Days of Palestine – Ramallah

Palestine held Thursday a grand state funeral for an iconic Palestinian journalist killed yesterday by Israeli military gunfire in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin.

The funeral procession of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh set off from the Istihsari Hospital in the al-Rihan neighborhood and made its way to the presidential complex, al-Muqata‘a, where a grand state memorial was held with the attendance of President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh along with a host of officials and hundreds of mourners.

The honor guard brought the body of the veteran journalist, draped in a Palestinian flag and a press vest, keffiyeh, and flowers, to al-Muqata‘a, where President Abbas and Prime Minister Shtayyeh bid their farewell to her and laid a wreath over her coffin as sad mournful bagpipes were played.

The body of Abu Akleh, a Palestinian Christian and a US citizen will then be taken in a convoy to St. Joseph Hospital in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. She will be buried on Friday in a cemetery next to her mother.