Slain Palestinian journalist Abu Akleh memorialized with museum

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday laid the cornerstone of a museum in the name of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh one year after her death.

The veteran Palestinian journalist who was a dual US citizen was killed on May 11, 2022 while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.

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The Israeli army later admitted one of its soldiers likely shot the reporter — who was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked “Press” — having mistaken her for a militant.

Around 70 people attended the emotional ceremony Thursday, including family, friends and Palestinian officials, as work officially commenced on the Shireen Abu Akleh Museum for Media.

Addressing the crowd, Abu Akleh’s brother Anton said the museum would “convey the image of truth and the image of suffering for years to come.”

“A whole generation has grown up listening to Shireen covering the suffering of the Palestinian people with this (Israeli) occupation,” he said.

The museum is being built on land provided by the Ramallah municipality and will be devoted to Abu Akleh’s legacy, as well as media education.

“Today we unveiled this project of the Shireen Abu Akleh Media Museum… Shireen began her life as a witness and ended as a martyr,” Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said at the ceremony.

“She’s been in my house, in every Palestinian house, in every Arab home, and I’m not exaggerating if I say she has been in every house in the world.”

The one-year anniversary of her death was marked by a string of commemorative events.

In Jenin, a small crowd gathered to pay tribute to Abu Akleh at the spot where she was killed.

“She has become a symbol of the Palestinian struggle, and her sacrifice is no less than that of any Palestinian fighter,” said Thaer Daoud, a resident of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya who had travelled to Jenin to pay his respects.

“Everyone bears witness to what she sacrificed for the sake of Palestine.”

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