, but I couldn't," Awad said.

Before the assassination, a testimony obtained by a 16-year-old who was standing among a group of men and boys on the street also narrates that there were "no shots fired, no stone-throwing, nothing."

Just after the journalists left for the hospital, the video showed five Israeli army vehicles driving slowly past the place of death, turning left, and leaving via the roundabout.

M16 assault

CNN reviewed up to 11 videos that exposed the crime scene as well as the IOF's action from multiple angles. One video includes a body camera video, which was released by the IOF, depicting Israeli soldiers running through an alleyway holding M16 assault rifles and variants as they spilled out onto the street where the armored vehicles were parked. One military source said that both were holding M16 and M4-style rifles.

The armored vehicles, which amount to five, were lined up in a row on the same line where Abu Akleh was shot. The vehicles closest to the journalists had a number "1", while the farthest away had a "5." All were positioned perpendicular across the street. Directly above the numbers are little rectangular boxes from where the Israelis have been shooting.

The report writes, "The Israeli military referenced such an opening in a statement about its initial investigation into Abu Akleh's shooting, saying that the journalist may have been hit by an Israeli soldier shooting from a 'designated firing hole in an IDF vehicle using a telescopic scope.'"

Furthermore, a number of eyewitnesses told CNN that they saw sniper rifles sticking out of the openings of the armored vehicles before the shooting began, "but that it was not preceded by any gunfire."

The firing was no random act, and the weapons expert could affirm this.

According to Chris Cobb-Smith, an explosive weapons expert, there was "no chance" that random firing would result in three to four shots in such tight space. "From the strike marks on the tree, it appears that the shots, one of which hit Shireen, came from down the street from the direction of the IDF troops. The relatively tight grouping of the rounds indicate Shireen was intentionally targeted with aimed shots and not the victim of random or stray fire," the firearms expert told CNN.

New designs

A professor from the Arab American University in Jenin, Jamal Huwail, who had helped drag Abu Akleh's body from the road, said he believed that the attack was coming from one of the Israeli vehicles, which he described as a "new model which had an opening for snipers," noting the elevation and the direction of the bullets that suggest so.

"They were shooting directly at the journalists," Huwail said.

The Israeli establishment will, all in all, continually use innovation to build more "effective" ways to systemically oppress, murder and inflict suffering on Palestinians and critics of "Israel" alike. Abu Akleh's death on May 11 was a clear message to journalists around the world who use their camera and penmanship to narrate truth and nothing but.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/turkey-hails-a-new-era-in-relations-with-israel

As “Israel” unleashes its worst crackdown against Palestinians, the Turkish foreign minister brags about being a top trading partner with “Israel” and a popular tourist destination for Israelis.

On the first trip to “Israel” by Ankara's top diplomat in 15 years, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu boldly stated that “Turkey's diplomatic thaw with Israel will help the Palestinians.”

This comes as 16-year-old Ghaith Rafiq Yamin died due to critical wounds he sustained after suffering a shot to the head at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces, who fired live bullets directly at him at “Qaber Youssef"(Joseph's Tomb) in Nablus this morning.

Cavusoglu was in occupied Al-Quds on Wednesday, as Turkey and “Israel” seek to mend ties nearly a decade and a half after the two severed ties following the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza in 2008.

At the time, “Israel” waged an intense three-week military aggression against the Gaza Strip, killing almost 1,400 Palestinians and wounding thousands more.

Turkey's official inflation rate was at a 20-year-high in April, according to figures released on Thursday, posing a significant challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Turkey's official inflation rate was at a 20-year-high in April, according to figures released on Thursday, which posed a significant challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Cavusoglu and his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, emphasized the importance of economic ties, which see Ankara completely disregarding the humanitarian violations the Israeli occupation committed.

"We won't pretend that our relationship has not seen its ups and downs," Lapid said. "Even in times of political tension, economic cooperation between our countries has been constantly on the rise."

On his account, Cavusoglu stated that Turkey was a top ten trading partner for “Israel” and a popular tourist destination for Israelis.

"We believe that normalization of our ties will have a positive impact on peaceful resolution of the conflict," he added, controversially calling the Israeli occupation of Palestine a "conflict" and yet again claiming that the signing of accords would better the situation for the oppression Palestinians.

Read More: Normalization: A stab in the back to the Palestinian cause

The talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog took place amid a widespread Israeli crackdown during the holy month of Ramadan.

"Turkey is ready to take responsibility to continue the efforts towards (Israeli-Palestinian) dialogue," Cavusoglu claimed.

“Israel” and Turkey praised a new era in relations when Herzog met with Erdogan in Ankara in March.

Cavusoglu and Lapid agreed on Wednesday to establish a formal process to allow Israeli carriers to land in Turkey and to renew a bilateral economic commission.

Many of Turkey's social issues, economists contend, are the result of Erdogan's unusual economic policy, which has pushed many foreign investors away from the once-promising growing market.

Ironically, Erdogan decides to open his country's doors to the Israeli occupation to quench Turkey’s thirst for inventors, turning a blind eye to the ongoing murder of Palestinians and the endless violations of human rights.

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/blog/the-final-war-with-israel:-how-and-when

The final war with "Israel": How and when?

To be able to answer this question, we need to understand both the Palestinian and regional situation.

Palestinians are geographically divided between three regions, each has its own realities and struggles, disconnected from the others: 1948 Palestinians, the West Bank, and Gaza.

The 1948 Palestinians live within the current borders of "Israel" and constantly face harassment and racism.

In the West Bank, Palestinians face constant expulsions from their homes and lands, daily raids and arrests in their villages, and psychological pressure to make them feel unsafe and strangers in their own lands. Foreign settlers keep flocking mainly from Europe to colonize the entirety of the West Bank. Colonies are chosen strategically to disconnect Palestinian villages from each other. Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority which governs the West Bank, is under the bankroll of the US and Europe, and has a huge police force that has a mission of quelling Palestinian anger and resistance against Israeli settlers and Police in the West Bank.

In Gaza, there’s a physical and economic embargo that prevents connection with the outer world, a dire sanitary and humanitarian crisis, and fishermen constantly get assassinated by the IOF patrol boats while they fish. Fishing zones often get closed or restricted by the IOF.

"Israel’s" strategy is to disconnect Palestinians from each other to destroy the national cohesion between Palestinians and erase the feeling of being part of a country. This is achieved by physically separating Palestinians and putting large amounts of pressure on them in each area, which imposes separate and different struggles. As long as Palestinians are separated and don’t work as a single group that is seeking to achieve common goals, "Israel" will continue its expansion unhindered. The minimal goal of the Palestinian people is to at least have a sovereign state with full rights within the 1967 borders. Some want a complete liberation of Palestine while others settle for the 1967 borders.

One event officially killed any idea of peace or negotiations with "Israel": Trump’s decision to recognize occupied Al-Quds as "Israel’s" eternal capital and the Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory. This decision overturned international law and internationally recognized borders. One thing has become clear: "Israel" is expanding, will never accept any kind of functioning state, and the only option to obtain your rights is armed resistance. This was the official ending of the Oslo Accords.

>>16338933

The situation in Palestine has been slowly evolving towards escalation since Trump’s decision to recognize occupied Al-Quds as "Israel’s" eternal capital. Settlers got emboldened and increased massively the ethnic cleansing inside occupied Al-Quds and increased the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque. This Mosque is the 3rd holiest site of Muslims. "Israel" wants sovereignty over the Mosque by trying to impose temporal divisions by imposing on Palestinians what time they are allowed to pray and by sending hordes of Zionist settlers to the mosques at different times.

Operation Seif Al-Quds

Last year in 2021, during the Seikh Jarrah expulsions and the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers, factions in Gaza saw the perfect window of opportunity to unite all Palestinians as well as all the Islamic world under the banner of occupied Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The factions threatened to strike "Israel" if it does not stop the raids on Al-Aqsa. "Israel" ignored, Gaza started firing missiles on "Tel Aviv" and Palestinians in 1948 territories and the West Bank started attacking settlers in the areas they live in. This effectively broke all the barriers of separation that "Israel" has been building over the years. This event linked the struggle of Gaza, the West Bank, and the 1948 Palestinians, and garnered the support of the entire Islamic and the free world. This also dealt a blow to the Arab regimes that normalized with Israel, because under no circumstance any Arab regime can defend "Israel" while opposing the defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque since it is a Holy Islamic Mosque. The operation had a huge political, social, and mediatic success.

Axis of Al-Quds (regional resistance):

The Axis of Al-Quds (Hezbollah, Syria, Yemen, Iraqi PMU, Iran) cannot start the war of liberation of Palestine if the Palestinians themselves are not already unified and in a revolutionary state across all Palestinian territory waging armed resistance. The liberation must start with Palestinians themselves.

This is the political atmosphere that will allow the Axis of Al-Quds to intervene. A full-scale Palestinian intifada and the defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is "Israel" and the US that destroyed the Oslo accords with the recognition of occupied Al-Quds as "Israel’s" capital, therefore Palestinians are automatically considered as being in self-defense by international law, in a very clear way. They already were, but this time there is no more room for any justification, the Zionist entity is in full conquest mode and Syria, as well as Palestinians, can retaliate with help from their allies.

What will happen in the future?

Since last year’s operation of Seif Al-Quds, lone wolf attacks are happening everywhere in occupied territories, and their frequency is increasing. The latest and most dangerous attack happened in "Tel Aviv" in the heart of "Israel", even outside of the 1948 territories. "Israel" is increasing pressure on the West Bank and 1948 territories, and Palestinians have absolutely nothing to lose anymore. They are slowly reforming national unity towards armed resistance. When will the intifada happen? We never know, but it is very close. It can be from a few months to a few years, but the Palestinians are steadily increasing acts of resistance over time. Any event can spark a popular uprising, such as the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh the Al Jazeera journalist. Gaza is mounting pressure by threatening to start the Seif Al-Quds 2 operation if the prisoners are not released, the siege is not lifted, and raids on Al-Aqsa are continuing.

"Israel" is faced with two options with all these events.

1- Give in to the demands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, which is considered as a huge defeat for "Israel" on all levels. It will delay the final clash, but it will also encourage Palestinians to reclaim their full rights by force because that is the only thing that works.

2- Try to suppress the growing Palestinian uprising, which risks igniting the intifada even faster. It can take between months and several years, but in both cases, we are heading for the final confrontation.

Of course, there is always the possibility that "Israel" becomes adventurous and executes a wrong calculation in the region which risks igniting the regional war with the Al-Quds Axis earlier and outside of the context stated above.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/may-25-liberation-day:-soul-is-what-fights

May 25 Liberation Day: Soul is what fights

With the blood and sweat of thousands of its sons and daughters, Lebanon was liberated on May 25, 2000.

Twenty-two years have passed since the Israelis were forced, for the first time, to withdraw from an occupied Arab land unconditionally. The event that took place on May 25th of the year 2000 is seen widely as a turning point in the greater Arab struggle against the Israeli occupation and colonization of Arab lands.

The day the occupation completed its forced withdrawal from Lebanese territories came to be known as the Liberation and Resistance Day in Lebanon, a day that is commemorated and celebrated all over the country annually. It became a founding element in the story of the Arab and Lebanese people’s struggle in general, and for the people of Southern Lebanon in particular. Memories of the occupation that brought death and destruction to the lives of many are still vivid to this day, as not only were the horrors of such a period carved in the collective memory of the Lebanese people but also the idea that the cost of resistance will always be more bearable than that of submission.

So how did the people, historically described as poor peasants, manage to inflict such a strategic defeat on the Israeli war machine?

Building the momentum

As the occupation began in 1978 and then expanded in 1982, the Lebanese resistance factions took up their arms and dealt heavy blows to the Israeli occupation troops present on the Lebanese soil via various military actions. New resistance factions were formed as well. They followed a wide array of ideological doctrines that ranged from communism and nationalism to Islamic ideology. This piece will be focusing on the actions, operations, and plans of the resistance party that played a major role in the military defeat of the Israelis and their expulsion from Lebanon - except for the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Chouba Hills - the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, i.e. Hezbollah.

The resistance project was launched in Beirut in 1982 by only a few men who were frustrated by how the people under Israeli occupation were left to meet their fate by everyone as the country was engulfed in civil war. Not with words, but with solid actions, iron, and lead, these men decided to stand their ground and fight. The oldest of these men hadn’t reached his thirties, these “young and crazy” men ended up changing the fate of Lebanon and the region for good.

Numbering from a few dozens to hundreds in the nineties, the resistance had employed multiple tactics, from ambushes to anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) strikes or mining the roads taken by Israeli patrols. Their foe was not only the Israeli occupation forces; there was also a collaborator militia under the name of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), whom the Israelis used as cannon fodder to man the front outposts with the hope of mitigating their losses.

The Islamic Resistance’s ability to adapt to shifting conditions was proved by Hezbollah’s military operations in the 1990s. Hezbollah attacked with direct assaults when the Israeli forces and SLA-established permanent outposts. The resistance moved to use indirect fire using mortars and rocket fire when the occupation and its collaborators bolstered their outposts. The resistance resorted to ambushes, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and mines as the IOF changed tactics and became a more mobile force with more patrols.

>>16339018

As for the use of ATGMs, the Lebanese resistance deployed even more complex armament systems, ranging from the older Sagger ATGMs to the more modern American-made TOWs and Soviet-made Konkurs. Between September and October 1997, using TOW systems, the resistance, for instance, managed to destroy a Magach and three Merkava tanks, dealing a serious blow to the IOF’s morale. The Islamic resistance’s adaptability earned it admiration from its enemies. The head of the Golani brigade, Moshe Kaplinsky, remarked that "Hezbollah was a learning organization."

The War was characterized by an intellectual clash between the resistance and the IOF. For instance, in the 1990s, when the IOF started utilizing sniffer dogs to find wire-triggered IEDs, the resistance started hiding its mines under fiberglass boulders as camouflage, then resorted to using radio control to set off the mines. The IOF, in turn, tried countering this tactic by jamming the radio signals, the resistance responded by using cellphone-triggered devices. The Israelis countered this tactic by jamming cellphone signals. The resistance finally employed infrared signals to detonate the explosive devices and continued inflicting tremendous damage to the Israeli occupying forces.

Culminating the effects

The resistance's professional use of IEDs and mines culminated in the killing of Erez Gerstein in 1999; the top Israeli commander in Lebanon at that time. It was a huge calamity for the occupation and its already crumbling morale as a result of the attrition war it was suffering at the hands of the resistance. The SLA was not spared either, as its second-in-command, Aql Hashim, was killed the following year using similar tactics.

One of the most significant victories for the resistance, both on the intelligence and tactical levels, was the 1997 ambush of sixteen navy commandos from the elite Shayetet 13 unit near the coastal town of Ansariyah, which resulted in the death of 12 Israeli soldiers. It was revealed by the secretary-general of the resistance later on that the ambush was made possible by the resistance's hacking of Israeli drones earlier that year, which allowed them to acquire intel that helped identify the imminent incursion.

Operations continued as the occupation of Lebanon was withering, with their number increasing substantially. 4,928 of the total 6,058 operations occurred between 1996 and 2000, and 1999 alone saw the resistance carrying out 1,528 operations. The war was long and consuming for the Israelis, and not only the military was suffering. The Israeli society as a whole was crumbling underneath the weight of losses in Lebanon. The resistance using rockets to establish a deterrence equation, which prevented the Israelis from targeting civilians in Lebanon, played a major role in cutting the Israeli society’s appetite for war. The Israelis felt that their government, even after the wars of 1993 and 1996, was unable to stop the rocket retaliation against settlements. Despite the numerous violations committed by the IOF against the rules of such proclaimed and explicit equation, the Israelis did reduce their attacks against civilians in Lebanon.

The victory

The last Israeli soldier left Lebanese soil (except for Shebaa farms and Kfarshoba hills) at 6:48 am on May 24 of the year 2000, and the long-awaited relief of the Lebanese people from their suffering ended. The SLA was breaking up in the days leading up to the 24th of May, culminating in its complete disintegration following that date. The members of the collaborator army were divided into 2 groups, the first surrendered to the resistance, while the second left with the Israelis to occupied Palestine. One of the SLA officers said during his last seconds on Lebanese soil: "We expected to be expelled, but [not like this] with honor." A scene that was engrained in the Lebanese memory, besides the scenes of the prisoners of Al-Khiam detention camp breaking their chains and breathing in the fresh breeze of freedom.

>>16339020

During the celebration that followed Liberation Day, the leader of the resistance, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, described the Israeli occupation regime as "frailer than a spider’s web." These words echoed within the heads of the Israelis for the better half of a decade, so much so that Israeli generals labeled their bid to occupy Bint Jbeil (where Sayyed Nasrallah made the speech in which he said the occupation was frailer than a spider’s web) "Operation Webs of Steel". The operation took place during the Israeli 2006 war on Lebanon. "Tel Aviv" failed miserably in its endeavor again, but that is a story for another day.

The Israeli occupation regime’s existential concerns became much more vivid following its defeat and humiliation in 2000 and 2006. The mighty "Israel" that always bragged about its operational military art and competency and created an illusion of invincibility became powerless, frail, and paranoid. The resistance and its people not only liberated their land with their blood and sweat but proved to all the Arabs and the oppressed of this world that, with a clear mind, a strong will, and a passionate soul, no occupation shall last.