The Palestinian health ministry said that the veteran reporter who covered conflicts for more than 25 years for Al Jazeera died shortly after she was shot.
JERUSALEM
Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a well-known Palestinian journalist was shot and killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday.
Another Palestinian journalist working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper was wounded but is in stable condition.
The Palestinian health ministry said that the veteran reporter who covered conflicts for more than 25 years for Al Jazeera died shortly after she was shot.
Born in Jerusalem, Shireen Abu Akleh began her career as a reporter after graduating with a Bachelor degree in journalism from Yarmouk University in Jordan.
From 1994 through 1997, Shereen worked as a journalist for the official Palestinian radio station, “Sawt Filistine”. She later joined the satellite news station Al Jazeera as a television correspondent.
Several times, Shireen has had to report in dangerous areas where heavy clashes made conditions unbearable, yet she always remained calm and maintained her composure in front of the camera.
Her ability of dealing with extremely stressful situations, suppressing the natural fear that she feels, was remarkable.
Al-Jazeera has blamed Israeli forces. In a statement flashed on its channel, it called on the international community to “condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for deliberately targeting and killing our colleague, Shireen Abu Akleh.”
Relations between Israeli forces and the media, especially Palestinian journalists, is strained. A number of Palestinian reporters have been wounded by rubber-coated bullets or tear gas while covering demonstrations in the West Bank. A Palestinian journalist in Gaza was shot and killed by Israeli forces while filming violent protests along the Gaza frontier in 2018.
Another journalist working for a local Gaza radio station, who was shot on the same day at Gaza frontier, died a week later. In November 2018, Associated Press reporter Rashed Rashid was covering a protest near the Gaza frontier when he was shot in the left ankle, apparently by Israeli fire. Rashid was wearing protective gear that clearly identified him as a journalist, and was standing with a crowd of other journalists some 600 meters (660 yards) away from the Israeli border when he was hit. The military has never acknowledged the shooting.
During last year’s war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the building in Gaza City housing the offices of The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera. Residents were warned to evacuate and no one was hurt in the strike. Israel said Hamas was using the building as a command center but has provided no evidence.
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Courtesy: The AsiaN and Washington Post
