Documents
Abu Akleh Family Letter to President Joe Biden
Jul. 8 2022 — 9:49 a.m.

July 8, 2022
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We, the family of Shireen Abu Akleh, write to express our grief, outrage and sense of betrayal
concerning your administration’s abject response to the extrajudicial killing of our sister and aunt
by Israeli forces on May 11, 2022, while on assignment in the occupied Palestinian city of Jenin
in the West Bank.
Shireen was a prominent, beloved Palestinian journalist. She was a role model and a mentor to
aspiring Palestinian female journalists, and a trusted colleague of many in the local and
international media. She was also a United States citizen. Despite wearing a protective helmet
and blue bulletproof vest clearly marked as “PRESS,” Shireen was murdered by an Israeli-fired
bullet to the head. Israeli forces continued to fire live rounds as bystanders– including other
members of the press–tried to render assistance. Then, as we and hundreds of others gathered to
begin her funeral procession, Israeli forces attacked us, beating mourners and pallbearers,
violently disrupting the dignified burial procession she deserved.
In the days and weeks since an Israeli soldier killed Shireen, not only have we not been
adequately consulted, informed, and supported by U.S. government officials, but your
administration’s actions exhibit an apparent intent to undermine our efforts toward justice and
accountability for Shireen’s death. Investigations conducted by the United Nations, the New
York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Associated Press, Bellingcat, and B’Tselem all
concluded an Israeli soldier fired the shot that killed Shireen. All available evidence suggests that
Shireen, a U.S. citizen, was the subject of an extrajudicial killing, yet your administration has
thoroughly failed to meet the bare minimum expectation held by a grieving family—to ensure a
prompt, thorough, credible, impartial, independent, effective and transparent investigation that
leads to true justice and accountability for Shireen’s killing.
Instead, the United States has been skulking toward the erasure of any wrongdoing by Israeli
forces. From the failure to immediately ensure an independent and impartial investigation, to the
rushed hand-off of the bullet that killed Shireen without consultation let alone allowing us to
have a representative present, which culminated in the July 4 statement adopting the conclusions
and talking points of the Israeli government, your administration’s engagement has served to
whitewash Shireen’s killing and perpetuate impunity. Little information has been shared on who
oversaw the American “summation” of investigations, who participated in the ballistics
assessment, or any specific individual qualifications or findings leading to the conclusions issued
by your administration. It is as if you expect the world and us to now just move on. Silence
would have been better.
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You have made clear that your administration is willing to abdicate its responsibility concerning
Israel’s extrajudicial killing of Shireen. The July 4 press statement by Department of State
Spokesperson Ned Price announced that Shireen’s killing was likely unintentional, yet when
pressed by reporters during the July 5 press briefing, Mr. Price conceded that nobody present was
qualified to reach a conclusion about intent. He also clarified that the United States government
did not, in fact, conduct its own investigation, let alone legal analysis, and that the Department of
State was content with merely “summarizing”—and adopting—Israeli authorities’ investigation.
Nonetheless, your administration deemed it necessary to include and perpetuate the baseless and
damaging conclusion that the killing was not intentional, seemingly choosing political
expedience over actual accountability for a foreign government’s killing of a U.S. citizen.
We remind you that on May 11, the day an Israeli soldier killed Shireen, Mr. Price stood at the
Department of State podium to strongly condemn her killing and call for “an immediate and
thorough investigation and full accountability.” Then, on July 5, that call for full accountability
was reduced to nothing more than a contorted statement that Israel “soon will be in a position to
consider steps to further safeguard noncombatants.” We are incredulous that such an expectation
would be the pinnacle of your administration’s response to the killing of Shireen. Israeli forces
have for long known no bounds, perpetrating war crimes and killing Palestinian civilians with
impunity, including those clearly identifiable as children, medical personnel and journalists.
Israeli officials and armed forces are enabled and empowered by unconditional U.S.-sourced
weapons and financial assistance and then provided with near absolute diplomatic support to
shield Israeli officials from any accountability.
Since Israeli forces killed our Shireen, lawmakers have pressed you to deliver on the strong
condemnation and call for “full accountability” concerning Shireen’s death. On May 19, 57
members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Federal Bureau of
Investigation Director Christopher Wray to demand the State Department and the FBI launch an
investigation into the killing of Shireen. On June 6, Sens. Jon Ossof and Mitt Romney sent a
letter to Secretary Blinken insisting that the administration ensure a “full and transparent
investigation and accountability”. On June 23, Senator Chris Van Hollen and 23 of his Senate
colleagues sent you a letter demanding you ensure the direct involvement of the United States in
the investigation of Shireen’s killing, stressing the importance of an independent, thorough, and
transparent investigation.
We reaffirm these demands on behalf of our beloved Shireen as your administration’s actions to
date have not only fallen woefully short of “full accountability” but they amount to express
acceptance for Shireen’s killing. Your administration’s actions can only be seen as an attempt to
erase the extrajudicial killing of Shireen and further entrench the systemic impunity enjoyed by
Israeli forces and officials for unlawfully killing Palestinians.
We call on you to:
1) Meet with us during your upcoming visit and hear directly from us about our concerns
and demands for justice.
2) Provide us with all of the information gathered by your administration to date concerning
Shireen’s killings, including any evidence reviewed and assessed by U.S. officials, the
identities and qualifications of all individuals present during the latest review of
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evidence, any forensics reports or other information that has not been provided to us or
our legal team.
3) Retract the Department of State’s July 4 press statement, given that the Department's own
account indicates that it is not based on any credible assessment.
4) Direct the Department of Justice, including the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions
Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any other relevant U.S. offices or
agencies to take action on Shireen’s extrajudicial killing.
5) Finally, and it should be needless to say, we expect the Biden administration support our
efforts to push for accountability and justice for Shireen, wherever they take us.
Sincerely,
Anton Abu Akleh
On behalf of the Abu Akleh Family
CC: Secretary of State Mr. Antony Blinken.
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