“Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera, Ramallah, Palestine”: The closing words, which the journalist killed a few days ago recited in a calm, dark voice at the end of each live broadcast, shaped entire generations of Arab television viewers. Young women in particular found a journalistic role model in the Palestinian-American reporter. On Wednesday morning, the 51-year-old was killed by a bullet in the Palestinian city of Jenin while reporting on an Israeli army operation.
Initially, they blamed the death on Palestinian gunmen. Israel’s chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi, has meanwhile retracted this claim. At present it cannot be determined which side is responsible for the deadly shots, he said later and announced an investigation.
According to Abu Akleh’s colleagues who were there, Israeli snipers fired on a group of reporters. There are video recordings showing two journalists who came under fire on the side of the road despite wearing a high-visibility press vest and helmet. Shireen Abu Akleh lies motionless on the floor. A few meters away, a young colleague is crouching in panic. Another colleague, Ali Samoudi, was hit in the back. For minutes no one could rush to help because the hail of bullets continued.
Since then, there has been great horror in the Arab world. Shireen Abu Akleh was known from Amman to Tunis – and everywhere people now came together for mourning rallies. Her funeral service was held in a Roman Catholic church in Jerusalem on Friday afternoon, and Abu Akleh will then be buried next to her parents in Mount Zion Cemetery. When the funeral procession left the hospital in East Jerusalem, there were undignified scenes: Videos show Israeli forces using batons and tear gas against the mourners until the coffin slips from the bearers and almost falls to the ground.
Even critics of her station admired Abu Akleh as a courageous journalist
The Christian from Bethlehem studied architecture, then journalism in Jordan – and has subsequently reported from the occupied Palestinian territories since 1997. She was soon regarded as an icon who gave the Palestinian people a voice, and her reports from the Second Intifada made her famous. She recently spoke about her self-image: “I chose journalism to be close to the people. It may not be easy to change reality, but at least I was able to carry their voice into the world.”
Shireen Abu Akleh at work – she has reported for Al Jazeera since 1997.
(Photo: AP/AP)
Even critics from Al Jazeera have found Abu Akleh to be a courageous and eloquent journalist. The channel was founded in 1996 by the then Qatari head of state Hamad bin Chalifa Al Thani as the first transnational Arabic news channel in Doha. Today he is criticized because he is said to have increasingly sided with the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring. When Abu Akleh started at the broadcaster, Al Jazeera was considered revolutionary for other reasons: it was the first broadcaster in the Arab world to offer consistent live formats, produced with a high level of journalistic professionalism.
A close friend of Akleh, who has known her for 15 years, describes her in an interview with the SZ as very careful and experienced. She regularly gives security training courses for Palestinian journalists, and before each assignment she prays that God will protect her and her colleagues. “She knew her job was dangerous. She always wore her helmet and vest,” says the woman, who does not want to give her name for professional reasons. “Shireen has always been doing a hundred things at once, but she’s always kept her feet on the ground. She’s travelled, been a bachelor and loved life.”
“Always calm and with impeccable Arabic”
Meanwhile, people are sharing their memories of the journalist on social networks. A young woman named Mariam Enany writes: “As a child I once told my family that I wanted to be a journalist and my grandfather said: ‘I would like to see you on TV like Shireen Abu Akleh. You have to be as good as her: always calm and with impeccable Arabic.'”
A name in the sand: Mourning for Shireen Abu Akleh on the beach in Gaza.
(Photo: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)
MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin has long worked with Shireen Abu Akleh. in the Conversation with Al Jazeera English he describes her as an “incredible mentor”, a friend who always had a smile on her face. Like many other journalists he now advocates an investigation by an independent bodyafter all, Abu Akleh was also a US citizen: “The murder of journalists, be it in Mexico or Ukraine or the occupied Palestinian territories, must be condemned and investigated – (…) by independent bodies that protect freedom of expression and the Uphold the right to a free press as fundamental human rights.”
Reporters Without Borders (ROG), the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the EU are also calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances of his death. The announcement by Israel’s Foreign Minister Jair Lapid that his country would take part in a joint investigation is not enough, criticized ROG Managing Director Christian Mihr. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would turn to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, but he rejected a joint investigation with Israel.