Shireen Abu Akleh was born on April 3, 1971. She was a Palestinian-American journalist. A prominent figure in Palestinian society, she was a reporter for Al Jazeera for 25 years. In 2022, while she was covering a raid by Israeli troops on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, Abu Akleh was shot dead while she was wearing a blue vest with “PRESS” written on it in blue-on-white letters. Owing to her decades-long reporting from the Palestinian territories, she was one of the most well-known media personalities in the Arab world and was particularly seen as a role model for many Arab women and especially for Palestinian women.
Abu Akleh was born in Jerusalem in 1971, to Louli and Nasri Abu Aqleh, a Palestinian Arab Christian family from Bethlehem. She spent time in the United States, obtaining U.S. citizenship through members of her mother’s family who lived in New Jersey. Abu Akleh’s parents died when she was young. She had one brother.
Abu Akleh attended secondary school at Rosary Sisters high school in Beit Hanina, then matriculated at the Jordan University of Science and Technology to study architecture but decided not to pursue the profession; she instead transferred to Yarmouk University in Jordan, from which she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. After graduating, Abu Akleh returned to Palestine.
Shireen said, “I chose journalism to be close to people. It might not be easy to change the reality, but at least I could bring their voice to the world.”
Abu Akleh worked as a journalist for Radio Monte Carlo and Voice of Palestine. She additionally worked for the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the Amman Satellite Channel, and for the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. In 1997, she began working as a journalist for Al Jazeera, as one of their first field correspondents, becoming well known as a reporter on their Arabic-language channel. She lived and worked in East Jerusalem, reporting on major events related to Palestine including the Second Intifada, and additionally covering Israeli politics.
Abu Akleh’s career inspired many other Palestinians and Arabs to become journalists; her live television reporting and distinct signoffs were particularly well-known. After her death, The New York Times and NPR both described her as “a household name” among Palestinians. The Times of Israel characterized her as “a veteran journalist … among Arab media’s most prominent figures”. The BBC described her as being widely known and admired by both viewers and colleagues.
On May 31, 2022, the UN announced the renaming of their annual training program to The Shireen Abu Akleh Training Program for Palestinian Broadcasters and Journalists.