On May 11, a Palestinian American journalist was shot dead by Israeli forces. The journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was a correspondent for Al Jazeera and was killed while wearing a press vest and covering an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin. Along with Abu Akleh, another journalist named Ali al-Samoudi was wounded by a bullet but is currently in stable condition (Al Jazeera). 

According to al-Samoudi, “We were going to film the Israeli army operation, and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming. The first bullet hit me, and the second bullet hit Shireen … there was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene.” Another journalist, Shatha Hanaysha, who was with Abu Akleh, tells Al Jazeera, “We were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets. The [Israeli] occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed. I couldn’t even extend my arm to pull her because of the shots being fired. The army was adamant on shooting to kill.” 

On the day of Shireen’s funeral, Palestinian flags adorned the streets. Shireen’s casket was draped in the Palestinian flag, and thousands of mourners gathered to honor her legacy. Those mourners were met by rubber bullets and batons from the Israeli police. The pallbearers who carried Shireen’s coffin were attacked and struggled to keep the coffin from falling. The hatred and violence that killed Shireen seeped into the day of mourning her as people were mercilessly beaten and attacked by the police. The murder of Shireen was unjust and cruel, a calculated shot to her head. Yet, the international outrage against her murder has been ambiguous and unclear. Prominent news organizations have stated Shireen “died after being hit in the head by a bullet,” and the United States has labeled the attack on mourners as an “intrusion” without holding Israel accountable. Israel has offered to do an investigation into the death of Abu Akleh, but a military investigating itself for crimes it has been accused of is fruitless. An independent investigation must be done to bring justice and peace to Shireen and her family. 

Shireen’s death and the violence against the mourners must be examined in the larger context of Israel’s systematic repression of the Palestinian people. As Sana Saeed, an Al Jazeera journalist, has said, Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by the very forces that have stolen and occupied her homeland. Her death was only a few days before the commemoration of the expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes seventy-four years ago. Palestinians refer to this horrific event as Nakba, or catastrophe. For Palestinians, the Nakba is a continued and ongoing reality as they are forcibly displaced from their homes and met with violence for their very existence.

It is imperative that Israel is held accountable for its murder of Shireen Abu Akleh and the violence it perpetuates against Palestinians. The silencing of a journalist silences the truth. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Information, Israel has murdered at least 45 journalists since 2000. As Palestinian journalist Abdullah Al-Shorbaji  has said, “Journalists are targeted so they can’t convey the truth about the occupation.” For both Shireen and the Palestinian people, justice must be granted.