Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian Journalist, Dies, Aged 51

JERUSALEM — Shireen Abu Akleh originally studied to be an architect but could not see a future for herself in the field. So she decided to go into journalism instead, becoming one of the most well-known Palestinian journalists.

“I chose journalism to be close to the people,” she said in a short reel shared by Al Jazeera soon after she was killed on Wednesday by gunfire in the West Bank. “It might not be easy to change the reality, but at least I was able to bring their voice to the world.”

A Palestinian American, Ms. Abu Akleh, 51, was a familiar face on the Al Jazeera network, where she spent 25 years reporting, making her name amid the violence of the Palestinian uprising known as the second intifada, which convulsed Israel and the occupied West Bank beginning in 2000.

She was shot in the head in the West Bank city of Jenin, Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Health Ministry said, blaming Israeli forces for her death. The Israeli military said on Twitter that “Palestinian armed gunfire” may have been responsible.

Born in Jerusalem to a Roman Catholic family, Ms. Abu Akleh studied in Jordan, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She also spent time in the United States where she became a U.S. citizen.

Al Jazeera said that after graduating from college, she worked for several media outlets, including Voice of Palestine radio and the Amman Satellite Channel, before joining Al Jazeera in 1997.

She soon became a household name among Palestinians and Arabs across the Middle East, inspiring many to follow in her path.

Her live TV reporting and signoffs became iconic for those who wanted to emulate her, said Dalia Hatuqa, a Palestinian American journalist and friend of Ms. Abu Akleh’s.

“I know of a lot of girls who grew up basically standing in front of a mirror and holding their hair brushes and pretending to be Shireen,” Ms. Hatuqa said. “That’s how lasting and important her presence was.”

Her death also illustrated the dangers Palestinian journalists face doing their jobs, whether in the occupied West Bank, in Gaza or inside Israel, she said.

In a 2017 interview with Palestinian TV channel An-Najah NBC she was asked if she was ever afraid of being shot.

“Of course I get scared,” she said. “In a specific moment you forget that fear. We don’t throw ourselves to death, we go and we try to find where we can stand and how to protect the team with me before I think about how I am going to up on the screen and what I am going to say.”

The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to Britain, Husam Zomlot, called her the “most prominent Palestinian journalist.”

The Abu Akleh family became known widely in Palestinian society because of Ms. Abu Akleh.

“Everyone knows who Shireen is,” said her cousin Fadi Abu Akleh. “Whenever I introduce myself people ask me, ‘How is Shireen related to you?’”

She lived in Jerusalem with her brother and his family, including two nieces and a nephew, to whom she was very devoted, her cousin said.

“She was like a second mother to them,” Fadi Abu Akleh said.

A state funeral procession will be held Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, departing from the presidential headquarters and with the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in attendance, according to the president’s office.

She will be buried on Friday in Jerusalem in a cemetery next to her mother.

“Shireen was a trailblazer,” Ms. Hatuqa said. “I’m just sad that she won’t be around to continue to lead in this industry.”

Hiba Yazbekcontributed reporting from Nazareth. Kitty Bennett contributed research.