Tragic finale of a brave reporter

PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who died while covering clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism.

Abu Akleh, whose reporting had made her a household name across much of the Middle East, has been memorialised with large murals painted on walls in the West Bank.

She was born in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem in 1971 to a Palestinian Christian family. Her mother was born in west Jerusalem, before the creation of Israel in 1948, and her father hails from Bethlehem.

Abu Akleh graduated from university the year the Oslo peace accords were signed and then joined the Voice of Palestine radio, before switching to Al Jazeera in 1997, where she went on to become an iconic personality.

Journalist Muhammad Daraghmeh, a close friend, described Abu Akleh as “one of the strongest journalists in the Arab world”.

Her prominence grew through her coverage of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, from 2000-5, and her trademark sign-off “Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera, Palestine” was recognised across the region.

Senior Al Jazeera journalist Dima Khatib said on Twitter after Abu Akleh’s death that she was “one of the first Arab women war correspondents in the late 1990s when the traditional role of women was to present from the television studio”.

“Shireen was a pioneer in a generation that broke stereotypical gender roles in TV journalism.” In an interview not long before her death, Abu Akleh said she was often afraid while reporting but made sure to avoid unnecessary risk.

“I don’t throw myself at death,” she told an outlet in the West Bank city of Nablus.

“I search for a safe place to stand and how to protect my crew before worrying about the footage.” Israel’s army this week conceded for the first time that there was a “high possibility” Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier who mistook her for a militant.

SHIREEN ABU AKLEH Journalist Born: April 3, 1971, East Jerusalem, Jerusalem Died: May 11, 2022, Jenin Camp, Jenin