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Writer's pictureDPE Project

The Death of Shireen Abu Alekh

By Zohra Rangwala


On May 11th, the funeral for Shireen Abu Alekh, a Palestinian reporter and journalist commenced. She was shot and killed whilst fulfilling an assignment in the West Bank in Jenin.


Following her death, scrutiny by the international community has increased. Palestine charged Israel with purposely targeting Alekh, while Israel stated that there's always a chance of civilians being caught in the middle during armed clashes. Palestine currently says they have the bullet that killed her, and that it was fired by an Israeli soldier who struck Alekh while she was trying to escape fire. Israeli officials say they may have the rifle that killed her. The US State Department has called for an investigation, and 57 Democrats signed a letter calling for the Secretary of State and FBI to conduct a separate investigation, with the letter stating "We have a duty to protect Americans reporting abroad.” Alekh was a US citizen.


During the funeral, Israeli police beat mourners, nearly causing them to drop the coffin, saying they were "forced to act" after rocks were being thrown at them. The police say they wished to stop the funeral from becoming a nationalist rally and discourage a "mob" from taking the coffin off route.

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