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Israeli army arrests cameramen
07/12/2007 20:12 - (SA)
Sarah el Deeb
Jerusalem - The Israeli military arrested two journalists on Friday as they covered a protest against Israel's West Bank separation barrier for the international media.
Two Palestinian cameramen, Eyad Mograbi of The Associated Press and Muhammad Abu Ganiyeh of Reuters, were released more than three hours after they were detained in the village of Um Salmona, near Bethlehem, said Eyad Mograbi, an AP staffer.
Mograbi said he was arrested after refusing to move from the position where he was filming. Video footage of the incident shows a soldier pushing Mograbi, who then raises his hand but does not touch the soldier.
The Israeli military said the cameramen participated in the protest, which included blocking a road, and had pushed and verbally abused soldiers before they were detained. Mograbi denied the allegations.
In the video footage, a soldier is heard ordering Mograbi to leave the area.
"Get off the road. You can't stand here," the soldier said.
Common friction
"How I am bothering you? I am just taking pictures of everybody on the road," Mograbi said, before two soldiers pull him away from the spot by his arms.
Soldiers did not know the two were journalists because they did not have Israeli press accreditation, the military said.
Palestinian journalists are not eligible for Israeli press cards.
Friction between the army and journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is common. Media advocacy groups have often complained that Israeli troops wound or detain journalists.
The Tel-Aviv-based Foreign Press Association, which represents foreign media covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, condemned what it called the "harassment" of journalists, and disputed the military's claims that the cameramen took part in the demonstration and obstructed troops.
"We urge the relevant authorities to allow journalists to cover these sorts of events without interference," the FPA said in a statement.
"The construction of the barrier remains an important story and coverage of demonstrations against it is entirely legitimate."
Suicide bombings down
The rally at Um Salmona is a weekly event organised to protest the construction of the Israeli barrier, which cuts off Bethlehem from some of its suburbs.
Israel says the barrier's stated purpose of keeping out Palestinian attackers has been largely achieved, with suicide bombings in Israel sharply down in recent years.
But the Palestinians complain it usurps large swaths of lands they want as part of a future state, while cutting off people from livelihoods, relatives, schools and medical services on the "Israeli" side of the barrier.
- AP
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