Shireen Abu Akleh (; 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 Israeli forces 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. She is considered to be an icon of Palestinian journalism.
Upon her death on May 11, 2022, Israel denied responsibility and blamed Palestinian militants. However, it gradually changed its narrative until admitting she was likely "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 forces 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.
Early life and education 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 had 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.
Career
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.
Death
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. She was 51 years old. Another journalist, Ali Samodi of Al-Quds newspaper, was shot in the back but survived; two other Palestinians were transported to a hospital in moderate condition.
The Times of London reported that Abu Akleh was shot by a sniper. Shatha Hanaysha, a Palestinian journalist, said that she and a fourth journalist, along with Abu Akleh and Ali Samodi, had been pinned down by Israeli snipers, who did not cease firing even after Abu Akleh went down, preventing Hanaysha from pulling the victim in. An autopsy at An-Najah National University was unable to determine who shot Abu Akleh; the pathologist found no evidence that she had been shot at close range. The autopsy confirmed that Abu Akleh was killed by an armour-piercing bullet that struck her in the back of the head, and, exiting her forehead, ricocheted back from her helmet, causing skull fractures and damage to the brain. The bullet was recovered and sent for further examination.
Aftermath Abu Akleh's home was raided by Israeli forces after she was killed; they confiscated Palestinian flags and prevented "the playing of nationalistic songs".
Thousands of people had gathered in Ramallah in honor of Abu Akleh, where her body was transported to the network's offices for colleagues, friends, and family to "bid her the final farewell". Alternative Syndicate of the Press journalists gathered to honor Abu Akleh in downtown Beirut. In her hometown of Beit Hanina, at least five Palestinians were injured in confrontations with armed Israeli soldiers, while at least three were detained; a crowd in front of her home protested her killing.
When Israeli forces raided and shut down the Ramallah office of Al Jazeera Abu Akleh had worked at on September 22, 2024, soldiers went out of their way to tear down a poster of Abu Akleh.
Funeral
The Palestinian Authority scheduled a state funeral procession to be held on May 12, 2022, in Ramallah, beginning at the Palestinian presidential headquarters. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, planned to attend. Abu Akleh's brother, Tony, said that he had spoken to Israeli police before the funeral, and that the police wanted to know the procession route, any arrangements for the funeral, and did not want any Palestinian flags, slogans or chanting during the procession.
Abu Akleh's body was transported from Jenin through Nablus and Ramallah to her funeral in Jerusalem. Abu Akleh's funeral took place on May 13 in East Jerusalem. Thousands of mourners attended, many carrying Palestinian flags. The procession began at the Saint Joseph Hospital in East Jerusalem. As the funeral began, mourners insisted her body could be carried on their shoulders, a common occurrence in Palestinian funerals.
Israeli police burst through the gates and attacked mourners with batons and stun grenades, some repeatedly hitting and kicking pallbearers that were backed against a wall resulting in her coffin nearly falling to the ground. The Israeli police said they acted on the grounds of the crowd "disrupting public order", saying that "300 rioters" had tried to take over the casket, but this allegation was challenged by Abu Akleh's brother. Israeli police tried to prohibit the mourners from publicly displaying the Palestinian flag, but mourners waved the flag and chanted "Palestine! Palestine!" The police said (without providing evidence) that stones were thrown at its officers. A video showed a police officer telling the crowd that "If you don't stop these chants and nationalistic songs we will have to disperse you using force and we won't let the funeral take place."
A video released by East Jerusalem's Christian leaders during a May 16 press conference shows that violence by Israeli police had begun even before the procession commenced. In the footage, taken from security cameras installed at Saint Joseph's Hospital, dozens of Israeli police officers are seen storming the hospital building while Abu Akleh's casket had not yet left, as they hit, shove, and trample on patients; officers also threw stun grenades, wounding and causing burns to medical staff, and fired bullets of unknown nature on the outside part of the compound.
The coffin was later loaded on to a hearse and transported to the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin for the funeral, and from there carried on foot to a Greek Orthodox cemetery on Mount Zion where she was buried next to her parents.
The European Union released a statement saying it was "appalled by the violence in the St Joseph hospital compound and the level of unnecessary force exercised by Israeli police throughout the funeral procession." On May 16, the convent-run Saint Joseph Hospital cited a statement from an organization representing 15 Christian denominations, the Christian Churches of the Holy Land group, as saying "The police actions constituted an "invasion and disproportionate use of force ... (and) a severe violation of international norms and regulations, including the fundamental right of freedom of religion" The hospital's director Jamil Koussa said "it was now clear the target of police violence was the coffin itself", and that the Israeli police's intention was to terrorize the people in the building.
In an interview with CNN, Abu Akleh's brother described the police action as "intentional and brutal" and said they could have instead blocked the road to stop the procession. He also denied the Israeli police's version that the police had an agreement with Abu Akleh's family. Abu Akleh's niece related she was threatened with a beating by an Israeli officer during the police rampage.