Shireen Abu Akleh

Shireen Abu Akleh (شيرين أبو عاقلة ; April 3, 1971 – May 11, 2022) was a prominent Palestinian-American journalist who worked as a reporter for 25 years for Al Jazeera, before she was killed by an Israeli soldier while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent names across the Middle East for her decades of reporting in the Palestinian territories, and seen as a role model for many Arab and Palestinian women.

Upon her death on May 11, 2022, Israel denied responsibility and blamed Palestinian militants.

However, it gradually changed its narrative until admitted she was "accidentally" killed by Israeli fire, but refused to undertake a criminal investigation.

The admission came after several independent investigations were conducted by international media outlets, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United States Department of State.

Forensic Architecture refuted Israel's findings on September 20 and said Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted and denied medical aid after she was shot.

In November 2022, the United States Department of Justice opened a separate investigation into the killing, in a move that Israel condemned and refused to cooperate with.

Her niece Lina Abu Akleh has since been demanding that the Israeli soldier responsible for her death be held accountable.

The manner of her death and the subsequent violent disruption of her funeral drew widespread international condemnation of Israel.

During her funeral procession, the Israel Police attacked the pallbearers at the Saint Joseph's Hospital in East Jerusalem with batons and stun grenades.

The hospital itself was also stormed by Israeli police officers, who assaulted patients and threw stun grenades, wounding and causing burns to medical staff in the building.

The facility issued a statement from the Christian Churches of the Holy Land, stating that the Israel Police's actions constituted "invasion and disproportionate use of force" and a violation of the "right of freedom of religion" for the Palestinians.

Abu Akleh's funeral was attended by tens of thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags and chanting nationalist songs; it is believed to have been the largest Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem in over twenty years.

On October 26, 2023, the Israeli military bulldozed a memorial that had been erected at the site where Abu Akleh was killed.

Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971, to Louli and Nasri Abu Aqleh, a Palestinian Arab Christian (Melkite Catholic) family from Bethlehem.

She spent time in the United States, obtaining U.S. citizenship through members of her mother's family who lived in New Jersey.

Abu Akleh's parents died when she was young.

She has one brother.

Abu Akleh attended secondary school at Rosary Sisters high school in Beit Hanina, then matriculated at the Jordan University of Science and Technology to study architecture, but decided not to pursue the profession; she instead transferred to Yarmouk University in Jordan, from which she graduated with a bachelor's degree in print journalism.

After graduating, Abu Akleh returned to Palestine.

Abu Akleh worked as a journalist for Radio Monte Carlo and Voice of Palestine.

She additionally worked for the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the Amman Satellite Channel, and for the MIFTAH (the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy).

In 1997, she began working as a journalist for Al Jazeera, as one of their first field correspondents, becoming well known as a reporter on their Arabic-language channel.

She lived and worked in East Jerusalem, reporting on major events related to Palestine including the Second Intifada, and additionally covering Israeli politics.

She often reported on funerals for Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.

Having reported on events including the Battle of Jenin in 2002 and various Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, and interviewed long-term Palestinian prisoners at Shikma Prison in 2005 as the first Arab journalist allowed inside, Abu Akleh expressed concern that she was being targeted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and armed Israeli settlers.

In one interview with Al Jazeera, she stated that she had repeatedly been accused by Israeli authorities of photographing security areas.

Abu Akleh continued in her role with Al Jazeera until she was killed in 2022.

In July 2021, she was to be the first Al Jazeera journalist to broadcast live from Cairo when the network was allowed to return due to an improvement in Egypt–Qatar relations.

At the time of her death, she had been studying Hebrew in order to better understand narratives in the Israeli media, and had recently gained a diploma in digital media.

Abu Akleh's career inspired many other Palestinians and Arabs to become journalists; her live television reporting and distinct signoffs were particularly well-known.

After her death, The New York Times and NPR both described her as "a household name" among Palestinians.

The Times of Israel characterized her as "a veteran journalist ... among Arab media's most prominent figures".

The BBC described her as being widely known and admired by both viewers and colleagues.

On May 31, 2022, the UN announced the renaming of their annual training program to The Shireen Abu Akleh Training Program for Palestinian Broadcasters and Journalists.

On May 11, 2022, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced the death of Abu Akleh.

She had been reporting on an IDF raid in Jenin Camp when, according to witnesses and Al-Jazeera, she was shot and killed by the IDF.

Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately targeting the victim.

Abu Akleh was present at a raid which the Israeli military stated was targeted at capturing "terror suspects".

Al Jazeera said that Abu Akleh was shot in the head by the IDF, and transported to Ibn Sina Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.