The international community condemned the Israeli police’s attack on the funeral procession of Shirin Abu Aqleh in Jerusalem on Friday, which almost caused the coffin of the Palestinian journalist to fall to the ground when Israeli security forces beat its carriers.
For his part, the Israeli police chief ordered an investigation into the practices of its members during the funeral of Shirin Abu Aqleh in Jerusalem, according to what the police announced Saturday, following international condemnation.
“The Israeli Police Commissioner, in coordination with the Minister of Public Security, has ordered an investigation into the incident,” the police said in a statement. The United States and the European Union criticized the practices of the Israeli police following television footage showed its members attacking the funeral procession of Shirin Abu Akleh.
Thousands of Palestinians participated in the funeral of the Palestinian-American journalist on Al-Jazeera, who entered the homes and hearts of Palestinians and Arabs, and was killed Wednesday by a bullet in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, while covering an Israeli military operation, while she was wearing a bullet-proof vest with the slogan “press” and a protective helmet.
When the coffin was removed from the French hospital in East Jerusalem, the Israeli police stormed the hospital yard and tried to disperse a crowd waving Palestinian flags. The journalist’s coffin nearly fell to the ground when the police beat its carriers with batons, before it was straightened and raised at the last moment, according to scenes broadcast by local TV stations.
Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, expressed his “deep annoyance at the scenes of the Israeli police attacking the funeral procession.”
On Friday, the White House also expressed its “disturbance,” and its spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “We regret the intrusion into what should have been a quiet funeral.”
For its part, the European Union condemned the “disproportionate use of violence and disrespectful behavior on the part of the Israeli police towards those participating in the funeral procession.”
The French consulate in Jerusalem expressed its “deep shock” regarding the “violence used by the police”, while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “great alarm”.
Qatar announced in a statement that “the occupation authorities not only killed Shireen in cold blood while performing her duty, but also continued to terrorize civilians and funeral participants until her final resting place.”
33 Palestinians were injured during the funeral
According to a video broadcast by the Israeli police, a policeman shouted over a loudspeaker towards the crowd in the hospital yard, “If you don’t stop these patriotic chants, we will have to disperse you by force and we will prevent the funeral.”
And the Israeli police said in a statement that “the rioters prevented the family members from putting the coffin in the car to go to the cemetery, as was agreed with the family,” adding that “the crowd refused to return the coffin to the car and the police intervened to prevent them from carrying it. During the confusion caused by the crowd, bottles were thrown and other projectiles.
The Israeli forces’ intervention was followed by confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli security forces, which led to the injury of 33 people, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Israeli police said that they arrested six people.
The coffin was finally transferred to the Old City, where the burial ceremony of Abu Aqila, 51, was held in the Roman Catholic Church, which was crowded with mourners, before the crowds marched behind the coffin to Mount Zion cemetery, where the journalist was buried near the old town.
Initial investigations by the Palestinian Public Prosecution accuse Israel of killing Abu Aqila
The Palestinian Authority, Al Jazeera and the government of Qatar accused the Israeli army of killing Shereen Abu Aqleh.
And the Palestinian Public Prosecution Office in Ramallah announced on Friday evening in a statement that “the initial investigations concluded that the only source of fire at the scene of the crime was from the occupation forces at the moment Shireen Abu Aqleh was wounded.”
The statement pointed out that “the occupation forces deliberately committed their crime, as it was found through the procedures of detection and inspection of the crime scene that there were recent and close traces and marks on the tree near which Shirin was hit, as a result of direct shooting.”
Israel demands that the bullet that hit Abu Aqila be handed over for analysis. After the Israeli army considered Friday that the journalist may have been killed by Palestinian fire, he later stated that it was not excluded that one of its soldiers had opened fire.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused on Thursday to open a joint investigation, blaming the Israeli authorities “full responsibility” for the killing of Abu Akleh.
Hussein al-Sheikh, an official in the Palestinian Authority, wrote on Twitter on Saturday, “We welcome the participation of all international bodies in the investigation into the assassination of Shirin Abu Aqleh. … What happened during the funeral … reinforces our position rejecting Israel’s participation in the investigation.”
During the funeral of Abu Aqila, new clashes erupted in the Jenin refugee camp, where the journalist died and near it, during which an Israeli policeman was killed and 13 Palestinians were wounded, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the killing of the Israeli policeman.
Armed Palestinian factions are active in Jenin camp, and from it some of the perpetrators of recent attacks in Israel came out. The Israeli army said it was carrying out incursions into it to arrest wanted Palestinians.
