Several diplomats gathered on Tuesday (May 17th) at the Palestinian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to pay tribute to Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
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The Palestinian embassy in Riyadh has invited several diplomats to sign a book of condolences, under banners bearing the image of the Palestinian-American journalist from Al Jazeera, killed on May 11.
On another wall was a picture of her lying face down on the ground after being shot.
The Palestinians and the Qatari television channel accuse Israeli forces of having killed this famous 51-year-old reporter, who wore a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked "
press
" to cover an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel, after claiming that she had "
probably
" succumbed to Palestinian fire, then said it did not rule out that the bullet was fired by its soldiers.
An “independent and impartial” investigation
The emotion aroused by her death was followed by an outcry on Friday when Israeli police armed with batons beat the carriers of the journalist's coffin in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian area occupied and annexed by Israel.
Among the diplomats invited to the embassy on Tuesday, French Ambassador Ludovic Pouille recalled meeting Shireen Abu Akleh when he was posted at the consulate in Jerusalem two decades ago.
He describes her as a “
very committed, very pleasant person, who knew Palestine perfectly
”.
“
She helped me a lot, when I arrived in Palestine, to better understand Palestinian society,
” Ludovic Pouille told AFP.
France wants an independent and impartial investigation into his death, according to the ambassador.
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An Israeli and a Palestinian debate
"
His assassination is a message for the media: you are threatened if you tell the truth
," said Dya-Eddine Saïd Bamakhrama, Djibouti's ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
"
Shireen Abu Akleh was an unarmed icon
," he added.
The Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh, Basem Abdullah Al-Agha, insisted on the importance of Shireen Abu Akleh for the Palestinian cause.
“
Is there a Palestinian in all of Palestine and abroad who does not know Shireen Abu Akleh?
he questioned.
"
She was sociable and spoke with everyone
."
The UN Security Council condemned the journalist's murder, calling for an "
immediate, thorough, transparent and impartial
" investigation.