Israeli Mob Beats Washington Post Journalist, Burns Olive Bushes In West Bank
Dozens of masked Israelis, clad in black and armed with slings, golf equipment and fuel canisters, attacked Palestinians harvesting olives within the Palestinian West Bank village of Abu Falah on Friday.
The mob then set fireplace to the grove, aided by Israeli troopers in navy jeeps who fired tear fuel on the Palestinians, witnesses told Reuters.
Medics advised Reuters two folks have been injured within the assault. One of them was Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was clearly recognized as a member of the press.
Video of the assault’s aftermath captured by American journalist Jasper Nathaniel reveals Levine, carrying a helmet and a flak jacket studying “PRESS,” slumped over within the street after the assault.
“They clubbed her, kicked her. Pulled her off the bottom to beat her extra. Robbed her of her gear. If she didn’t have a helmet — and if she was Palestinian — she may very well be useless,” Nathaniel stated.
“Are you OK?” Nathaniel asks Levine in a second video that reveals him and a gaggle of Palestinians speeding to hold her to security.
“No, no,” she replies.
“You should run,” he implores.
“I would die, I can’t,” Levine, bloodied, says because the Israelis throw rocks at them. “Let me die.”
From a hospital mattress afterward, Levine recalled being overrun and knocked to the bottom.
“They simply stored kicking me and kicking me, like in all probability 50 occasions,” she advised reporters.
Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray confirmed the assault in a statement Friday:
“This morning, a Washington Post photographer, Heidi Levine, was attacked by Israeli settlers whereas reporting within the West Bank,” Murray stated. “She was carrying seen markings clearly figuring out her as a journalist. While we’re relieved that Heidi has acquired medical care and is secure, we’re outraged by this unwarranted assault on a journalist doing her job and urge a radical investigation and follow-through from authorities.”
Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, one other journalist on the scene, advised The Washington Post the mob gave the impression to be emboldened by the presence of the Israeli navy, which arrived earlier than the assault started. The troopers “did completely nothing in regards to the settlers,” he stated.
According to Reuters, a similar attack occurred Friday round Turmus Ayya village, the place Israelis attacked farmers harvesting olives after which proceeded to burn three vehicles.
The Israelis “snuck up like thieves, they caught somebody by himself and commenced to beat him,” Salah Abu Niswa, who witnessed the assault in Turmus Ayya, advised the outlet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a statement that the “roughly 40 Israeli youths” hadn’t attacked anybody however have been as a substitute attacked themselves by “some 200 Arabs and far-left activists.”
Netanyahu additional claimed that Levine had been “knocked down and instantly helped to her toes by the identical unidentified particular person,” contradicting the journalist’s personal recollection of the assault.
“We won’t enable disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the a whole bunch of hundreds of law-abiding Jewish residents,” he stated.
