-My first knowledge of Shireen was actually her voice.
Which is pretty fitting, because she is known to be
a voice for the Palestinian people
and the Palestinian struggle.
-In Jerusalem, there are calls for deescalation...
-So many young aspiring journalists,
especially female journalists,
have told me that they would use a hairbrush,
they would pretend it were a microphone
and they would stand in front of a mirror
and pretend to be Shireen,
and they would do the sign-off --
"Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera."
-Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera.
[ Arabic ]
♪♪
-It was in my 20s that I watched Shireen on TV,
it was during the Intifada years.
She was kind of the face and voice
of a daily digest of war and peace.
-I was leaning towards journalism, and I remember
seeing her on the air her first year
and listening, and I'll never forget my dad basically saying
to me, yep, journalism is absolutely the right decision,
he said to me, can you imagine what can be accomplished
and what can be done if more Palestinian women, you know,
got into the field of journalism.
-In the field she was very calm,
she had this calm, commanding presence.
Israeli soldiers would, like, lob, um, tear gas at her
and other journalists, and, you know,
everybody would run for cover,
and she would kind of duck ever so slightly.
[ Arabic ]
-Every single time I watched a Shireen Abu Akleh live report
I learned something new every time.
Much of the world was quite ignorant to
what was happening in Palestine in the occupied territories.
At the time, it was a trailblazing kind of journalism.
-Shireen was so down to earth, shy at times even,
that I think that was one of the reasons why
Palestinians welcomed her into their home.
-Mainstream media uses the word "clashes" and "conflict" --
she wasn't about that.
You know, she told the truth.
-She would cover stories that producers would tell her,
"Oh, Shireen, you're too senior for this, how about, you know,
we give it to one of the other reporters?"
And she's like, "No, I wanna do this,"
but that doesn't mean that she took things for granted
or that she put herself in harm's way.
She said that's why she never left anything up to chance,
she always had her vest on with the word "Press" on it,
she had her helmet, she would also always make sure that,
you know, she would take roads where there were
no Israeli checkpoints.
She knew her stuff,
and she knew not to put herself in harm's way.
-Somebody was interviewing her, and they asked her,
you know, "Aren't you afraid of, like, you know,
being shot by Israelis, or being caught in the line of fire,
or something like that?" And she said,
"Of course I'm afraid, you know, who wouldn't be afraid?
But when you're in that moment you forget that you're afraid of
anything, because you're in -- you're seeking the truth."
-When I met her she was completely different off-screen,
and she was super funny, she loved to have a laugh.
-I think she will be remembered as, you know,
the daughter of Jerusalem, um,
she will be remembered as an icon, as a leader,
as a fighter for truth and for the Palestinian people.
-Shireen Abu Akleh. Shireen, how are things developing up to now?
-She wanted to tell the story of the people of Palestine.
Like, I hope Shireen will always be remembered as somebody
who touched the lives of every single person who she spoke to.
-Palestine never broke her, it never stopped her from
appreciating and enjoying life.
a generation of young Arab women looked up to her because,
you know, she was the first female correspondent
they'd seen on the TV who covered a war,
and she covered it with poise and with a lot of confidence,
but also, you know, with a lot of humility.
-Some Palestinians are still holding onto the keys
to their homes from where they were forced out...
-As a Palestinian, it's just so important for me
to be in this field and to create change and use my voice
just as Shireen had.
What she has inspired is, you know,
future generations of journalists to say,
"Enough is enough, we need to report this
accurately and fairly."
She wouldn't want us to stop, so we're not going to.
♪♪