On the evening of 17 March, Israeli occupation police physically assaulted at least five journalists in occupied East Jerusalem. They were covering the violent dispersal of Muslim worshippers in East Jerusalem by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), who were attempting to perform Ramadan prayers outside the walls of the Old City.
The violence went beyond physical beatings, with the occupation’s police also destroying and confiscating journalists’ equipment, including memory cards. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate described the unprovoked attack by the occupation as a deliberate attempt to suppress documentation of their violations. Two journalists were also briefly detained before being released.
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They broke the arm of a CNN producer and assaulted and briefly detained the director of Xinhua News Agency’s Jerusalem bureau. A photographer from the Turkish Anadolu Agency publication was also physically assaulted. Two additional journalists from other outlets were also among the five confirmed victims, though their names and affiliations had not been publicly specified at the time of writing.
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International press association: ‘unprovoked attack’ by Israeli occupation in Jerusalem
The International Press Association has condemned the attack as an “unprovoked assault**”** while the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) says it holds Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for journalists’ safety’ and is calling on the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to urgently intervene. These organisations, according to PJS, must provide protection for journalists and hold those responsible for these violations accountable.
The Foreign Press Association has also called for action, demanding “Israeli police immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them.”
Journalists protected under international law but not in ‘Israel’
This incident is part of a systematic escalation of Israeli violations against journalists in Jerusalem during Ramadan, including arrests, interrogations, bans from Al-Aqsa Mosque, and equipment seizures. According to a new report by the Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalist’s Syndicate, there were 17 cases in February alone, where journalists were arbitrarily banned from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
This is part of a broader policy to restrict media coverage in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
Over 45 journalists are currently being detained by the apartheid Zionist regime, the majority without charge. As of 19 March, al Aqsa Mosque has been closed to Palestinians for the past 20 days, under the pretext of war.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
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