No soldier has been prosecuted. Neither Israel, nor the US, nor the UN have delivered justice. da Barbara Bonanno BNNRRB
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Shireen Abu Akleh (03/04/1971, East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestinian Territories – 11/05/2022, Jenin, Occupied West Bank) was a Palestinian-American journalist and one of the most authoritative and recognizable voices in contemporary Arab media, and a long-time correspondent for Al Jazeera in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She was born into a Palestinian Christian family of the Greek Melkite rite in East Jerusalem. Her parents, Louli and Nasri Abu Akleh, died when Shireen was still young. Part of her maternal family lived in the United States, in New Jersey, which allowed her to spend periods of her life in the US and later obtain American citizenship. Her identity, however, always remained deeply rooted in Palestine and Jerusalem. She attended the Rosary Sisters School in Beit Hanina (East Jerusalem). She initially studied architecture at the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan, but soon realized that her true calling was journalism. She then transferred to Yarmouk University, where she earned a degree in journalism. After completing her studies, she returned to Palestine and began working for local and international media outlets, including Radio Monte Carlo, Voice of Palestine, UNRWA, Amman Satellite Channel, and the organization MIFTAH. In 1997 she joined Al Jazeera, becoming one of the network’s first field correspondents. From that moment on, for more than 25 years, Shireen Abu Akleh continuously covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: from the Second Intifada to military raids in refugee camps, from operations in the Gaza Strip to nightly arrests in the West Bank. She often worked on the front lines, recognizable by her helmet and vest marked PRESS, and became a familiar face to millions of people across the Arab world. Her style was direct, sober, and rigorous. She did not seek sensationalism: she reported on everyday life under occupation, home demolitions, checkpoints, civilian casualties, fear, and also the resilience of the Palestinian people. For many Palestinians she was the voice that told their existence to the world. For countless young journalists, especially women, she became a model of courage and professionalism. On 11 May 2022, while covering an Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head and died shortly afterward. She was wearing clearly marked press equipment and was with other journalists who were visibly identifiable as media. Eyewitnesses, Al Jazeera, Palestinian health authorities, and later independent journalistic investigations indicated that the shot came from Israeli army positions. Israel initially denied responsibility, then stated that it was “possible” the bullet was fired by an Israeli soldier, but “not intentionally.” This ambiguous formulation had a precise effect: blocking any criminal prosecution. No independent and effective criminal investigation was opened by the State of Israel, nor by the United States, despite Shireen being an American citizen. International mechanisms, including United Nations bodies, have not produced a binding judicial process. In the absence of an officially identified perpetrator, no soldier has been indicted. In practice, the case has remained without justice. Shireen Abu Akleh was not an unknown or marginal journalist: she was bilingual, internationally respected, present for decades in the most sensitive areas of the occupation, and capable of giving global credibility to Palestinian testimony. For this reason, she was considered a dangerous and inconvenient voice. She was killed while doing her job. Today Shireen Abu Akleh is remembered as a symbol of press freedom, of journalism as testimony, and of the extremely high price paid by those who report on oppression. Her death represents not only the loss of a great professional, but also the failure of the international community to guarantee justice for those who are killed while exercising the right to inform.
