Death of a journalist

Published May 13, 2022
RAMALLAH: Palestinian honour guards carry the coffin of veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh following her state funeral in the West Bank on Thursday. Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, was among the Arab media’s most prominent figures and widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism.—AFP
RAMALLAH: Palestinian honour guards carry the coffin of veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh following her state funeral in the West Bank on Thursday. Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, was among the Arab media’s most prominent figures and widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism.—AFP

SHIREEN ABU AKLEH became a journalist for the very reason that a free media is so important: to be a voice for the people. In her case, as an Al Jazeera field reporter covering the Arab-Israeli conflict for decades, she held up a mirror to the suffering of the Palestinians, telling the stories of their everyday struggles against the depredations of a racist regime. On Wednesday, her voice was silenced — with brutal precision. Ms Akleh, one of the Arab world’s most prominent journalists known for her fearless reportage, was killed by a single bullet to the head while covering Israeli army raids on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. She was wearing a press vest and a helmet when shot in broad daylight. Eyewitnesses and other journalists who were with her, including another reporter wounded by a bullet in his back in the same attack, have unwaveringly pointed the finger at Israeli troops, saying that no Palestinian gunmen were in the vicinity at the time. Al Jazeera has described the killing as deliberate murder and asked the international community to hold Israel accountable.

However, as in most issues involving this unequal conflict, realpolitik may trump the facts. The US government has expressed confidence that Israel — responsible for decades of disproportionate violence and brazen injustice against the Palestinians, not to mention air strikes in Gaza a year ago that destroyed the offices of AP and Al Jazeera — is capable of conducting a thorough investigation into Ms Akleh’s murder. But the killing was so outrageous, the video footage of its immediate aftermath so harrowing, that facile statements such as these are now being drowned out by calls, including from the UN, for an impartial inquiry. International journalist bodies should ensure that those responsible are identified and brought to book. Otherwise Ms Akleh’s death, testament to the risks many mediapersons take in the pursuit of truth, will be yet another in the long list of journalists’ murders that have gone unpunished.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.