Israel accuses Shireen Abu Akleh’s coffin of fomenting unrest

Israeli authorities accused the coffin bearing the body of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh of deliberately fomenting unrest and undermining security by provoking the Israeli forces tasked with the safety and security of her funeral, in their effort to popularize military state funerals for every Palestinian being laid to rest.

The government in Tel Aviv said it would sue the coffin in Israeli courts, relying on impartial, eyewitness testimony by Israeli security forces, to prove that the coffin crowded the soldiers on its way to the burial grounds, which is evidence of its obvious, deep-rooted anti-Semitism.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, however, that the responsibility for the unrest did not rest solely with the coffin.

“What occurred was likely part of a plan involving Palestinian terrorist organisations with the aim of harming the reputation of the Israeli police,” he said. “The core of the plan was for the coffin to provoke our security forces and bring out the worst in them, including the use of weapons and batons, then to film the outcome and say that Israeli police kills the victim and marches in their funeral.”

Bennett blamed the coffin for a litany of losses, including a collapse in morale.

“Some of our best troops had to abandon their core work of attacking refugee camps, demolishing homes and securing settlements to protect the coffin from the crowds and ensure the pallbearers are doing their jobs properly, only to discover that it was all a cheap attempt to provoke them and film them without their knowledge, including from angles that make them look fat,” he added.

Israeli investigations have also indicated that the coffin was likely  made out of lumber harvested from trees in Jerusalem, and the government intends to claim ownership of it.