New Zeteo Doc Identifies Alon Scagio as Shireen Abu Akleh’s Killer

Because the Israeli navy kills two extra Palestinian journalists in Gaza, a brand new documentary by Zeteo has uncovered important particulars about Israel’s killing three years in the past of the acclaimed Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The movie, Who Killed Shireen?, identifies for the primary time the Israeli soldier who allegedly shot Abu Akleh. We get response from two members of Abu Akleh’s household — her brother Anton and her niece Lina — in addition to the documentary’s government producer, Dion Nissenbaum, and Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan.

“We’ve all the time recognized that it was an Israeli soldier who killed Shireen,” says Lina Abu Akleh, who says the “total chain of command” have to be held accountable, together with elected officers.

“The Biden administration and the Israeli authorities basically had been doing every little thing they may to cowl up what occurred that day to Shireen Abu Akleh,” says Nissenbaum, who can be the correspondent within the documentary.

TRANSCRIPT

This can be a rush transcript. Copy might not be in its closing type.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We start as we speak’s present Israel’s ongoing concentrating on of Palestinian journalists. A latest report by the Prices of Conflict Mission at Brown College described the warfare in Gaza because the, quote, “worst ever battle for reporters” in historical past. By one depend, Israel has killed 214 Palestinian journalists in Gaza over the previous 18 months, together with two journalists killed on Wednesday, Yahya Subaih and Nour El-Din Abdo. Yahya Subaih died simply hours after his spouse gave beginning to their first little one.

In the meantime, new particulars have emerged concerning the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the famend Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist who was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier three years in the past, on Could eleventh, 2022. She was killed whereas masking an Israeli military assault on the Jenin refugee camp within the West Financial institution. Shireen and one other reporter had been in opposition to a stone wall, sporting blue helmets and blue flak jackets clearly emblazoned with the phrase “press.” Shireen was shot within the head. Shireen was recognized all through the Arab world for her many years of tireless reporting on Palestine.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel initially claimed she had been shot by Palestinian militants, however later acknowledged she was most certainly shot by an Israeli soldier. However Israel has by no means recognized the soldier who fired the deadly shot, or allowed the soldier to be questioned by U.S. investigators. However a brand new documentary simply launched by Zeteo has recognized and named the Israeli soldier for the primary time. That is the trailer to the documentary Who Killed Shireen?

DION NISSENBAUM: That soldier appeared down his scope and will see the blue vest and that it stated “press.”

ISRAELI SOLDIER: That’s what I believe, sure.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: U.S. personnel have by no means had entry to those that are believed to have dedicated these shootings.

DION NISSENBAUM: Nobody has been held to account. Justice has not been served.

FATIMA ABDULKARIM: She is the primary American Palestinian journalist who has been killed by Israeli forces.

DION NISSENBAUM: I need to know: Who killed Shireen?

CONOR POWELL: Are we going to search out the shooter?

DION NISSENBAUM: He’s bought a telephone name arrange with this Israeli soldier that was there that day.

CONOR POWELL: We simply should go over to Israel.

DION NISSENBAUM: Did you ever speak to the man who fired these photographs?

ISRAELI SOLDIER: In fact. I do know him personally. The U.S. ought to have truly come ahead and really pressed the truth that an American citizen was killed deliberately by IDF.

FATIMA ABDULKARIM: The drones are nonetheless ongoing, the explosions going off.

CONOR POWELL: Holy [bleep]! We’ve bought a reputation.

DION NISSENBAUM: However right here’s the twist.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: The trailer for the brand new Zeteo documentary Who Killed Shireen? The movie identifies the Israeli soldier who allegedly killed Shireen Abu Akleh as Alon Scagio, who would later be killed throughout an Israeli navy operation final June in Jenin, the identical metropolis the place Shireen was fatally shot.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined proper now by 4 company, together with two members of Shireen Abu Akleh’s household: her brother Anton, or Tony, and her niece Lina. They’re each in North Bergen, New Jersey. We’re additionally joined by Mehdi Hasan, the founder and editor-in-chief of Zeteo, and by Dion Nissenbaum, the chief producer of Who Killed Shireen?, the correspondent on the documentary, longtime Wall Avenue Journal international correspondent based mostly in Jerusalem and different cities, a former international correspondent. He was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Dion, we’re going to start with you. That is the third anniversary, Could eleventh precisely, of the dying of Shireen Abu Akleh. Discuss your revelation, what you uncovered on this documentary.

DION NISSENBAUM: Effectively, there have been two issues that had been essential for the documentary. The very first thing was we needed to search out the soldier who killed Shireen. It had been one of the carefully guarded secrets and techniques in Israel. U.S. officers stated that in the event that they needed to find out if there was a criminal offense right here, if there was a human rights violation, they wanted to speak to this soldier to search out out what he was considering when he shot her. And we got down to discover him. And we did. We did what the U.S. authorities by no means did. And it turned out he had been killed, so we had been by no means in a position to reply that query — what he was considering.

However the different revelation that I believe is as important on this documentary is that the preliminary U.S. evaluation of her capturing was that that soldier deliberately shot her and that he might inform that she was sporting a blue flak jacket with “press” throughout it. That evaluation was basically overruled by the Biden administration, which got here out and stated precisely the alternative. That’s a reasonably startling revelation, that the Biden administration and the Israeli authorities basically had been doing every little thing they may to cowl up what occurred that day to Shireen Abu Akleh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Effectively, let’s go to a clip from the documentary Who Killed Shireen?, wherein Dion Nissenbaum, our visitor, speaks with former State Division official Andrew Miller. He was deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs in 2022 when Shireen was killed.

ANDREW MILLER: It’s practically 100% sure that an Israeli soldier, doubtless a sniper, fired the shot that killed or the photographs that killed Shireen Abu Akleh. Based mostly on all the data we’ve, it’s not credible to counsel that there have been targets both in entrance of or behind Shireen Abu Akleh. The truth that the official Israeli place stays that this was a case of crossfire, the complete episode was a mistake, versus doubtlessly a mistaken identification or the deliberate concentrating on of this particular person, factors to, I believe, a broader coverage of in search of to handle the narrative.

DION NISSENBAUM: And did the Israelis ever make the soldier accessible to the U.S. to speak about it?

ANDREW MILLER: No. And the Israelis weren’t prepared to current the particular person for even casual questioning.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was State Division official — former State Division official Andrew Miller, talking within the Zeteo documentary Who Killed Shireen? He was deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs in 2022 when Shireen was killed.

I need to go to Shireen’s household, whom we’ve as company, Anton Abu Akleh and Lina, who’re becoming a member of us from New Jersey. You each watched the movie for the primary time final evening when it premiered right here in New York Metropolis. Lina, in case you might start by responding to the revelations within the movie?

LINA ABU AKLEH: Hello, Amy. Hello. Thanks for having us.

Truthfully, we all the time welcome and we admire journalists who attempt to uncover the killing of Shireen, but additionally who make clear her legacy. And the documentary that was launched by Zeteo and by Dion, it actually — it actually revealed findings that we didn’t know earlier than, however we’ve all the time recognized that it was an Israeli soldier who killed Shireen. And we all know how the U.S. administration failed our household, failed a U.S. citizen and failed a journalist, actually. And that needs to be a scandal in and of itself.

However most significantly, for us as a household, it’s not nearly one soldier. It’s about the complete chain of command. It’s not simply the one who pulled the set off, however who ordered the killing, and the navy commanders, the elected officers. So, actually, it’s the complete chain of command that must be held to account for the killing of a journalist who was in clear press vest, press gear, marked as a journalist.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Anton, in case you might reply? Shireen, in fact, was your youthful sister. What was your response watching the documentary final evening?

ANTON ABU AKLEH: It’s very painful to have a look at all these scenes once more, however I actually prolong my appreciation to Zeteo and all those that supported and labored on this documentary, which was very revealing, many issues we didn’t know. The quilt-up by the Biden administration, this factor was new to us. He promised. First statements got here out from the White Home and from the State Division pressured on the significance of holding these accountable accountable. And apparently, in one of many interviews heard on this documentary, he by no means raised — President Biden by no means raised this concern with Bennett, at the moment the prime minister. So, that’s stunning to us to comprehend it was a complete cover-up, contradictory to what they promised us. And that’s — like Lina simply stated, it’s a betrayal, not solely to the household, not solely to Shireen, however the entire American nation.

AMY GOODMAN: Mehdi Hasan, you’ve backed this documentary. It’s the primary huge documentary Zeteo is placing out. It’s additionally the primary anniversary of the founding of Zeteo. Are you able to speak concerning the proof that you simply really feel is right here within the documentary that Alon Scagio, this — and clarify who he’s and the unit he was part of? Dion, it’s fairly one thing whenever you go to his grave. However how one can completely make sure that is the person?

MEHDI HASAN: So, Amy, Nermeen, thanks for having us right here. I’ve been on this present many instances. I simply need to say, nice to be right here on set with each of you. Thanks for what you do.

That is truly our second documentary, however it’s our largest thus far, as a result of the revelations on this movie that Dion and the workforce put out are large in some ways — figuring out the soldier, as you talked about, Alon Scagio, figuring out the Biden cover-up, which we simply heard Tony Abu Akleh level out. Folks didn’t understand simply how huge that cover-up was. Bear in mind, Joe Biden was the person who stated, “If you happen to hurt an American, we are going to reply.” And what’s very clear within the case of Shireen Abu Akleh, an American citizen who spent a whole lot of her life in New Jersey, they didn’t reply.

By way of the soldier itself, when Dion got here to me and stated, “We need to make this movie. It’ll be virtually like a real crime documentary. We’re going to exit and discover out who did it” — as a result of all of us — everybody adopted the story. You guys lined it in 2022. It was an enormous story on the earth. However three years later, to not even know the title of the shooter — and I used to be, “Effectively, will we be capable to discover this out? It’s considered one of Israel’s most carefully guarded secrets and techniques.” And but, Dion and his workforce had been in a position to do the reporting that bought within Duvdevan, this elite particular forces unit in Israel. It actually means “the cherry on prime.” That’s how proud they’re of their eliteness. And but, irrespective of how elite you might be, Israel’s approach of combating wars means you kill harmless folks.

And what comes out within the movie from interviews, not simply with a soldier, an Israeli soldier, who speaks within the movie and talks about how, “Hey, in case you see a digicam, you’re taking the shot,” but additionally talking to Chris Van Hollen, United States senator from Maryland, who’s been one of many few Democratic voices important of Biden within the Senate, who says there’s been no change in Israel’s guidelines of engagement through the years. And subsequently, it was so vital on a number of ranges to do that movie, to establish the shooter, as a result of, in fact, as you identified in your information headlines, Amy, they only killed 100 Palestinians yesterday. So this isn’t some previous story from historical past the place this occurred in 2022 and we’re going again. All the things that occurred since, you can argue, flows from that — the People who’ve been killed, the journalists who’ve been killed in Gaza, Palestinians, the sense of impunity that Israel has and Israel’s troopers have. There are studies that Israeli troopers are saying to Palestinians, “Hey, Trump has our again. Hey, the U.S. authorities has our again.” And it wasn’t simply Trump. It was Joe Biden, too. And that was why it was so vital to make this movie, to establish the shooter, to name out Israel’s practices in relation to journalists, and to name out the U.S. function.

AMY GOODMAN: I simply need to go to Dion, for individuals who aren’t accustomed to the development of what the Biden administration stated, the intense cover-up not solely by Israel, however of its principal navy weapons provider and supporter of its warfare on Gaza, and that’s Joe Biden, from the start. First Israel stated it was a Palestinian militant. At that time, what did President Biden say?

DION NISSENBAUM: So, on the very starting, they stated that they needed the shooter to be prosecuted. They used that phrase on the State Division and stated, “This one who killed an American journalist needs to be prosecuted.” However when it began to change into clear that it was in all probability an Israeli soldier, their tone shifted, and it turned speaking about obscure requires accountability or modifications to the principles of engagement, which by no means truly occurred. So, you bought to some extent the place the Israeli authorities admitted it was doubtless them, the U.S. authorities known as for them to alter the principles of engagement, and the Israeli authorities stated no. And we’ve this interview within the movie with Senator Chris Van Hollen, who says that, basically, Israel was giving the center finger to the U.S. authorities on this.

And we’ve seen, since that point, extra People being killed within the West Financial institution, dozens and dozens and dozens of journalists being killed, with no accountability. And we wish to see that change. This can be a trajectory that you simply’re seeing. You realize, the blue vest not offers any safety for journalists in Israel. The Israeli navy itself has stated that sporting a blue vest with “press” on it doesn’t essentially imply that you’re a journalist. They’re saying that terrorists put on blue vests, too. So, if you’re a journalist working within the West Financial institution now, you need to assume that the Israeli navy might goal you.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Effectively, let’s go to a different clip from the movie Who Killed Shireen?, which options Ali Samoudi, Shireen Abu Akleh’s producer, who was with Shireen when she was killed, and was himself shot and injured. Within the clip, he speaks to the journalist Fatima AbdulKarim.

FATIMA ABDULKARIM: We’re arrange right here now, regardless that we had been supposed to satisfy on the location the place you bought injured and Shireen bought killed.

ALI SAMOUDI: [translated] We’re 5 minutes from the situation in Maidan al-Awdah. However you can lose your soul within the 5 minutes it will take us to achieve it. You may be hit by military bullets. They might arrest you. So it’s basically unattainable to get there. I imagine the massive catastrophe which prevented the occupation from being punished and repeating these crimes is the neglect and indifference by most of the establishments, particularly American ones, which proceed to defend the occupation.

FATIMA ABDULKARIM: [translated] We’re now approaching the third anniversary of Shireen’s dying. How did that have an effect on you?

ALI SAMOUDI: [translated] Throughout that interval, the occupation was making preparations for a harmful state of affairs within the Jenin refugee camp. And because of this, they didn’t need witnesses. They opened hearth on us as a way to terrorize us sufficient that we wouldn’t return to the camp. And in that sense, they partially succeeded. Since then, we’ve been overcome by concern. From the second Shireen was killed, I stated and proceed to say and can proceed to say that this bullet was meant to forestall the Palestinian media from the documentation and publicity of the occupation’s crimes.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was Ali Samoudi, Shireen Abu Akleh’s producer, who was with Shireen when she was killed, and was himself shot and injured.

We must always observe, Ali Samoudi was simply detained by Israeli forces in late April. The Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti not too long ago wrote, “Ali Samoudi was overwhelmed so dangerous by Israeli troopers he was instantly hospitalized. This man has been one of many few journalists that continues reporting on Israeli navy abuses north of the West Financial institution regardless of the continued danger on his life,” Mariam Barghouti wrote.

The Committee to Shield Journalists spoke to the journalist’s son, Mohammed Al Samoudi, who advised CPJ, quote, “My father suffers from a number of sicknesses, together with diabetes, hypertension, and a abdomen ulcer … He wants a diabetes injection each two days and a selected weight loss program. It seems he was subjected to assault and medical neglect on the interrogation middle. … Our lawyer advised us he was transferred to an Israeli hospital after a serious setback in his well being. We don’t know the place he’s being held, interrogated, and even the hospital to which he was taken. My father has been forcibly disappeared,” he stated.

So, Dion Nissenbaum, in case you might give us the newest? You spoke to Ali Samoudi for the documentary, and now he’s been detained.

DION NISSENBAUM: Yeah. His phrases had been prophetic, proper? He talks about this was an try to silence journalists. And my colleague Fatima says the identical factor, that these are ongoing, progressive efforts to silence Palestinian journalists. And we don’t know the place Ali is. He has not truly been charged with something but. He is among the most revered journalists within the West Financial institution. And we’re simply seeing this development occurring.

AMY GOODMAN: So, the newest we all know is he was purported to have a listening to, and that listening to has now been delayed to Could thirteenth, Ali Samoudi?

DION NISSENBAUM: That’s proper. And he has but to be charged, so…

AMY GOODMAN: I need to return to Lina Abu Akleh, who’s in New Jersey, the place Shireen grew up. Lina, you had been listed on Time journal’s 100 rising leaders for publicly demanding scrutiny of Israel’s remedy of Palestinians, the horror. And once more, our condolences on the dying of your aunt, on the killing of your aunt, and likewise to Anton, Shireen’s brother. Lina, you’ve additionally, in fact, spoken to Ali Samoudi. This continues now. He’s in detention — his son says, simply disappeared. What are you demanding proper now? We now have a brand new administration. We’ve moved from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. And are you in contact with them? Are they talking to you?

LINA ABU AKLEH: Effectively, our calls for haven’t modified. From day one, we’re calling for the U.S. administration to finish its investigation, or for the FBI to proceed its investigation, and to lastly launch — to lastly maintain somebody to account. And we’ve sufficient proof that would have been — that the administration might have used to expedite this case. However, sadly, this new administration, as properly, nobody has spoken to us. We haven’t been in contact with anybody, and it’s simply been radio silence since.

For us, as I stated, our calls for have by no means modified. It’s been all the time to carry the complete system to account, the complete chain of command, the navy, for the killing of an American citizen, a journalist, a Palestinian, Palestinian American journalist. As we’ve been speaking, concentrating on journalists isn’t taking place simply by capturing at them or killing them. There’s so many various types of concentrating on journalists, particularly in Gaza and the West Financial institution and Jerusalem. So, for us, it’s actually vital as a household that we don’t see different households expertise what we’re going via, for this — for impunity, for Israel’s impunity, to finish, as a result of, on the finish of the day, accountability is the one solution to put an finish to this impunity.

AMY GOODMAN: I’m horrified to ask this query to Shireen’s relations, to Lina, to Tony, Shireen’s brother, however the revelation within the movie — we had been all there final evening at its premiere in New York — that the Israeli troopers are utilizing {a photograph} of Shireen’s face for goal apply. Tony Abu Akleh, in case you might reply?

ANTON ABU AKLEH: You realize, there is no such thing as a phrases to explain our sorrow and ache listening to this. However, you understand, I might simply need to know why. Why would they do factor? What did Shireen do to them for them to make use of her as a goal apply? You realize, that is completely barbaric act, unjustified. Unjustified. And we actually hope that this U.S. administration will be capable to put an finish to all this impunity they’re having fun with. In the event that they didn’t get pleasure from all this impunity, they wouldn’t have been doing this. Working towards on a journalist? Why? You realize, you’ll be able to apply on something, however on a journalist? This reveals that this concentrating on of extra journalists, whether or not in Gaza, in Palestine, it’s systematic. It’s been deliberate for. And so they’ve been concentrating on and shutting off these voices, these studies, from reaching wherever on the earth.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Anton, in case you might say — you understand, you talked about final evening, as properly, Shireen was, in reality, extraordinarily cautious as a journalist. If you happen to might elaborate on that? What exactly —

ANTON ABU AKLEH: Completely. Completely. Shireen was very cautious. Each time she’s within the discipline, she would take her time to placed on the gear, the required helmet, the vest with “press” written on it, earlier than going there. She additionally tried to establish herself as a journalist, whether or not to the Israelis or to the Palestinians, so she’s not attacked. And she or he all the time glided by the ebook, adopted the principles, easy methods to act, easy methods to watch out, easy methods to communicate to these folks concerned, so she will be able to shield herself. However, sadly, he was — this soldier, as said within the documentary, focused Shireen simply because she’s Shireen and she or he’s a journalist. That’s it. There is no such thing as a different rationalization. Sixteen bullets had been fired on Shireen. Not even her helmet, nor the vest she was sporting, had been in a position to shield her, sadly.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Mehdi Hasan, you needed to reply.

MEHDI HASAN: So, Tony asks, “Why? Why would you do that? Why would you goal not only a journalist within the discipline, however then use her face for goal apply?” — as Dion and his workforce reveal within the movie. And there’s, sadly, a quite simple reply to that query, which is that the Israeli navy — and never simply the Israeli navy, however many individuals in our world as we speak — have dehumanized Palestinians. There’s the removing of humanity from the folks you might be oppressing, occupying, subjugating and killing. It doesn’t matter in case you’re an American citizen. It doesn’t matter if in case you have a press jacket on. It solely issues that you’re Palestinian within the sniper’s sights. And that’s how they’ve managed to drag of the killing of so many journalists, so many youngsters. The primary documentary we commissioned final 12 months was known as Israel’s Actual Extremism, and it was concerning the Israeli troopers who go into Gaza and make TikTok movies sporting Palestinian girls’s underwear, taking part in with Palestinian youngsters’s toys. It’s the final type of dehumanization, the concept these folks don’t depend, their lives haven’t any worth.

And what’s so tragic and stunning — and the movie exposes this — is that Joe Biden — neglect the Israeli navy — Joe Biden additionally joined in that dehumanization. Do you keep in mind in the beginning of this battle when he comes out and he says, “Effectively, I’m unsure I imagine the Palestinian dying toll numbers,” when he places out an announcement on the hundred days after October seventh and doesn’t point out Palestinian casualties. And that has been the basic downside. This was the good comforter-in-chief. Joe Biden was purported to be the empath. And but, as Tony factors out, what was so stunning within the movie is he didn’t even increase Shireen’s case with Naftali Bennett, the prime minister of Israel on the time. Once more, would he have performed that if it was an American journalist in Moscow? We all know that’s not the case. We all know when American journalists, particularly white American journalists, are taken elsewhere on the earth, the federal government provides a rattling. And but, within the case of Shireen, the one rationalization is as a result of she was a Palestinian American journalist.

AMY GOODMAN: You realize, in the US, the U.S. authorities is chargeable for Americans, which Biden identified originally, when he thought it was a Palestinian militant who had killed her. However, Lina, you your self are a journalist. And I’m considering I need to hear your response to utilizing her face, as a result of, in fact, that isn’t simply the face of Shireen, however I believe it’s the face of journalism. And it’s not simply American journalism, in fact. I imply, in reality, she’s recognized to a whole bunch of tens of millions of individuals round world because the face and voice of Al Jazeera Arabic. She spoke in Arabic. She was referred to as that to the remainder of the world. However to see that and that exposed on this documentary?

LINA ABU AKLEH: Yeah, it was horrifying, truly. And it simply goes on to indicate how the Israeli navy is constructed. It’s barbarism. It’s the character of revenge, of hate. And that’s a part of the complete system. And as Mehdi and as my father simply talked about, that is all about dehumanizing Palestinians, regardless in the event that they’re journalists, in the event that they’re medical doctors, they’re officers. For them, they merely don’t care about Palestinian lives.

And for us, Shireen will all the time be the voice of Palestine. And she or he continues to be remembered for the legacy that she left behind. And she or he continues to stay via so many, so many journalists, who’ve picked up the microphone, who’ve picked up the digicam, simply due to Shireen. So, no matter how the Israeli navy continues to dehumanize journalists and the way the U.S. fails to guard Palestinian American journalists, we are going to proceed to push ahead to proceed to spotlight the life and the legacy that Shireen left behind.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Effectively, let’s flip to Shireen Abu Akleh in her personal phrases. That is an excerpt from the Al Jazeera English documentary The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

SHIREEN ABU AKLEH: [translated] Typically the Israeli military doesn’t need you there, so they aim you, even when they later say it was an accident. They could say, “We noticed some younger males round you.” So they aim you on function, as a approach of scaring you off as a result of they don’t need you there.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, that was Shireen in her personal phrases in an Al Jazeera documentary. So, Lina, I do know you need to go quickly, however in case you might simply inform us: What would you like folks to find out about Shireen, as an aunt, a sister and a journalist?

LINA ABU AKLEH: Sure, so, we all know Shireen because the journalist, however behind the digicam, she was one of the empathetic folks. She was very honest. And one thing not lots of people know, however she was a really humorous particular person. She had a really distinctive humorousness, that she lit up each room she entered. She cared about everybody and anybody. She loved life. Shireen, on the finish of the day, cherished life. She had plans. She had desires that she nonetheless needed to realize. However her life was lower brief by that small bullet, which might change our lives totally.

However on the finish of the day, Shireen was knowledgeable journalist who all the time advocated for reality, for justice. And on the finish of the day, all she needed to do was humanize Palestinians and speak concerning the struggles of residing beneath occupation. However on the identical time, she needed to have a good time their achievements. She make clear all of the blissful moments, all of the accomplishments of the Palestinian folks. And that is one thing that actually touched tens of millions of Palestinians, of Arabs world wide. She was in a position to enter the hearts of the folks via the small digicam lens. And till at the present time, she continues to be remembered for that.

AMY GOODMAN: Earlier than we go, we’re going to maintain you on, Mehdi, to speak about different points in the course of the Trump administration, however how can folks entry Who Killed Shireen?

MEHDI HASAN: So, it’s accessible on-line at WhoKilledShireen.com, is the place you’ll be able to go to observe it. We’re releasing the movie proper now solely to paid subscribers. We hope to alter that within the forthcoming days. Folks usually say to me, “How are you going to put it behind a paywall?” Journalism — a free press isn’t free, sadly. We now have to fund movies like this. Dion got here to us as a result of a whole lot of different folks didn’t need to fund a subject like this, didn’t need to fund an investigation like this. So, we’re proud to have the ability to fund such documentaries, however we additionally want assist from our contributors, our subscribers and the viewers. But it surely’s an vital movie, and I hope as many individuals will watch it as attainable, WhoKilledShireen.com.

AMY GOODMAN: We need to thank Lina, the niece of Shireen Abu Akleh, and Anton, Tony, the older brother of Shireen Abu Akleh, for becoming a member of us from New Jersey. Collectively, we noticed the documentary final evening, Who Killed Shireen? And we need to thank Dion Nissenbaum, who’s the filmmaker, the correspondent on this movie, previously a correspondent with The Wall Avenue Journal. The founding father of Zeteo, on this primary anniversary of Zeteo, is Mehdi Hasan. We’ll proceed with him in a second.

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AMY GOODMAN: “If I Was President” by Las Cafeteras in our Democracy Now! studio.