Shireen: An Embodiment of Mars & Neptune?

 

Shireen Abu Aqleh: An Embodiment of Neptune Conjunct Mars?

“How do we say this? How do we make everyone see you as we saw you? You never left our home during those long curfew nights. You were there every day and every night during the invasion and since then. We relied on you for soul-quenching news, for hope. We counted the minutes when death was everywhere. How do we make them understand?”

It was the longest funeral in Palestine. For three consecutive days, the people mourned Shireen. The shocking news of Shireen’s death[1] was announced on the radio early in the morning; we could not imagine the news without her.

Shireen had a story with Jenin refugee camp, where she was shot behind the ear just between the bulletproof helmet and vest, a precise shot intended to kill, a skillful shot that probably needed a sniper.

In 2002, Jenin was the second city invaded. Jenin refugee camp proved to be a stronghold for resistance, and the Israeli army couldn’t enter the hidden allies and short routes of a refugee camp. The camp was sieged for days and weeks. Israel bulldozed almost 35% of the homes to enter the camp and quench the resistance. And Shireen was there covering the news. Shireen was also there to cover the aftermath of that battle, a witness to the destruction.  She helped the women in the camp search for their loved ones, sons and husbands, under the rubble. 

Shireen’s death brought shock waves into the collective memory.  Many women in the camp remembered her helping them figure out whether their children were dead or arrested. The young man who dragged her body from under the tree, and had her blood taint his white shirt, was the son of one of those dead bodies under the rubble. For Shireen to be back in the camp twenty years later to cover one more time the daily raids of the Israeli army to quell the resistance is an impressive proof of the failure of the use of violence. 

Everyone in the camp insisted on treating her as a martyr, carrying her on their shoulders while hurling slogans for freedom and revenge.   

Nobody knew Shireen was a Christian! How would anyone know someone’s religion if it weren’t for those symbolic attachments; the cross, the Hijab, the Kippa, or any other piece of cloth or metal worn to distinguish and divide?  We never knew she belonged to the Jerusalemite Arab Christian minority, embodying by her presence the symbolic battle of preserving the Arab Christian and Muslim identity of the city in the face of a tidal wave of Judaization that dissolves and denies all other identities. Shireen's death reminded us of the story of Jerusalem in Palestine that once encompassed all identities and all religions. Shireen reminded us not only of the story of Jerusalem, of the refugees, of Jenin’s deadly invasion, but also of all the other stories she reported and shed light on.

A reverend arrived at the scene and prayed over her soul while

Jerusalem: during Shireen's Funeral

the general public in the camp who are Muslims repeated ‘Amin’ behind the reverend’s prayer from the Bible. Then the spontaneous reaction was to carry her on the young men’s shoulders and show respect for her soul, so what organically came out of their throats was Allah Akbar, a calling for God who is "bigger" than all of us.  Unfortunately, this phrase was hijacked by the throats of those who deny others as ‘infidels.’ On this day, it became a phrase that unites all because a soul is more significant than its religion; a soul creates its relevance, reverence, and transcendence by its actions, kindness, and pure compassion for others.  

On its way home, Shireen's corpse was met with the same feelings she has shown for her people. She was met with care, kindness, and compassion. Villagers insisted on closing their shops, leaving their homes, and throwing flowers over the passing ambulance. Every city she passed offered a symbolic funeral, and in Ramallah, it was an official memorial. People everywhere poured onto the streets, and the psychic imprints of what her presence meant were strongly felt. She helped the voiceless to have a voice. 

And yet the most prominent event was in her city, Jerusalem. Raising the Palestinian flag or chanting slogans for freedom or Palestine was forbidden, and only 50 people were allowed at her funeral. But what Shireen represented was more sublime, more unifying: She represented Palestine in its ideal state, where divisions between religions dissolved, and I believe could dissolve even further, despite the batons that tried to stop the crowds from flowing into the streets of the Old City,  which embraces all religious edifices.   Even the different churches in Jerusalem resounded their bells all at once in respect of Shireen’s loss.  Thousands flooded the streets, hundreds of Palestinian flags were raised, and slogans of unity, freedom, and respect rocked the walls of the Old City. For the first time in a very long time, brutality and discrimination were besieged by the flooding of the crowds. Neptune won the battle with Mars. The funeral was painfully symbolic of our loss. Yet, in an imaginary world, it speaks of unity that respects difference and of difference that dissolves in the face of compassion despite dissident voices and practices.

Watch Shireen's Funeral Video

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[1] Shireen Abu Aqleh died on the 11^th of May, 2022, at around 6:50 am. She was born on the 3^rd of January,1971. Unfortunately, no time of birth is available.