Slain Palestinian Journalist Commemorated in UK
LONDON (Al Jazera) – Dozens of people in the UK’s capital have attended a memorial service for Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Palestinian journalist who was shot dead by Zionist troops last month while on a reporting assignment in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The service on Tuesday took place at St Bride’s Church in central London.
Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba said the thanksgiving service was a chance for participants to honor Abu Akleh and remember her life and work.
It hosted via video link Abu Akleh’s colleague, Ali al-Samoudi, who was shot with her at the same incident, in addition to Palestinian artist Reem Kilani and Lina Abu Akleh, the slain journalist’s niece.
“Shireen’s niece has been vocal in pushing for an independent investigation,” Baba said.
Last week, 24 United States senators called on President Joe Biden to ensure direct involvement from Washington in the investigation of the killing of Abu Akleh.
It came a day before the United Nations said on Friday that information it had gathered showed that the bullets that killed Abu Akleh on May 11 were fired by Zionist troops.
Multiple witnesses said that Zionist troops killed the Al-Quds-born Abu Akleh. Investigations conducted by several media organizations have also come to the same conclusion.
Zionist regime officials initially tried to argue that Palestinian gunmen could have killed Abu Akleh.
However, the regime later backtracked and said it could not rule out the possibility that a Zionist trooper had fired the shot.
The occupying regime has not yet concluded whether anyone will face criminal charges over the killing, and has not released findings that have emerged from an internal investigation.