The family of a Palestinian female journalist has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces of killing their daughter in Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank. Shatha al-Sabbagh, 22, was reportedly shot in the head by a PA sniper on December 29, 2024, as she walked out of her home. PA officials have denied the allegation and claimed that al-Sabbagh was killed by gunmen in the camp.
Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the PA security forces, condemned the killing as a "despicable crime" and claimed that PA security forces were not present in the area. Rajab accused "outlaws" in the camp of shooting the journalist and vowed to pursue the "murderers."
While the killing of al-Sabbagh drew strong denunciations from many Palestinians, international human rights organizations and foreign journalists have shown little interest in her story. By contrast, when Shireen Abu Akleh, another female journalist, was killed during clashes between Israeli soldiers and gunmen in Jenin Refugee Camp in 2022, human rights activists, journalists, and countless self-righteous governments were quick to lambaste Israel and demand an inquiry into the circumstances of her death.
Al-Sabbagh was killed by Palestinians: either a PA sniper or gunmen in Jenin Refugee Camp. That is why her story has not made it to the front pages of major newspapers in the West. Had she been killed by Israeli troops, it is likely that the United Nations and innumerable Western media outlets would have picked up the story from day one. As far as many in the international community are concerned, however, when Palestinians kill Palestinians, "there is nothing to see here."
It is worth noting that al-Sabbagh was one of eight Palestinians killed by PA security officers over the past month. The Palestinian security forces, after gunmen stole two vehicles belonging to the PA last month, launched a security operation targeting Iran-backed gunmen inside Jenin Refugee Camp. The camp has since been besieged by PA security forces, who cut off water and electricity to thousands of Palestinians living there.
Again, the distress of the residents of the camp, who have been left without water and electricity, has failed to win the attention of most international human rights organizations and foreign journalists. Instead, there is widespread coverage of the "suffering" of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been fighting Hamas terrorists for the past 15 months.
If Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are "suffering," that is because of the war initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Then, thousands of Hamas terrorists and "ordinary" Palestinians invaded communities in Israel, murdered 1,200 Israelis, many of whom were raped, tortured, beheaded and burned alive, and wounded thousands more. More than 240 Israelis were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, where 100 remain captives.
If civilians are being killed in the Gaza Strip, it is because Hamas is using them as human shields in the war with Israel. Hamas terrorists have turned hospitals, schools, homes and humanitarian zones into bases for launching attacks against IDF soldiers, and turned mosques into weapons depots. The few instances of Palestinian journalists killed during the Israel-Hamas war have gained the attention of many Western media outlets, while the killing of al-Sabbagh at the hands of Palestinians in Jenin Refugee Camp is being ignored.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has called for the establishment of an independent investigative committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the killing of al-Sabbagh, adding:
"MADA expresses grave concern over the killing of journalist SHATHA AL-SABBAGH, extending its full solidarity to her family and colleagues. The Center emphasizes that press freedom is a cornerstone of any democratic society and views this incident as a severe setback to media freedoms in Palestine, marking a critical turning point...
"MADA demands accountability for those responsible for these recurring crimes against the Palestinian people. It also calls on all political forces, factions, societal figures, and human rights institutions to take a firm stand against these oppressive and violent practices, work to halt violations against Palestinians, and ensure their protection."
First, it is important to note that "media freedoms" have never existed under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. For many years, the two parties have been imposing restrictions on Palestinian journalists, including a ban on criticizing PA and Hamas leaders. Palestinian journalists and activists who dared to speak out against the PA or Hamas found themselves incarcerated, and sometimes dead.
In 2017, the PA passed a cybercrime law that has been used to silence online dissent and arrest critics. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists have been frequently beaten and arrested by Hamas since the terror group seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007.
Second, the chances that a commission of inquiry would be formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing of al-Sabbagh are zero. In the past, similar calls for investigating PA human rights violations have gone unheeded.
The silence of the international community and the so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists on the university campuses in the US and across the West has only encouraged the PA to dismiss launching an investigation into the killing of al-Sabbagh.
Many journalists living under the Palestinian Authority wish that they could have a free media, like the one in Israel. In the end, they got a media just like those in dictatorships.
By turning a blind eye to violations committed by Palestinians against their own people, the international community, which appears to be solely obsessed with Israel, is displaying its hypocrisy, double standards and bigotry. Instead of helping the Palestinians, it is doing them a great, massive, gigantic disservice.
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
