The highly-revered Palestinian journalist was shot on Wednesday
Truly deplorable scenes in Jerusalem as Israeli forces are pictured beating mourning members of the crowd gathered for Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s state funeral.
Akleh was killed on Wednesday, May 11 after she was struck by gunfire along with another journalist during IDF raids in the city of Jenin, located in northern West Bank, Palestine. She was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Then, on Friday, as her casket arrived in occupied East Jerusalem, more troops could be seen pushing back civilians and beating them with batons as they carried her body through the streets.
“The Israeli army is asking people if they are Christian or Muslim. If you’re Muslim you weren’t allowed in.” – @ajimran
Israeli occupation forces are attacking Palestinians during the funeral of killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. pic.twitter.com/Xq3VkeOCqn
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 13, 2022
Thousands gathered to join the state proceedings and lead Akleh’s casket from the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin to Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery, where she is set to be buried alongside her parents.
However, the sombre and sorrowful crowds were soon disturbed when local police reportedly arrived at the procession, removing Palestinian flags – technically illegal in the region – and ordering Palestinians to turn off patriotic music.
Two men are said to have been arrested for waving said flags according to Al Jazeera, the network where Akleh worked, having been a well-renowned voice in the Middle East for more than 15 years.
The outlet went on to claim that Israeli armed police even smashed in the windows of a car along the funeral procession to remove a Palestinian flag, as well as having used tear gas on the otherwise peaceful crowd of mourners.
While Palestine alleges that Akleh was targeted specifically, this has yet to be fully confirmed, with video evidence not providing enough detail to decipher from which side the direction was fired.
Moreover, Israeli officials have not accepted responsibility at this time and are said to be investigating the possibility that she was hit by Palestinian bullets instead.
The journalist was wearing a combat vest clearly marked as ‘PRESS’ when she was shot, meaning that aside from physical safety, she should have had a level of diplomatic protection as well.
