Shireen Abu Akleh was an American journalist who was Palestinian. She worked for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language station for 25 years before being assassinated on May 11, 2022, while documenting an Israeli Defense Forces raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Shireen was shot in the face by the occupying forces. Shireen was a Christian American-Palestinian journalist. She joins a lengthy list of journalists killed in the occupied regions. The late Journo chose journalism as a way to be closer to her people.
Ramzy Baroud, editor in chief of The Palestine Chronicle, said, “Shireen was a colleague, known for her leadership and moral authority.” “During the Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2005), Shireen served as the voice of all Palestinians as her reports on Israeli crimes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were watched by millions of viewers around the world,” he added.
Abu Akleh was assassinated in cold blood- Al Jazeera
A journalist who was present at the time of the shooting recalls the events. Mujahed al-Saadi, a Palestinian journalist who was among the journalists that went into the Jenin refugee camp, said: he was waiting for his colleagues to arrive before the shooting began.
“We were waiting for our colleagues to enter the refugee camp,” he said. “We chose a point that did not have confrontations between the Israeli army and the armed fighters. We waited for Shireen to put on all of her safety gear. She then reached us then we moved a few metres.
Al Jazeera Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh Killed By Israeli Soldiers https://t.co/syUWh4Rjfb #JournalismIsNotACrime #journalist #Palestine #AljazeeraTV
— The Muslim Voice, Nigeria (@muslim_voiceng) May 11, 2022
“Then within seconds, there was the first shot. I told them that we are being targeted, that we’ve been shot at. I turned and found Shireen on the ground. I found Shatha [Hanaysha] shielding herself by a tree and screaming. The shooting continued for more than three minutes. [Al Jazeera journalist] Ali [al-Samoudi] was injured, he was able to cross the street and get to a point of safety. The shooting towards Shatha continued while she was standing under the tree.
“We could not provide first aid to Shireen. The youth in the street came to us and tried to pull Shireen out but were also shot at. Whenever anyone moved forward, they were shot at.”
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
The struggle between Israel and Palestine dates back to the late 1800s. The Partition Plan, which attempted to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, was endorsed by the United Nations in 1947. The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, igniting the first Arab-Israeli War. The war concluded with Israel’s victory in 1949, although 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the land was divided into three parts: Israel, the West Bank (along the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.
After the 1948 war, Israeli forces controlled roughly 78 percent of historic Palestine. Egypt and Jordan were in charge of the remaining 22%. Israel took all of historic Palestine, as well as additional territory from Egypt and Syria, in 1967.
In 2021, Israeli security forces killed 313 Palestinians, including 71 children: 236 in Gaza, 232 of them were killed during Operation Guardian of the Walls; and 77 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).
