The Palestinian Media Forum on Wednesday organized a sit-down to demand accountability for the killers of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, coinciding with US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
The journalists gathered near the Al-Jalaa Tower, which was destroyed by Israel in May 2021, and which housed the headquarters of prominent media offices, such as the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel and the American Associated Press.
In his speech, Forum Director Muhammad Yassin called for justice for Abu Akleh, adding that the Israeli occupation deliberately targets Palestinian journalists, and warned of the danger of this crime passing without the occupation being held accountable.
In turn, the head of the Government Information Office, Salama Maarouf, said that the results of the American investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh are biased towards the occupation.”The American administration gives a lifeline to the Israeli occupation to evade the assassination of Shireen,”Maarouf said.
On Wednesday, May 11, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated Shireen Abu Akleh while she was on her way to cover the situation and developments in the Jenin camp, even though she was wearing a bullet-proof vest with the press logo and a protective helmet.
On Friday, May 13, thousands of Palestinians in East Jerusalem participated in the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The violence erupted as the Israeli police prevented mourners from raising Palestinian flags and chanting national slogans at the American-Palestinian journalist’s funeral.
The coffin of Abu Akleh almost fell to the ground from the hands of the mourners after they were beaten with batons by the Israeli police, who arrested some of them.
On July 4, the US State Department announced the results of its investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, and said that it could not determine who fired the bullet that killed her.
Leading American press organizations, such as CNN and the Associated Press, Washington Post and New York Times, had published their own investigations, concluding that Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli bullets, and Al Jazeera conducted an investigation that reached the same conclusion.
On June 24, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces’ fire, while Israel ruled out that the bullet that hit her was intentional, considering that the UN investigation was “baseless.”
