Skip to main content

Language: English / Gàidhlig

Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Shireen Abu Aqla, Al Jazeera reporter, 1971-2022

  • Submitted by: Alex Rowley, Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour.
  • Date lodged: Monday, 23 May 2022
  • Motion reference: S6M-04473

That the Parliament expresses its deepest condolences to the family, friends and all those who knew Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Aqla, who was shot dead while covering what it understands was an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on 11 May 2022; recognises the contribution that Ms Abu Aqla made in the field of journalism while working for Al Jazeera for 25 years, including decades of reporting in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories; joins the UN Security Council in condemning the killing and supports the Security Council's call for an immediate probe into her death; is shocked by the scenes that were witnessed at Abu Aqla’s funeral after footage showed what appeared to be Israeli police kicking, firing stun grenades and using batons to beat mourners carrying Abu Aqla’s coffin; notes the view of leaders of 15 denominations in Jerusalem who have reportedly condemned what they called the "violent intrusion" of Israeli police into Ms Abu Aqla's funeral procession; further notes the view of Monsignor Tomasz Grysa, who represents the Holy See in Jerusalem and is reported as saying that the decades old agreement to uphold religious freedom between the Roman Catholic Church and Israel "has been brutally violated"; notes the view expressed by Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, who reportedly said that "the Israel Police's invasion and disproportionate use of force - attacking mourners, striking them with batons, using smoke grenades, shooting rubber bullets, frightening the hospital patients - is a severe violation of international norms and regulations, including the fundamental human right of freedom of religion"; is concerned by footage that, according to The Times of Israel, shows dozens of Israeli police officers storming into the hospital from where Ms Abu Aqla’s coffin was leaving before the procession began, hitting and shoving people inside, including patients, and firing from the grounds of the medical centre; understands that a number of hospital medical staff were injured by the actions of the Israeli police, including Dr Mohammed Hmeidat, a doctor in the neo-natal intensive care unit, who reportedly suffered burns from a stun grenade used by the police; believes that the investigation into the events surrounding the incident should be thorough and fully transparent, especially given reports that data collected by the Israeli human rights NGO, Yesh Din, show that only 0.7% of complaints filed by Palestinians against soldiers lead to prosecutions, while 80% of cases are closed without a criminal investigation, and further believes that, in remembering Shireen Abu Aqla, it is important to uphold the long-standing protocol that protects journalists in war zones and their rights under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 that affords them immunity under international humanitarian law to report in areas of armed conflict.


Supported by: Karen Adam, Maggie Chapman, Foysol Choudhury, Katy Clark, Graeme Dey, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Rona Mackay, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Audrey Nicoll, Mark Ruskell, Collette Stevenson, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba