UAE Journalists Association condemns the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE Journalists Association condemned the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli forces in the West bank on Wednesday morning.

Muhammad Al Hammadi, the association's president, called for protecting journalists and holding accountable all those who assaulted or killed them while performing their work.

The Emirates Journalists Association sent a telegram of condolences to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, in which it offered its sincere condolences and sympathy to the Council of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, all journalist and media colleagues in Palestine, and to Abu Akleh family on the death of media colleague Shireen.

She practices her media work in the field of honour while covering the events of the storming of the Jenin refugee camp by the Israeli forces.

Shireen was killed on Wednesday while covering clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was among Arab media's most prominent figures and widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism.

In the hours after her death, young Palestinians described Shireen, 51, as an inspiration, especially to women, many of whom were motivated to pursue journalism because of her.

"She never tired," Al Jazeera senior international correspondent Hoda Abdel-Hamid told reporters by phone from Ukraine.

"She was always there whenever anything happened... She wanted to be there, to tell the story, constantly," she added.

She was born in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem to a Palestinian Christian family.

Her mother was born in west Jerusalem, before the creation of Israel in 1948, and her father was from Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.

She graduated from university the year the Oslo peace accords were signed and then joined the nascent Voice of Palestine radio, before switching to Al Jazeera in 1997, where she went on to become an iconic personality in Arab media.