The United Nations has renamed the annual training programme for Palestinian broadcasters and journalists, after the name of the Al-Jazeera correspondent, Shireen Abu Akleh.
Akleh lost her life with a bullet to her head during her fieldwork in the city of Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
The training program, which was launched in 1995, has been renamed the Shireen Abu Akleh Training Program for Palestinian Broadcasters and Journalists. About 200 Palestinian journalists have participated in the program since its inception.
The announcement was made by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric who said that Abu Akleh “had a distinguished career in journalism for a quarter of a century.”
“She was a trailblazer for Arab women, and a role model for journalists in the Middle East and around the world,” Dujarric said. “Her legacy and bravery must be cherished, said our colleagues at the Department of Global Communications.”
On May 27, the Palestinian investigation concluded that Abu Akleh was “murdered” by an Israeli soldier with a 5.56 millimetre armour-piercing round, fired from a Ruger Mini-14 rifle.
On Wednesday, May 11, the Israeli occupation forces assassinated the Palestinian-American journalist Abu Akleh while she was on her way to cover the situation and developments in the Jenin camp.
Colleagues and those who were present among the citizens tried to do their utmost to save her and transferred her to the Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital in the city, but her death was announced after attempts to revive her failed.
Shireen Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971 and was one of the first field correspondents for the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel, which she joined in 1997. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media from Yarmouk University in Jordan.
