Funeral day in Jerusalem for journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Published on: 05/13/2022 – 05:07 Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al-Jazeera journalist who was shot in the head on Wednesday during an Israeli military operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, is to be buried on Friday in Jerusalem after a funeral in a church. His death caused great shock across the world. The funeral of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead Wednesday in Jenin during an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, is to be held on Friday May 13 in a church in Jerusalem. Al-Jazeera has been transferred to Jerusalem, where her funeral will be held in a church. Shireen Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Christian born in East Jerusalem, is to be buried the same day next to her parents in a cemetery near the Old City. Several thousand Palestinians paid their respects on Thursday. Palestinian officials, foreign diplomats and a crowd of Palestinians took part in the official ceremony in Ramallah, at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank, where the coffin of the journalist wrapped in the Palestinian flag was carried. Shireen Abu Akleh wore a protective vest -bullets marked “press” and a reporter’s helmet in Jenin, a city located in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel for more than 50 years, when she was shot in the head. The announcement of her death aroused strong emotion in the Palestinian Territories and in the Arab world where his reports have been followed for more than two decades, as well as in Europe and the United States. Several spontaneous rallies have taken place in the Palestinian Territories to protest his death and a street in Ramallah will be renamed after him.”Forensic evidence”The Israeli army has launched several operations in recent weeks in the refugee camp of Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian armed factions in the northern West Bank from which the perpetrators of deadly attacks in Israel originated. The origin of the fatal bullet has given rise to various claims. Al-Jazeera accused Israeli forces of “deliberately” and “cold-blooded” killing of its star journalist. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for his part suggested that she had “probably” succumbed to fire from Palestinian fighters. But a few hours later, his Defense Minister Benny Gantz indicated that the army “was not certain of the manner in which she was killed”. “It may have been a Palestinian who shot her (…) The shot may also have come from our side, we are investigating”. “We need forensic evidence” from the Palestinians, including the bullet that killed the journalist, in order to carry out a “full” investigation, Benny Gantz added. be carried out “a scientific investigation to trace the origin of the shooting,” an Israeli security source told AFP. The Jewish state has also offered Palestinian and American officials “to be present” during the examination, according to the same source. The Palestinian Authority chaired by Mahmoud Abbas for its part rejected the idea of ​​an investigation. with Israel, accusing the Israeli army of having killed her. “We hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for his death,” he said during Thursday’s ceremony, explaining his refusal of a joint investigation by saying that “the Israeli authorities committed this crime and we don’t trust them.” He said he wanted to seize the International Criminal Court. “The investigation must be completely independent,” said Hussein al-Sheikh, a tenor from the Palestinian Authority, promising to make the results public “with great transparency”. “Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority prevents at this stage any possibility of a joint investigation or even access to the elementary conclusions which are necessary to reach the truth”, estimated for his part Naftali Bennett. Visiting Tehran on Thursday, the emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani accused Israel of killing the journalist. “We must hold accountable the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said. With AFP