Killed journalist Abu Akle: horror at violence at funeral procession

Three days after her death, journalist Abu Akle was buried in Jerusalem. The funeral procession was overshadowed by violence, which caused international consternation.

It’s just a short excerpt: a video that someone mixed with sad, oriental music. A video that doesn’t show everything. But: This one video is currently being clicked and shared millions of times online – and is causing horror and outrage.

You can see Palestinian men carrying the coffin with the body of the killed journalist Shirin Abu Akle in East Jerusalem. Israeli border police in full protective gear approach from behind. The police beat some of the men carrying the coffin with clubs. A man holds a hand protectively in front of his head, another has to let go of the coffin. The men struggle to keep the coffin upright. In a moment he almost falls to the ground.

Israel wants to investigate death

A few days ago, the Palestinian-American journalist Abu Akle reported on the ground about a deployment by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank. She was killed in the process.

The Palestinians say she was killed by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army has not yet confirmed this. Israel’s government wants to investigate the incident, if possible together with the Palestinians, which the Palestinians currently refuse.

International criticism of riots

Abu Akle was worshiped by many people. The fact that her funeral is now overshadowed by violence causes international horror. “This was a day to commemorate a remarkable journalist,” said US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki: “We know there is very disturbing footage of the funeral procession. We regret that there was an intrusion , into what a peaceful procession should be. We have called for respect for the procession, the mourners and their families at this tense time.”

Representatives of the European Union and the United Nations were also appalled. The EU representative to the Palestinians in East Jerusalem spoke of unnecessary violence by the Israeli police.

Police defend action

She defended her actions. According to an agreement with the family of the journalist who was killed, the coffin should have been transported from a hospital to the cemetery in a hearse. According to the police, 300 rioters prevented this. The police intervened to prevent the rioters from taking the coffin and marching off. Glass bottles and other objects were thrown at the police officers.

“We sacrifice our blood and our souls for you, martyr,” cried the people on the funeral procession, which eventually reached the cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It was probably the largest Palestinian crowd in years.

Footage of the funeral procession was provided by Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television station for which Abu Akle worked.

Abu Akle wanted to document the use of Israeli police officers

Under international law, Israel occupies East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to make the area the capital of their own future state. Israel, in turn, lays claim to the entire city. Time and again, Israeli border police remove Palestinian flags at demonstrations. This was also the case during the funeral of the killed journalist.

Currently, the situation in Jerusalem has largely calmed down. Overall, however, she remains very tense. There have been several terrorist attacks by Palestinians in Israel in recent weeks. The Israeli army, in turn, repeatedly invaded the city of Jenin in the West Bank, where some of the attackers are said to have come from. Shirin Abu Akle wanted to document one of these missions as a journalist – and was killed in the process.