The occupying Israeli forces have attacked another Palestinian funeral, just days after violating the funeral of a journalist they killed.
Israeli forces: violating funerals
Israeli forces killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on 11 May. Then, on 13 May, they attacked mourners at her funeral. As The Canary previously reported:
Israeli forces shot and killed Shireen in cold blood. This was an attack on freedom of the press. It was an attack on the right of Palestinians to exist. And it was an attack on everything Shireen stood for, including fearless reporting on the actions of an apartheid state.
Al Jazeera producer Linah Alsaafin believes Israeli forces intentionally killed Abu Akleh. She tweeted:
Shooting a journalist just under the ear – an area not protected by the helmet and flak jacket she was wearing – is intentional. Soldier had his orders. The army and government knew who Shireen Abu Akleh is.
— لينة (@LinahAlsaafin) May 12, 2022
Now, Israeli forces have attacked another funeral. This time, it was that of Walid Al-Sharif. They shot him during their raid on the Al Aqsa mosque in April. As Al Manar News reported, Al-Sharif died on 14 May:
he fell into a coma on April 24 and was in a critical condition since.
Al-Sharif’s head or neck was reportedly targeted by a sponge-tipped Israeli bullet, according to his family and witnesses.
At the time of his injury, Israeli occupation forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and Al-Sharif was one of 57 Palestinians injured during the brutal attacks on worshippers.
Then, Israeli forces attacked his funeral on 16 May:
https://twitter.com/theIMEU/status/1526290808198074373
Reports suggested that Israeli forces injured over 80 Palestinians, as well as setting up roadblocks and preventing access to Al Aqsa. They attacked the Red Crescent ambulance carrying Al-Sharif, and left one of his relatives in a critical condition:
Nader Al-Sharif, injured by a rubber bullet in the eye, and his condition is critical, he has been referred for treatment at “Shaare Zedek” Hospital, and the forces are now storming his treatment room and forcing his family to leave it
Injured during Walid Al-Sharif's funeral pic.twitter.com/DKDAWoS925— Silwanic (@Silwanic1) May 17, 2022
Israel: acting with impunity?
Predictably, the corporate media either failed to report the Israeli violence, or they dumbed it down. The Jerusalem Post ran with the usual “clashes” trope:
Clashes erupted on Temple Mount during the funeral of Walid al-Sharif, where hundreds of Palestinians are reportedly throwing stones and bottles toward Israeli forces while flying Palestinian flags.#Israel | #Palestinians https://t.co/YSRWvxBeG4
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) May 16, 2022
Haaretz used the passive voice:
Jerusalem Funeral of Palestinian Killed in Al-Aqsa Clashes Spills Into Violence
And France 24 ran with the headline:
Dozens hurt in clashes at Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem
Who hurt the “dozens”? If you were reading France 24‘s headline you’d be none the wiser that it was Israeli forces.
As The Canary‘s Maryam Jameela previously wrote of Abu Akleh’s funeral:
Palestinians are abandoned both in life and in death. Palestinians cannot grieve the same as everybody else. Palestinian deaths cannot be mourned without interference.
The Israeli forces’ near-identical actions at Al-Sharif’s funeral show that the state is continuing to act out its apartheid with impunity.
Featured image via CGTN – YouTube
