Global Courant 2023-05-11 22:58:51
Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Al Jazeera Media Network laid the cornerstone for the Shireen Abu Akleh Press Museum in Ramallah in the central, Israeli-occupied West Bank on the first anniversary of her death.
Abu Akleh, a television correspondent for Al Jazeera for 25 years, was shot by Israeli forces on May 11, 2022, as he reported on an Israeli military raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
“Shireen was the witness and the martyr,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said at the ceremony on Thursday.
“Today we immortalize the memory of Shireen Abu Akleh in this museum, which will document Palestinian journalism and media.”
The event was attended by Abu Akleh’s family, Ramallah Mayor Issa Kassis and other officials, as well as the head of the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, and several diplomatic and civil society figures.
“We will continue to go after those murderers, those criminals. We do not believe in the commission of inquiry they have announced, or the results of it. We want an independent investigation,” Shtayyeh told Abu Akleh’s brother as he unveiled the cornerstone.
The museum is expected to open in 2025 on a 4,709 square meter site allocated by the Municipality of Ramallah. Although Al Jazeera has taken on the construction costs, the municipality will be in charge of the museum once it opens to the public.
Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead on May 11, 2022 while reporting on an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. She was wearing a clearly marked press vest and helmet and was standing next to other journalists when she was killed.
Although the Israeli army admitted in September 2022 that its soldiers “most likely” killed Shireen, the Israeli government has prevented an independent investigation until today and insists it will not hold anyone responsible for the murder.
Abu Akleh’s legacy
Last week, Kassis and Al Jazeera’s chairman Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani signed the agreement to build the museum, at the network’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
Ahmad Abu Laban, the general manager of the Ramallah municipality, said the museum will contain several parts.
“The first part is an exhibition of Abu Akleh’s journalistic legacy and professional journey. A second exhibit will be of Palestinian journalists who have been tortured, and the third will focus on the journey and history of Palestinian media,” Abu Laban told Al Jazeera, adding that the museum will hold regular activities and events for the public. .
Abu Laban said the museum will be the “fourth landmark” in Ramallah, alongside three others: the Yasser Arafat Museum, the Mahmoud Darwish Museum and the Nelson Mandela statue.
He said he believes such a project is important in drawing attention to attempts “by the occupation, through its murders of Palestinian journalists and icons, to silence the truth.”
“However, these people will live among us, through their legacy, and they will advance the next generations, whether they are journalists or ordinary Palestinians,” Abu Laban said.
Struggle of Palestinian journalists
Abed Alhafeez Jaawan, a Palestinian journalist who works for Al Arabiya TV, told Al Jazeera that he believes that “Shireen’s assassination caused the whole world to pay attention to the suffering of Palestinian journalists in the field. Attacking journalists is an ongoing reality. As long as we are in the field, there will be people who don’t like our work and will target us.”
“Such a museum is important to document the work of Palestinian journalism and media, which have played and will continue to play a very crucial role in the journey towards Palestinian liberation and independence,” Jaawan said at the ceremony.
The laying of the foundation stone for the museum was the closing ceremony in an emotional week full of events surrounding the one-year anniversary.
On Sunday, friends and family of Abu Akleh held a memorial mass at the al-Liqaa Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Beit Hanina, occupied East Jerusalem. On Tuesday, a large memorial to honor her legacy was held at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, attended by hundreds of Palestinians.
Those who were close to her remain in shock and pain.
“I saw Shireen daily. She was a very good friend. We would call each other every day. We used to share all our worries, our happy moments, our sad moments with each other. She is a beautiful person in friendship, in travelling, in everything,” Iman Hammouri, a close friend of Abu Akleh, told Al Jazeera.
“Unfortunately, Israel gets away with all the crimes. When it has managed to get away with such an extremely obvious crime, people feel defeated – that they may never get justice for their cause. (But) if we succeed in getting justice for Shireen, I believe this will help lay a foundation for Israel to face punishment for all of its war crimes.
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