Lina Abu Akleh, niece of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, talks to Mondoweiss about the family’s quest for justice for Shireen, who was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin on May 11, 2022.
Lina shares her memories of the tragic days of Shireen’s death, as well as what Shireen meant to her as an aunt, friend, and role model. Lina tells Mondoweiss that in order to honor Shireen’s legacy we should continue to talk about Palestine every single day. “Talking about Shireen is talking about Palestine,” she says.
As told to producer/director Ghousoon Bisharat and cinematographer/editor Thomas Dallal.
Follow Mondoweiss’s coverage of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing and the struggle for justice here.
Shu al-Qusa/What’s the Story is a video series by Ghousoon Bisharat and Thomas Dallal that illuminates Palestinian life and politics through intimate first-person interviews with Palestinians. View the series here.
Ghousoon Bisharat
Ghousoon Bisharat is an experienced journalist and producer, as well as a strategic communications and international cooperation expert. She has more than 20 years of experience working with leading international broadcast news outlets and the European Union.
Thomas Dallal
Thomas Dallal is an award-winning photojournalist and cinematographer currently based in Haifa. His photographs have appeared in leading international newspapers and magazines thousands of times over three decades, including The New York Times and Der Spiegel among many others and his cinematography work has been broadcast by Aljazeera Documentary.
NPR just posted this story – “Israeli gunfire killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, U.N. says”
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1107254898/israeli-gunfire-shireen-abu-akleh-un-human-rights
The U.N. office for human rights says its review of the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli army operation last month shows that the shots that killed her and injured her colleague came from Israeli forces — not Palestinians, despite Israel’s claim that it is unclear which side killed her.
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https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-06-24/ty-article/un-rights-office-slain-al-jazeera-journalist-killed-by-israeli-troops/00000181-9533-db6b-afbf-f77714ae0000
UN Rights Office: ‘Al Jazeera Journalist Killed by Israeli Troops.’
‘All information we have gathered is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh came from Israeli troops & not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians,’ a statement by the UN rights office reads as it urges Israel to open a criminal investigation into the killing”
Reuters. Haaretz. Jun 24, 2022 – “Findings show that Israeli security forces fired the bullets that killed Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in May, & not indiscriminate firing from Palestinians, a spokesperson for the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.
“‘It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation,’ Ravina Shamdasani told a briefing in Geneva.
“‘All information we have gathered – including official information from the Israeli military & the Palestinian Attorney-General – is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh & injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli Security Forces & not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities,’ a statement by Shamdasani read.
“In addition, the UN body has ‘found no information suggesting that there was activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the journalists.’ According to the statement, the UN’s human rights chief Michelle Bachelet continues to urge Israel to open a criminal investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh.
“Israeli & Palestinians officials have exchanged recriminations over the incident, which has heightened tensions. Israel has denied that any Israeli soldier ‘targeted a journalist.’ (cont’d)
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“On Thursday, twenty four U.S. senators urged U.S. President Joe Biden to directly involve the United States in the investigation of Abu Akleh’s death. The letter from nearly half of the Democrats serving in the Senate marks the most significant push from U.S. lawmakers aimed at encouraging the Biden administration to probe the late Al Jazeera journalist’s killing, three weeks before the president is slated to visit Israel.”