Efforts to commemorate the veteran reporter and support upcoming Arab journalists have gathered pace since Abu Akleh's death.
Outpourings of grief and anger across the MENA region have led to new initiatives in Abu Akleh's name [Getty]
The New Arab Staff
21 May, 2022
Moroccan organisation Bayt Mal al-Quds has launched a new journalism award commemorating the life and work of slain Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
The Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency is a funding initiative started by the King of Morocco, which claims a “mandate to protect Al-Quds and support its people in their steadfast dedication to their Holy City.”
The Marrakesh-based charity has a range of projects in Jerusalem.
The new award will be given to a Palestinian journalist this year, and will bear the name of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The awarding jury will consist of both Palestinian and Moroccan journalists and media experts, according to a statement from the organisation obtained by Turkish news agency Anadolu.
The award is not the first to be named after Abu Akleh in recent days, after Birzeit University launched an annual “Shireen Abu Akleh for Media Excellence” award last week.
Both the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and the Tunis-based Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation have also launched commemorative awards in honour of the slain Palestinian journalist.
Fifty-one-year-old veteran Al Jazeera reporter and household name Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli troops as she covered a security raid in the occupied West Bank's Jenin refugee camp on 11 May.
Palestinian officials and witnesses, including journalists who were with her, say she was killed by army fire. The military, after initially accusing Palestinians of being responsible, later backtracked and now say that it's "very likely" that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli gunfire.
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