Shireen Abu Akleh's Shooting Case: It's Clearly A Journalist's Murder, Not An Accident

Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera journalist from Palestine who died while covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Jenin City on May 11, 2022. (Twitter/@ShireenNasri)

JAKARTA – The shooting case of Shireen Abu Akleh, a senior journalist for the Qatari government television station, Al Jazeera in Jenin, the West Bank of the Palestinian territories on May 11, 2022, adds to the long list of journalists who died in the course of covering the war. And as in the past, the Shireen murder case may well just disappear without legal action against the perpetrators.

Shireen was shot in the face while covering the Israeli army raid on the refugee camp in Jenin. The 51-year-old journalist is said to have complied with the war coverage procedures, namely wearing a bullet-proof vest that reads PRESS and wearing a helmet.

Shireen Abu Akleh was evacuated to hospital from the location where she was shot in Jenin City. (Photo: Screenshot of Youtube @9 News Australia)

But all these procedures are meaningless when a bullet pierces Shireen's face, killing her. Shireen's shooting was certainly not an accident. It was very possible that he was deliberately aimed as a target, considering that only one bullet had hit Shireen in the face.

"So it's clear that the person who shot him meant to hit an exposed body part. This is murder!” said witness Shatha Hanaysha, a Quds Networks journalist who was with Shireen when she was shot, as quoted by Time.

Shireen Profil Profile

Shireen Abu Akleh was born on January 3, 1971 to a Catholic Palestinian Arab family in East Jerusalem, which is now recognized as Israeli territory. He has dual citizenship, Palestinian and American because his mother's family is from New Jersey, United States.

Shireen failed to complete her education in architecture at Jordan University of Science and Technology, because her interests turned to journalism. He also moved, took journalism courses at Yarmouk University, Jordan and won a bachelor's degree.

“I became a journalist to be close to the community. It's not easy to change reality, but at least I can bring their voices to the world," Shireen said in a short video shared by Al Jazeera.

Shireen Abu Akleh, failed to become an architect and switched professions as a journalist. (IPI Media)

The New York Post reports that Shireen is a pioneer of journalism in Palestine. He is the most famous Palestinian journalist, and reached the peak of popularity after joining Al Jazeera in 1997.

“Shireen's death exposes the facts about the dangers Palestinian journalists must face. I don't know if he was serving in the Palestinian territories or Israel," said Dalia Hatuqa, a friend of Shireen who is also a Palestinian journalist.

Al Jazeera's position

Why was Shireen the target instead of other media reporters? The answer could be related to the position of the media where Shireen works, Al Jazeera, in the eyes of Israel and other Arab countries.

For Israel, Al Jazeera is a big enemy. The television station which controls 70 percent of Arabic-speaking viewers worldwide is considered to have played a role in inflaming the anti-Semitic spirit of today. Not only Israel, Al Jazeera is also hated by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and many other countries because it is considered a "stove" that fuels political instability in several countries.

In 2019, the television station broadcast a video that was labeled a "Holocaust denial". The video was shown on the AJ+ channel, an Al Jazeera channel that targets teenagers. In the broadcast it was stated that the Jews deliberately exaggerated the issue of genocide, just as an excuse to establish the State of Israel.

Al Jazeera's founder, Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani, who was Qatar's Minister of Information and Culture is considered the person most responsible for the television station's editorial policy.

"Hate speech has been a cornerstone since Al Jazeera was founded. If anyone is to blame, it is Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani because the channel is under his management," Abdellatif El-Menawy, former head of news for Egypt's National Television, was quoted as saying by Arab News.

Al Jazeera Studios in Doha, Qatar. (Inside Arabia)

An opinion piece in the Israeli media, Haaretz, entitled “It's Fun to Hate Al Jazeera” by Zvi Bar'el wrote that: the effectiveness of a news network is measured by the extent to which Arab and now Israeli leaders hate and fear the effects of a news story.

Therefore, do not be surprised if Al Jazeera's office in Gaza is destroyed by the Israeli military in the 2021 Israel-Palestine War. Israel argues that the building that Al Jazeera rents as an office in Gaza is a Palestinian military headquarters, so it must be bombed.

Al Jazeera is credited with bringing about change in the Arab world by creating the New Arab Dialogue. But on the other hand, it also inspired the Arab Spring, which resulted in revolutions and uprisings in several Arab countries in the early 2010s such as Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, and many more.

Political Propaganda Tool

Of course, the case of Shireen Abu Akleh's death became big news around the world. The tragedy sparked global condemnation and grief, at a time when tensions in the West Bank are rising. Politicians, especially in Palestine and Israel, got a new stage to voice concern for humanity.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would take the Shireen murder case to the International Criminal Court. The shooting of Shireen, which the Palestinians claim was an act by the Israeli military, is a war crime.

Instead, Israel claimed that Palestinian fighters were responsible for Shireen's death. A statement from the Israeli military spokesman, Ron Kochav, said that it had to defend itself from the barrage of shots fired from the Jenin refugee camp.

"The possibility that is now being investigated is that the journalist was hit, possibly due to gunfire from armed Palestinian militias," the Israeli military said in a statement.

The atmosphere at Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral in Jerusalem was chaotic due to Israeli police intervention. (Wikipedia)

However, another Palestinian journalist who was working with Shireen when he was shot said that there was no fire from the Palestinian militia at the time. The Palestinians have rejected Israel's offer to form a joint committee investigating Shireen's death.

Shireen's death adds to the long list of journalists killed while covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Quoted from Time, Shireen is the 19th journalist to have died covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1992.

In the event of the death of a journalist while on duty to cover the past Israeli-Palestinian war, none of the perpetrators were found. They can't even find the shooter, let alone bring him to court and punish him.

As the Israeli military chief, Aviv Kohavi, said that finding the shooter of Shireen was impossible.

“It is impossible to determine who shot him. We express our concern and condolences for his death," Kohavi said.

Shireen Abu Akleh's body was buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem on Friday 13 May. His death is just a reminder, that death is a risk that must be faced by a journalist in reporting. The issue of security and protection of journalists has been discussed by UNESCO with the Intergovernmental Council of the International Development Program for Communications (IPDC) since 2006, but so far it has never worked out well.