To date, Washington has yet to hold its ally to account as calls for justice increase, especially within Congress. 

The Carleton University in Canada introduced the “Shireen Abu Akleh Emerging Reporter Award in Social Justice Journalism” award on Friday, in honour of the slain Al Jazeera journalist.

The university, also one of Canada’s top journalism schools, inaugurated the prestigious award in the name of the renowned Palestinian-American journalist who was shot and killed by Israel last year.

Only one student will receive the annual award, which includes a reporting fund of $5,000 each year. 

“As a trailblazer for journalists internationally and a role model for young reporters, Abu Akleh relentlessly pursued stories about the lives of Palestinians living under occupation, often at great personal risk,” Carleton University said in a statement.

The Canadian university also held a concert by oud musician Abdul-Wahab Kayyali and cellist Sheila Hannigan, who performed a new tune composed in honour of Abu Akleh for the very first time.

In a statement to the university, Abu Akleh’s brother, Tony Abu Akleh, stressed the importance of honouring his late sister’s journalistic legacy.

“We would like to thank Carleton University because awards like these, which honor Shireen and her contributions to journalism and her commitment to giving voice to those who live under brutal military occupation, are a way to keep her memory alive and let young journalists continue her legacy and that legacy was speaking truth to power,” Tony said.

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot and killed Abu Akleh on 11 May 2022 while she was covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp. 

The IOF soldier proceeded to aim at Abu Akleh despite her clearly identifying as a member of the press with her blue vest and helmet, in what many have described as a deliberate killing and an attempt to silence media on the ground.

The killing of the renowned journalist sent shockwaves across the world and sparked global outrage, especially in Palestine where thousands of mourners held the biggest funeral in the country’s history.

Abu Akleh was among the first to join the Al Jazeera network and quickly became known for her in-depth, critical coverage of the ongoing Israeli occupation’s crimes against Palestinians, eventually becoming known as “the voice of Palestine”.

Al Jazeera slammed the killing as “deliberate” and took up the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC), though there has been no progress reported on the case more than a year on.

The lack of movement in the ICC also comes despite bullet examinations and multiple investigations by rights organisations and leading US outlets that had pointed to Israel as the sole perpetrator of the crime. 

To date, Washington has yet to hold its ally to account as calls for justice increase, especially within Congress. 

More evidence of the IOF’s killing of Abu Akleh emerged in May with the release of Al Jazeera Arabic’s investigative documentary “What is Hidden is Greater” (Ma Khafiya A’tham).

Titled “The Murder of Evidence”, the episode unveiled the findings of a team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who had conducted a field investigation in Jenin where Abu Akleh was shot and killed.

Speaking to the Qatar-based broadcaster at the time, American expert who analysed the recordings, Stephen Buck, said that the “acoustic analysis of bullets and their directions settled the controversy over who fired them.”

“The shooting was from a distance of about 200 meters from the side of the Israeli forces only […] I think it strongly supports the fact that gunfire came from the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces],” Buck told Al Jazeera.

Doha News spoke to Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina Abu Akleh, last year during her visit to Qatar, where she discussed her late aunt and the pursuit for justice.

“We don’t expect criminals to investigate their own crimes and we expect that the US upholds the values they preach, whether it’s related to the freedom of press, protection of journalists, human rights or democracy,” Lina told Doha News at the time.