The investigation into the death of journalist Shireen Abou Aqleh, who was shot and killed in an Israeli raid in the West Bank on May 11, has made no progress, but violence at his funeral continues to spark outrage . The management of Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Jerusalem rebroadcast, Monday, May 16 during a press conference, the images of the coffin which fails to fall to the ground. Then unveiled the recordings of the CCTV cameras showing the police charging into the hospital. At the end of this viewing, the representatives of the Christian churches, all present, denounced the police intervention.
These scenes are inadmissible for Mgr. Pierbattista Pizzabala, the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land: “We denounce and we condemn. We pray for freedom of religion, especially the celebration of funerals. This is the last important moment in a person’s life. Security reasons cannot justify what happened. ”
The Israeli police, for their part, claim that she was attacked and that she had prepared the funeral of Shireen Abu Aqleh with the family of the deceased. A version denied by the brother of the journalist and by the French diplomat Luc Pareydt, counselor for religious affairs at the Consulate General of France, who was present on the scene on Friday. He sensed no goodwill from the Israeli side: “They were asked if they could contribute to dignity and calm. And the answer was what we know.”
“The representative of the European Union, the consul general of France and myself discussed in front of the door of the hospital a few moments before the aggression took place, we tried to calm things down as much as possible.”
Luc Pareydt, French diplomatat franceinfo
“I saw how calm and dignified the situation was, on the part of the funeral participants, adds the diplomat. Young Palestinian Muslims, young Palestinian Christians united in a spontaneous moment of prayer. And that’s why we also talk about dismay.” The hospital management plans to file a complaint against the Israeli police.
France, the United States and the European Union condemned the murder of Shireen Abou Aqleh and demanded the launch of an independent investigation to determine the circumstances in which the American-Palestinian journalist was shot. Under American impetus, the UN Security Council also voted a resolution to this effect, without condemning the clashes on Friday.