MOUIN RABBANI, mail@mouinrabbani.net, @mouinrabbani

Rabbani is co-editor of Jadaliyya. 

He said today: “It was never in doubt that the U.S. government would put the political interests of Israel ahead of justice for a U.S. citizen killed by the Israeli military. And that is exactly what transpired as a result of the U.S. ‘investigation‘ of the killing of veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, which attempted to throw sufficient doubt on the facts of the case to — once again — give Israel a get-out-of-jail-free pass. It is the equivalent of a U.S. veto at the UN Security Council to shield Israel from accountability for its war crimes in the occupied territories.”

Rabbani wrote an in-depth piece on Abu Akleh which originally appeared in the London Review of Books. 

He continued: “Anyone who believed the State Department would conduct a serious investigation of the case, or concur with the consensus among media and human rights organisations that this was a summary execution by an Israeli military sniper, needs to have their head examined. That’s not how the U.S. government works, and certainly not when it comes to ensuring Israeli impunity in its dealings with Palestinians, including those who hold U.S. citizenship.

“It seems fairly certain, and is likely be confirmed when U.S. government documents are released in several decades, that shielding Israel from accountability for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh was the price U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken insisted the Palestinian Authority pay for a visit by Joe Biden to Mahmoud Abbas next week. And the PA was unfortunately willing to pay this price by providing the bullet that killed Abu Akleh to U.S. officials, allowing them to claim they had conducted a serious investigation. That also tells you everything you need to know about the context and outcome of this upcoming visit.”