JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Thursday they had concluded an internal investigation into violence at the funeral of slain Al Jazeera TV journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — without however releasing any findings.
The police launched the probe following an international outcry after the veteran reporter’s coffin was almost dropped when police attacked the pallbearers during her funeral last month.
Thousands had attended the service in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, and images of the unrest were broadcast live on TV. Israeli authorities blamed Palestinian protesters for the ugly scenes.
Police commander Kobi Shabtai said Thursday that “we cannot remain indifferent to these harsh images and we must investigate so that sensitive events of this order are not violently disturbed by rioters.
“The police under my instructions investigated to assess the action of its forces on the ground in order to draw conclusions and improve the operational progress in this type of event,” he said in a statement.
The results of the probe were presented to the minister of public works, said a police spokesperson.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist working for the Qatar-based broadcaster, was shot and killed last month while covering an Israeli army operation in Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.
A Palestinian probe said that an Israeli soldier shot her dead in what it described as a war crime.
Israel has denied the allegations, arguing that she could have been killed by a Palestinian gunman.
Abu Akleh’s brother Anton rejected out of hand the police probe into the unrest at her funeral.
“We don’t care what Israel says or does, everything is clear from the photos. The police are the aggressors,” he told AFP. “They are trying to cover up their actions and mistakes.”
Israel police close probe into Shireen Abu Akleh funeral violence
https://arab.news/jwmhq
Israel police close probe into Shireen Abu Akleh funeral violence
- The police launched the probe following an international outcry
- The results of the probe were presented to the minister of public works, said a police spokesperson
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
