On Friday, there were disturbing scenes in the Middle East as thousands of Palestinians came to Jerusalem to pay their last respects to Shireen Abu Akleh (Al Jazeera journalist) who was killed covering an army raid on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera reported that Israel warned Abu Akleh’s brother to limit the funeral procession’s size and asked him not to display any Palestinian flags or chant slogans. According to the network, he refused the warning. This would have been hard given the outpouring grief and anger at the killing of the reporter.
Al Jazeera aired clips that showed Israeli riot police pushing and shoveling mourners outside a Jerusalem Hospital and firing tear gas at people trying to transport her coffin outside the morgue.
During the chaos, her casket almost fell to the ground. As Palestinians shouted anti-Israeli slogans, projectiles were seen flying in the air.
U.S. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield tweeted: “Deeply disturbed by the images of Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral procession. It is important to treat the tragedy of her death with the greatest respect, sobriety and care. According to CBS News’ Pamela Falk, a spokesperson said that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was also “deeply disturbed” by the confrontations.
Israel had increased security in Jerusalem before the funeral. However, Palestinian officials continued to support Al Jazeera’s claim that Abu Akleh had been murdered by Israeli forces. Despite repeated requests from Israel and the U.S., the Palestinian Authority has not cooperated with Israel in investigating her murder.
The 51-year old Palestinian-American journalist was shot in the head while covering clashes at the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp. Despite wearing protective gear that clearly identified her as a member the press, she was fatally shot.
Although Israel’s leader initially said it was “likely” she was hit by Palestinian gunmen firing uncontrollably, its military chief later admitted that it could have been an Israeli soldier’s shot.
Late Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated that it could have been “the Palestinians” who shot her or fire from “our” — seemingly reversing Prime Minister Naftali Benny Bennett’s comments the previous day about Palestinian gunfire being “likely” to blame.
Gantz stated that while we aren’t sure how she was killed, they want to find out as much as possible.
Abu Akleh’s remains were transferred from the West Bank to Jerusalem for Friday’s funeral. The funeral procession started at the east Jerusalem hospital. Last respects were then paid at a church of the Old City. Her body was then laid to rest in a nearby cemetery.
The violence started as soon as Abu Akleh’s casket was removed from the hospital gates. There were also Israeli security forces present. They were seen marching towards the funeral procession and then grabbing and roughing up mourners, including the ones carrying the coffin.
This is a terrible thing to see. My team and I are currently on vacation in Connecticut. We want to find out what happened. https://t.co/82PLKHEA39
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat of Connecticut, retweeted a BBC journalist’s video showing Israeli forces beating mourners. He called it “awful” and said that his staff were working to find answers.
The chaos subsided eventually and the procession marched on to the church. The coffin of the deceased was taken by large numbers to the cemetery. There were no further signs of trouble.
The Israeli military claimed Friday that an initial investigation revealed that there was heavy gunfire between security forces in the area of Abu Akleh’s death, but it couldn’t determine who fired the fatal shot.
The military reiterated the Israeli government’s claim that Palestinian gunmen fired recklessly at Israeli military vehicles near the spot where the journalist was killed.
According to the military, the ballistic analysis of Abu Akleh’s bullet that killed him was not possible. This meant it couldn’t determine who shot the journalist. The bullet that killed Al Jazeera’s reporter was not given to Israeli officials by the Palestinian authorities.
This report was contributed by Khaled Wassef, CBS News.
