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Picking up the torch from Shireen Abu Akleh - Al Jazeera
I can’t remember a time in my childhood when I didn’t hear Shireen Abu Akleh’s voice. She was one of the few constants in our ever-shifting landscape, an icon that anchored the Palestinian cause firmly in the Arab conscience.She started reporting on the most important events in Palestine even before I was born. She documented the second Intifada and the battle for Jenin in 2002. In 2005, she became the first Arab journalist to gain access to the Ashqelon prison to interview Palestinian prisoners held there for years.I still vividly recall listening to Shireen during the 2014 war on Gaza. I was just 12 years old, but I was watching the news regularly. I was waiting for Shireen in front of the TV at the top of every hour, eager to hear what she would say. Was a ceasefire coming? Did Israel face pressure to stop bombing us?Even though her voice carried the anguish of what was going on in Gaza, her presence on screen projected hope and resilience.Shireen was loved and respected by all Palestinians, regardless of their faith or political affiliation. Her courage, moral clarity, and commitment to making the voices of the Palestinian people heard were awe-inspiring.And so, when on May 11, 2022, news of her killing arrived, it was a devastating shock for us. We soon saw the footage: Shireen lying on the ground, journalist Shatha Hanaysha by her side, and someone behind the camera desperately shouting for an ambulance. Israeli fire hampered rescue efforts, leaving Shireen bleeding on the ground as colleagues were unable to pull her to safety.The assassination in broad daylight of one of Palestine’s top journalists was not just a shocking crime. It was a harbinger of what was to come.A year and a half later, Israel began a campaign of systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. As of today, at least 260 media workers have been killed. Israel is now recognised as the “biggest killer of journalists”.But the assassinations of Shireen and other journalists – like Anas al-Sharif, Fadi al-Wahidi and Mariam Abu Daqqa – have not had the silencing effect Israel had hoped for. The deaths of these heroes did not scare young people into inaction; instead, they motivated them to pick up the camera, the microphone and the pen and continue their work.I am one of them. Shireen’s assassination changed something deep within me.At that time, I was a student of English literature, deeply immersed in the power of language and storytelling. However, Shireen’s killing made me...
CPJ demands progress on US probe of Shireen Abu Akleh killing
The CPJ has demanded a 'public update' from the US Department of Justice over progress into a probe in the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022. 3 min read 08 May, 2026 Last Update08 May, 2026 03:36 AM The CJP called the lack of progress into the killing of Abu Akleh 'troubling' [Getty/file photo] The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called for US authorities to relaunch their investigation into the Israeli military's killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was gunned down while reporting for Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank in 2022. In a letter to the US Department of Justice - which oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation - and FBI chief Kash Patel, the global press freedoms group demanded a "public progress update" on Abu Akleh's death. "Although the FBI reportedly opened an investigation into her killing in November 2022, it has made no demonstrable progress," the letter noted, adding that CPJ was "not aware that any formal interviews have been conducted with witnesses despite the willingness of multiple witnesses to cooperate." "This troubling lack of concrete progress - four years after Abu Akleh's death - represents a profound failure of the US government to respond promptly and impartially to the killing of one of its citizens by a foreign military." Abu Akleh was 51 when she was fatally shot on 11 May 2022 by Israeli soldiers while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, CPJ said. Then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett initially claimed gunfire from Palestinian fighters was the likely cause of her death. The Israeli military later released a statement saying it was "not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire" that killed Abu Akleh, adding there was "a high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire." Truth in conflict But CPJ notes that multiple independent investigations from leading news organisations "concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli military fire; some found evidence that she was deliberately targeted." Abu Akleh was "a household name across the Middle East, widely respected for her courageous and in-depth reporting on Palestinian life," CPJ said, adding that she was wearing a vest marked "PRESS" and "clearly identified as press at the time of her killing." In a separate statement on Thursday, Abu Akleh's family also sought justice for violence at the...
4 years on: The continuing fight for justice for Shireen Abu Akleh
Four years after the Israeli military's killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, the reported investigation by the U.S.
Journalist group presses US authorities over Shireen Abu Akleh killing ...
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has renewed pressure on US authorities, accusing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of making little progress in its investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh four years after her death.
