Israeli Militants Attack Funeral of Slain Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Latest By News Editor13/05/2022No Comments2 Mins Read

Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian mourners carrying Shireen Abu Akleh’s casket on Friday ahead of her funeral in East Jerusalem, multiple news outlets have reported.

This is what Western Democracies support. A brutal Settler Colonial project known as Israel. Assassinated a journalist then attacking her coffin. #ShireenAbuAqla pic.twitter.com/KaLJFPYSe1
— Samar D Jarrah (@SamarDJarrah) May 13, 2022

Horrible scenes as Israeli security forces beat the funeral procession for slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the crowd momentarily lose control of her casket pic.twitter.com/DEJF5Ty9tZ
— Emir Nader (@EmirNader) May 13, 2022

The Zionist militants targeted mourners in order to prevent them from carrying Abu Akleh’s casket, said Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan.

Where are the Christian supporters of "Israel"? IDF break into French hospital attack the casket & funeral of #ShireenAbuAqla, rip flowers off her hearse & church, shove people around. Zionist thugs have no shame but their fanatic supporters in the West have no values pic.twitter.com/67kSk9Ze6B
— Islam21c (@Islam21c) May 13, 2022

Abu Akleh was shot in the face by a Zionist sniper while reporting from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday, sparking condemnation across the world.

Her niece, Lina Abu Akleh, spoke to Al Jazeera shortly before Israeli forces started beating mourners, saying they were “still trying to silence” her aunt.^[1]

Even a funeral in our country in Palestine doesn’t go peacefully, sadly there were multiple Israeli checkpoints on the way to the hospital prohibiting cars from reaching the hospital, also they are limiting the number of cars that can reach Jaffa Gate next to the church.

This goes to show that even though they silenced her by assassinating her they are still trying to silence and stop the people from being with us, and bringing their love and support to her, and honouring her legacy during this horrible tragedy.
Lina Abu Akleh

UN human rights experts have condemned the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and called for a prompt, transparent, thorough and independent investigation.^[2]

“The killing of Abu Akleh is another serious attack on media freedom and freedom of expression, amid the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank.”

“We demand a prompt, independent, impartial, effective, thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, in full compliance with the Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death). We urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and other stakeholders to cooperate with such an investigation.”

The experts said that Abu Akleh’s killing was a continuation of increasing attacks on media workers, particularly Palestinian journalists.

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said he would take Abu Akleh’s case to the International Criminal Court in an effort to bring justice for the veteran reporter, who joined Al Jazeera in 1997 and became an icon in Palestine and the wider Arab world.