Denver Newsroom, May 16, 2022 / 16:13 pm
Christian leaders of the Holy Land on Monday condemned recent violence at the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying the “tragic episode” has “deeply wounded” the Christian community.
Abu Akleh was a Melkite Greek Catholic and a Palestinian American who was killed while covering an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank May 11. The BBC reported that during her funeral procession on May 13, Abu Akleh’s coffin “almost fell” as police waded into the crowd brandishing batons and using stun grenades. Israeli police say they moved in on the crowds after apparently being hit with stones.
Abu Akleh, who wrote for the Qatar-based news site Al Jazeera, was covering a raid on the Jenin Camp by Israeli security forces last week when she was struck in the head by a live bullet. She was wearing a blue flak jacket bearing the word “press” in large letters. In the same incident, Al Jazeera producer Ali Samoudi was shot and wounded.
The journalist’s killing has been widely condemned, and Israeli and Palestinian authorities have traded blame for her shooting death, the BBC reported.