#balat al shuhada street

[odinsblog]

The site of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing in Jenin has been bulldozed and her shrine desecrated, in an unexplained early-morning operation on 26 October.

A surfaced road running between houses has been reduced to huge boulders of broken concrete, and earth dug to over half a meters depth. Vehicles passed up and down the lane. One day after, even walking amid the smashed rocks would be a challenge. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in condemning this act of vandalism and recalls on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

The road, Balat al-Shuhada’ Street, in the Jabriyat neighbourhood of Jenin is thought to have been ploughed up by heavy civil engineering vehicles at approximately 3 am on 27 October. Locals state that these were operated by members of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Paintings of Abu Akleh, and tributes left on the spot where she was shot have beed destroyed.

Nasser Abu Bakr, PJS president said: “This is a monstrous act of destruction. Shireen’s family and friends have found some solace visiting the place where she was shot down, and placing tributes. This wanton act of vandalism is surely revenge for the report just issued by the UN that states that Israeli forces ‘wilfully or recklessly killed Abu Akleh’. It underlines the need for her case to the investigated by the International Criminal Court ICC, with which the IFJ has already lodged a complaint”.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger said: “I have visited this site myself and know firsthand how important it had become to those who mourn Shireen’s loss. It is hard to see this destruction as anything other than a cruel act of vengeance, of a kind that can only exacerbate tensions in Palestine. The sooner the ICC gives this case the attention it deserves, the better”.

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