A Year on, Palestinians Mourn Slain Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Pictures and other objects are displayed in memory of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in the room that used to be her office at the Al Jazeera news channel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2023. (AFP)
Pictures and other objects are displayed in memory of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in the room that used to be her office at the Al Jazeera news channel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2023. (AFP)
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A Year on, Palestinians Mourn Slain Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Pictures and other objects are displayed in memory of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in the room that used to be her office at the Al Jazeera news channel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2023. (AFP)
Pictures and other objects are displayed in memory of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in the room that used to be her office at the Al Jazeera news channel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2023. (AFP)

A year after an Israeli bullet killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, her West Bank office remains almost untouched, but mourners' flowers have piled up in an adjacent room.

The Ramallah street where the news bureau is located has been renamed after her, and a new museum will soon honor her work and that of other reporters covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fellow journalists say they still have not accepted the loss of Abu Akleh, 51, whose many years of fearless reporting had made her a household name across the Arab world.

Camera operator Majdi Bannoura, who was with her the day she died, said "despite the passing of a year since her death, I still don't believe that she is gone.

"Sometimes I feel that I'm living in a dream."

Walid al-Omari, the Qatari news channel's bureau chief for Jerusalem and Ramallah, said "Shireen's colleagues and I are unable to separate anything from Shireen's influence.

"So, we have kept the office as it was," he added, his voice breaking.

Abu Akleh died on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The army would later admit one of its soldiers likely shot the reporter, who was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked "Press", having mistaken her for a militant.

Her killing prompted a global storm of outrage and calls for an international investigation.

The anger flared further when Israeli police attacked mourners and pallbearers at her funeral in east Jerusalem.

Large murals have since been painted in honor of the journalist, including on the concrete wall Israel has built as part of its separation barrier with the West Bank.

'Evade responsibility'

Al Jazeera took her case to the International Criminal Court in December.

"We continue to work and to press for the prosecutor and the court to act and take a stand on this case," Omari said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists this week noted the Israeli military had taken no accountability for the killings of at least 20 journalists -- 18 of whom were Palestinian -- in the past two decades.

"The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the failure of the military's investigative process to hold anyone accountable is not an isolated case," said CPJ director Robert Mahoney.

He charged that the system "seems fashioned to evade responsibility".

In response to the CPJ report, the Israeli army said it "regrets any harm to civilians during operational activity" and that it considers "the professional work of journalists to be of great importance".

It added that the Israeli army "does not intentionally target noncombatants, and live fire in combat is only used after all other options have been exhausted".

Rodney Dixon, a lawyer appointed by Al Jazeera to take up Abu Akleh's case, has argued there was an attempt by Israel "to completely cover up" the circumstances of her death.

He described Abu Akleh's killing as part of a "systematic and large-scale campaign" against Al Jazeera, noting Israel's bombing of the channel's office in Gaza in 2021.

'A huge void'

In the year since her death, Abu Akleh has been memorialized by Palestinians, and the road where the office is located is now named Shireen Abu Akleh Street.

The cornerstone of a Shireen Abu Akleh Museum for Media will be laid during a ceremony in Ramallah on Thursday, one of a string of commemorative events.

Her brother Anton Abu Akleh said his family were still waiting for justice, speaking at a cultural event on Wednesday in Ramallah.

"During this past year we have gone through several stages, experiences and challenges as we try to obtain Shireen's rights, and achieve justice for her," he told the audience.

Bureau chief Omari said his slain star reporter "was not just a great journalist for Al Jazeera.

"She was a team on her own. It has left a huge void."



Biden Will Step Aside in the 2024 Race. What Happens Next?

A "Kamala 2024" sign is placed outside the US Naval Observatory, home of Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
A "Kamala 2024" sign is placed outside the US Naval Observatory, home of Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Biden Will Step Aside in the 2024 Race. What Happens Next?

A "Kamala 2024" sign is placed outside the US Naval Observatory, home of Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)
A "Kamala 2024" sign is placed outside the US Naval Observatory, home of Vice President Kamala Harris, on July 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

President Joe Biden said on Sunday he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential election race, putting the United States into uncharted territory.

Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee.

Before Biden's decision was made, Reuters spoke to Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think-tank, a Democratic National Committee member and author of the book "Primary Politics" about the presidential nominating process, who explained how the process could work. Reuters also spoke to legal experts and Democratic Party officials.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

A: Biden has spent the last several months accruing nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates by winning primary elections in US states and territories.

Those delegates would normally vote for him to be the party's official presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention, which is to take place Aug. 19-22, but the rules do not bind or force them to do so. Delegates can vote with their conscience, which means they could throw their vote to someone else.

By stepping aside, Biden is effectively "releasing" his delegates, potentially sparking a competition among other Democratic candidates to become the nominee.

Within hours of Biden's announcement, Harris' allies were working the phones - calling delegates and party chairs to get their backing, sources told Reuters.

Q: WHO COULD REPLACE BIDEN?

A: Several candidates could step into the fray.

Harris is at the top of the list, but she has had her own problems after a rocky start as vice president and poor polling numbers. The US Constitution dictates that the vice president becomes president if the president dies or becomes incapacitated, but it does not weigh in on an inter-party process for choosing a nominee.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker have all been floated as possible replacements. Up until now they have been Biden supporters working to help get him elected, and Whitmer has said she supports Harris.

Q: HOW WILL A NOMINEE BE CHOSEN?

A: There could be a free-for-all of sorts between the Democratic heavyweights vying for the job.

According to Ballotpedia, there are expected to be some 4,672 delegates in 2024, including 3,933 pledged delegates and 739 so-called superdelegates - senior party members.

In order to secure the nomination, a candidate would need to get a majority - that is, more votes than all the others combined.

That's what Harris' allies are trying to do right now - secure the pledged support of 1,969 delegates, and shut down any competition.

If no one achieves that, then there would be a "brokered convention" where the delegates act as free agents and negotiate with the party leadership. Rules would be established and there would be roll-call votes for names placed into nomination.

It could take several rounds of voting for someone to get a majority and become the nominee. The last brokered convention when Democrats failed to nominate a candidate on the first ballot was in 1952.

WHAT HAPPENS TO BIDEN'S CAMPAIGN CASH?

The Biden-Harris campaign had $91 million in the bank at the end of May, but experts on campaign finance law disagree on how readily the money could change hands.

Because Harris is also on the campaign filing documents, many experts believe the money could be transferred over to her if she is on the ticket. There is some debate about whether Biden would need to be officially nominated first as the party's candidate before a transfer could be made.