Aviva Okeson-Haberman was a talented journalist when she was murdered in her home at the age of 24. She had been working for National Public Radio and in her short career was able to expose Missouri's elder abuse hotline – which prompted an investigation by the authorities and led to statewide policy changes to correct deficiencies that resulted in more than half of all calls going unanswered.
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On April 23, 2021, a bullet penetrated her apartment window in Kansas City as she was reading a book. The bullet pierced her head, killing her instantly. The local police said Okeson-Haberman was the victim of a "stray bullet" in a "random shooting," similar to thousands of other cases in the US every year. In Kansas City alone, only around half of the cases involving such deaths are solved.
One month after Aviva's death, there was a turning point in the investigation. A neighbor, Sadi Sumpter, testified to the police that the lethal bullet had been meant for her and that her ex-boyfriend had once climbed through her kitchen window and threatened her.
"It was intentional," Sumpter told the New York Post. "Me and Aviva lived directly across from each other. I used to sit in the same place in my apartment that Aviva was sitting when she got shot. I told the police in March someone was going to die."
Based on this testimony, the promising young reporter wasn't killed by a stray bullet, but rather due to a case of mistaken identity. Despite this, however, the local police department has not altered its initial conclusion. To this day, a year and a half after her death – no one has been charged with killing her, intentionally or otherwise.
Although Aviva was murdered during the Biden administration, it goes without saying that nobody in the government has raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. We can assume the authorities in the US are doing everything to uncover the truth. Far be it from Israel to preach to the Americans about failing to solve a murder case involving a young Jewish woman.
The faith and credit that the Israeli government puts in the American authorities, however, is not reciprocated. Last weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his deputy, Wendy Sherman, again raised the issue of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh with their Israeli counterparts. That news outlet, as we know, has a history of distorting the truth.
Blinken and Sherman are well aware that Israel did all it could to learn the truth about who killed Abu Akleh. Not only did it launch an independent investigation, but also welcomed a representative of the American administration – who concluded that it was impossible to determine who had fired the bullet that killed the journalist.
Nevertheless, Blinken decided to meet with Abu Akleh's relatives last week, who are currently in the midst of a not-so-successful media tour in the US. After the meeting, Blinken spoke with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and discussed "the need for accountability" in regards to Abu Akleh. Sherman used those same words in her meeting in Washington last week with Public Security Minister Omer Barlev.
The two not only bothered to reopen the closed case but also mention it publicly.
Seeking out Israel's guilt, even when it doesn't exist, is rooted – it seems – in something far deeper. In liberal circles in general and Jewish ones in particular, the tendency for self-accusation is common even when it's unnecessary. There were nests of armed terrorists in Jenin. Abu Akleh reported alongside the terrorists to cover their clash with the IDF. We don't know whose bullet killed her, but Sherman and Blinken don't require facts. The pangs of conscience are sufficient.
When Blinken and Sherman, who are Jewish of course, demand that Israel confess to something it didn't do, they are trying to cleanse their own consciences at our expense, and that's a shame. Because one of the most difficult challenges Israel faces here in the US is de-legitimization, mainly from the socialist circles in the Democratic party. Blinken and Sherman aren't being asked to cover up the truth. But we can expect them, especially as Jews, not to partake in blood libels against the country they purport to love. In any case, perhaps they should take care of their own backyard first.
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