Thread by @yasmineelsabawi

I’ve been trying to process what happened today. Trying to process the loss of #ShireenAbuAqla. I cried watching her body being carried through the streets of Ramallah by her fellow Palestinians. Got a call from my mother early this morning: “Shireen Abu Aqla’s been killed!” 1/

That’s who she was and the weight #ShireenAbuAqla carried in our household, where I grew up watching Aljazeera Arabic with my parents. It was revolutionary because it was the first 24/7 news channel serving Arabic speakers. There was finally an alternative to CNNi 2/

How empowering it was for someone like me to see a Palestinian-American woman, #ShireenAbuAqla, be so bold and so brave to report from the Israeli-occupied territories. Places I’ve never been because my own family fled. Fled from the same party that ultimately killed her 3/

Three decades ago we didn’t have as many Palestinian female correspondents as we do now. She wasn’t the first, no, but she was still a trailblazer. My extended family knew her personally, and my immediate family made #ShireenAbuAqla a part of our home via her TV reporting. 4/

I’m struggling to be articulate right now. I’m absolutely crushed. But it’s also important for me to relay that. Palestinian women journalists are a special breed. They jump through immense hurdles b/c they have stories to tell that must be part of the historical record 5/

A big part of me just wants to shout, “You’ll never understand!”

But then I remember that no matter what it takes, my job is to make you understand. It’s why my I wear my identity proudly. It’s why by God’s grace I’ve been given the opportunities I have. It’s why I show up 6/

I know #ShireenAbuAqla has inspired a generation of young Palestinian and Arab women to tell their stories without fear. We’ve all lived with fear long enough, on different levels.

It still begs the question as to what it takes to be safe from Israeli persecution. 7/

How utterly tragic is it that my first thought was, “#ShireenAbuAqla was a US citizen so at least this may get some traction from the Biden Administration.”

Palestinian lives - and journalists’ lives - are valuable no matter where they’re from 8/

But given the US role in arming Israel to the teeth and assuming a singularly, unquestionably, unflinchingly pro-Israel stance even as generations of Palestinians since 1948 have asked, “And where do you expect us to go?” - #ShireenAbuAqla’s death can hopefully raise the alarm 9/

Thank you #ShireenAbuAqla for making my Palestinian parents see that it’s ok for their daughter not to be a doctor or an engineer. More so that it’s actually pretty darn cool their daughter is a reporter. You made sure our parents are proud of us. You did that. Allah yerhamek 10/

Israel has been saying it doesn’t target journalists. Yet many have died from Israeli gunfire, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

The reason people here are in the dark is because Palestinian journalists are not considered “legitimate” in many circles in the West. 11/

Remember this fiasco at the now defunct Newseum?

english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=M…

It used to be my favourite place in DC. I’d spend hours there.

I was never able to go back after this. I knew my place. I understood what they were trying to tell me.

(But I will never believe it) 12/

I hope that the war on Ukraine has highlighted the need (and the expectation!) of an occupied people to resist. We seem to all be in agreement on this. Let’s make sure we’re consistent.

#ShireenAbuAqla was a showcase in Palestinian resistance. One of the finest. 13/

A note on what is undoubtedly graphic video you’re seeing from AljazeeraArabic of #ShireenAbuAqla’s dead body, face down on the ground in her flak jacket + helmet clearly marked as PRESS: It was never a mystery to me why Middle Eastern outlets never shied away from such pics 14/

It’s the natural response of a people living under decades of colonialism and subsequent oppression. Yes, it is a cry for help. It’s the blood-curdling scream of “HEAR US! SEE US! YOUR WEAPONS DID THIS!”

Tears stream down my face seeing that video. Make it matter.

15/