A cross party group of MPs and Peers heard an impassioned plea for justice from the brother of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot dead while reporting from the Jenin refugee camp a year ago today.
Anton Abu Akleh, a former official at the UN, joined a meeting in Parliament via Zoom from Jerusalem. He told the meeting that his sister had been targeted by an Israeli sniper but that nobody had yet been held accountable.
“She was clearly identified as a journalist,” he said. “Justice is the least she deserves.”
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who organised the meeting, said there was a stark difference between Shireen’s death and the murder of her own sister, Jo Cox.
“At least we saw swift justice when Jo was killed,” she said. “To go through life not knowing who was responsible for your sister’s death must be unbearable.”
The former foreign office minister, Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi, said she and Shireen had been born a few days apart. “It’s very easy to become immune to just another death or another bout of violence, but I believe her killing was a turning point. The current Israeli government is not representative of Israeli values or of UK values and policies. If we can’t get movement now, when can we? I hope that out of this darkness some hope will come.”
The meeting on the eve of the anniversary was attended by parliamentarians and representatives of Palestinian, Jewish and Christian led organisations. The discussion covered a wide range of equality and human rights issues, including school demolitions and access to health care.
The actor Tobias Menzies, who visited Palestine alongside a cross-party delegation in February, said “Whatever your political stripe, what you see in Palestine is troubling.”
“I first met Kim in the Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, the only hospital servicing the West Bank and Gaza dealing with complicated and premature births. Because of the complicated permit system, mothers often have to leave their babies shortly after giving birth. That’s inherently unhealthy and unstable.”
Ann Farr from Pax Christi England and Wales, said she had known Shireen’s family for many years and had been visiting Israel and Palestine for two decades. “When I first went people talked about hope. They don’t talk about hope anymore,” she said.
Among the groups represented were the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians, Yaschad UK, the Diaspora Alliance, CAABU, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Balfour Project and Pax Christi.
Kim Leadbeater raised Shireen Abu Akleh’s death at Foreign Office questions last week. The Foreign Secretary, James Cleverley, replied that the UK government “always call for a swift and transparent investigation into any fatalities and that’s very much at the heart of our policy.”
