Slain Al Jazeera Journalist to Be Laid to Rest in Jerusalem
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Thousands of Palestinians are expected to attend the funeral on Friday in Jerusalem of an Al Jazeera journalist who witnesses say was shot dead by Israeli forces earlier this week while covering a military operation in the occupied West Bank.
Recent days have seen an outpouring of grief from across the Palestinian territories and the wider Arab world over the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran on-air correspondent who spent a quarter century covering the harsh realities of life under Israeli military rule, which is well into its sixth decade with no end in sight.
A funeral service will be held on Friday afternoon at a Catholic church in Jerusalem’s Old City before her body is taken to a nearby cemetery for burial. Large crowds are expected to attend amid a heightened Israeli police presence. Qatar-based Al Jazeera said its managing director, Ahmad Alyafei, would travel to Jerusalem to attend the funeral.
Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority and for it to hand over the bullet for forensic analysis to determine who fired the fatal round. The PA has refused, saying it will conduct its own investigation and take the case to the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating possible Israeli war crimes, AP reported.
The Palestinian Authority and Al Jazeera accused Israel of deliberately killing Abu Akleh within hours of her death. Israel says a full investigation is needed before any conclusions can be drawn as to whether the fatal shot was fired by its forces or Palestinian militants.
Rights groups say Israel rarely follows through on investigations into the killing of Palestinians by its security forces and hands down lenient punishments on the rare occasions when it does.
Abu Akleh, 51, had joined Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language service in 1997 and rose to prominence covering the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising against Israeli rule, in the early 2000s. The veteran reporter was a widely respected member of the local press corps.