Shireen Abu Akleh Biography
Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian journalist who lived from 3 January 1971 to 11 May 2022. She worked for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language station for 25 years before being assassinated on May 11, 2022, while documenting an Israeli Defense Forces operation on Jenin.
| Name | Shireen Abu Akleh |
| Date of Birth | 3 January 1971 |
| Age | 51 years (2022) |
| Religion | Christian |
| Nationality | Palestinian-American |
| Gender | Female |
| Education | Jordan University of Science and Technology Yarmouk University |
| Profession/Occupation | Journalist |
| Net worth | $450,000 |
| Husband | not known yet |
Shireen Abu Akleh Background
Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971 to a Christian family from Bethlehem.
Shireen Abu Akleh Education
She went to high school in Beit Hanina before enrolling in Jordan University of Science and Technology to study architecture. She later switched to Yarmouk University and earned a bachelor’s degree in print media. Abu Akleh returned to Palestine after graduation.
Shireen Abu Akleh Career
Radio Monte Carlo and Voice of Palestine employed Abu Akleh as a journalist. She’s also worked for UNRWA, the Amman Satellite Channel, and MIFTAH.
She began working as a journalist for Al Jazeera in 1997, and quickly rose to prominence as a correspondent for the Arabic-language channel.
She resided and worked in East Jerusalem, where she covered Israeli politics as well as key Palestinian events such as the Second Intifada.
She frequently covered Palestinian funerals murdered by Israeli soldiers. Abu Akleh remained with Al Jazeera until 2022, when she was slain by Israeli forces.
Shireen Abu Akleh Death
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on May 11, 2022, that while reporting on IDF raids in Jenin, Abu Akleh was shot and killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Abu Akleh was present during an Israeli military raid aimed at apprehending “terror suspects.” The IDF shot Abu Akleh in the head and took her to Ibn Sina Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She was 51 at the time.
Ali Samoadi of the Al-Quds newspaper was shot in the back but survived, while two other Palestinians were taken to a hospital in a moderate condition.
According to Haaretz, Palestinian militants opened fire on IDF soldiers, who returned fire; Al Jazeera claimed that Palestinian gunmen did not open fire, according to Walid Al-Omari, the Ramallah bureau chief.
Al-Omari further said that Abu Akleh was shot in an unprotected location under her ear while wearing a helmet, implying that she was “deliberately targeted.” Abu Akleh was seen on video wearing a blue flak jacket with the word “PRESS” written on it.
President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, declared that Israeli soldiers were “totally accountable” for Abu Akleh’s death. Abu Akleh was “martyred by the bullets of the Israeli occupation,” according to a Palestinian official, while Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted that the “crime of silencing the word” had been “done once again, and the truth is slaughtered by the bullets of the Israeli occupation.”
