Agencies-Gaza post
RSF: Israeli police beats, bans journalist from filming funeral of Abu Akleh
Reporters sans frontières – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday reported that Israeli police beat and forbade journalists from documenting the funeral of Palestinian iconic journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while it was departing St. Joseph’s hospital in East Jerusalem.
“While covering the funeral procession of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a dozen reporters were beaten and banned from filming by Israeli forces,” stated RSF. “According to witness testimonies, the Internet network was also blocked, preventing the broadcast of live information,” it added.
RSF clarified that it “strongly condemns these crimes, which are all the more unacceptable and shocking in a funeral context, and calls for the immediate establishment of an independent international investigation into the circumstances of the journalist’s killing.”
Shireen Abu Akleh, the most famous Palestinian journalist working with Al-Jazeera, was shot dead by an Israeli army sniper on Wednesday, despite showing very visible “press” signs, while covering an Israeli army invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Her killing and the invasion of her funeral yesterday in Jerusalem have drawn worldwide condemnation.
