From: Subject: CPJ Briefing Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 13:58:18 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0161_01C2491A.CD50D800"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0161_01C2491A.CD50D800 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: mhtml:file://F:\Mette\Web%20site\Themes\Media%20Abuse\CPJIsraelCases.mht CPJ Briefing
 
 


Attacks Against Journalists in the West = Bank and Gaza=20 since September 2000

See = list of=20 recent news alerts about Israel and the West Bank

 

 

Click on links for more = details:

April=20 9, 2002. Gilles= =20 Jaquier, France 2: Attacked=20

April 9, 2002. Yuzuru = Saito, TV Tokyo: Harassed=20

April 9, 2002. Vincent = Benhamou, free-lance: Harassed

April = 8, 2002.=20 Nile=20 TV, Abu Dhabi TV: Harassed

April 5, 2002. = Several = Journalists: Attacked

April 3, 2002. Maher=20 Rumani, Al-Manara: Imprisoned

April 3, = 2002. = Ashraf=20 Faraj and Jalal Ehmad, Al-Roa: Imprisoned=20

April 2, 2002. Al Quds = Educational TV: Censored

April 2, 2002. = Atta=20 Oweisat, Gamma: Harassed

April 2, 2002: = Magnus=20 Johansson, Reuters: Attacked

April 1, 2002. = Dana = Lewis,=20 NBC News: Attacked

April 1, 2002. = Orla=20 Guerin, BBC: Attacked

April 1, 2002. The=20 Associated Press, Reuters, and Palestine TV:=20 Harassed

March 31, 2002. All=20 Media: Censored

March 31, 2002. Anthony= =20 Shadid, Boston Globe: Attacked

March 29, 2002. Carlos = Handal, Egyptian Nile TV and Abu Dhabi TV:=20 Attacked

March 29, 2002. Several= =20 Journalists: Harassed

March 14, 2002. = Several= =20 Journalists: Attacked

March 13, 2002. Rafael= lo=20 Ciriello, Corriere della Sera: = Killed

March=20 13, 2002. Al-Jaze= era:=20 Attacked

March 13, 2001. Tareq = Abdel Jaber, Egyptian Television: = Attacked

March 12,=20 2002. Several= =20 Journalists: Attacked

February 21, 2002. = Voice = of=20 Palestine Radio and Television: Attacked =

February=20 14, 2002. Sagui=20 Bashan, Israel Television Channel 2:=20 Attacked

February 13, 2002. All=20 Media: Harassed

February 2, 2002. All = Media:=20 Harassed

January 19, 2002. Voice = of=20 Palestine Radio and Television: = Attacked

January 3,=20 2002. Hebron=20 Times: = Censored

December 13, 2001. Voice = of=20 Palestine: Attacked

December 6, 2001. Awad = Awad,=20 Agence France-Presse: Censored

October 24, = 2001.=20 Associ= ated=20 Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse: Harassed,=20 Censored

October 12, 2001. All=20 Media: Harassed

October 12, 2001. Alaa = Saftawi, Al-Istiqlal:=20 Imprisoned

October 9, 2001. All = Media:=20 Harassed

September 20, 2001. Al-Roa = TV:=20 Censored

September 14, 2001. Several= =20 Journalists: Detained

September 11, 2001. = Several= =20 Journalists: Threatened, = Harassed

August 13,=20 2001. Tarek=20 Abdel Jaber and Abdel Nasser Abdoun, Egyptian Television:=20 Attacked

July 31, 2001. Muhamma= d=20 al-Bishawi, Najah Press Office, IslamOnline.net:=20 Killed

July 29, 2001. Amar = Awad=20 and Mahfouz Abu Turk, Reuters; Atta Owiesat and Mona Al-Kawatmi,=20 free-lance; Rashid Safadi, Al-Jazeera: = Attacked

July=20 29, 2001. Sakher= =20 Abu al-Aoun, Agence France-Presse: = Attacked

July 9,=20 2001. Mazen = Dana=20 and Nael Shiyoukhi, Reuters; Hussam Abu Alan, Agence = France-Presse; Imad=20 al-Said, Associated Press Television News:=20 Attacked

June 26, 2001. Hazem=20 Bader, Associated Press Television News: = Attacked

May=20 29, 2001. Joshua = Hammer and Gary Knight, Newsweek: = Harassed

May=20 15, 2001. Bertran= d=20 Aguirre, TF1: Attacked

April 20, 2001. Layla=20 Odeh, Abu Dhabi TV: Attacked

March 26, = 2001. Amer=20 Jabari, ABC News; Nael Shiyoukhi, Reuters; Hussam Abu Alan, Agence = France-Presse: Attacked

March 21, 2001. = Al-Jaze= era:=20 Censored

March 10, 2001. Mazen = Dana=20 and Nael Shiyoukhi, Reuters; Hussam Abu Alan, Agence = France-Presse:=20 Attacked

March 8, 2001. Christin= e=20 Hauser, Ahmed Bahadou, and Suhaib Salem, Reuters:=20 Attacked

February 16, 2001. Al-Quds= ,=20 Hayat al-Jadida, Al-Ayyam:=20 Censored

February 15, 2001. Nablus = TV: Attacked

February 11, 2001. Luay = Abu=20 Haikal, Reuters: Attacked; Hussam Abu Alan, Agence France-Presse:=20 Attacked, Threatened

February 9, 2001. Laurent = van=20 der Stock, Newsweek: Attacked =

February 8,=20 2001. Al-Ha= yat=20 al-Jadida: Attacked

January 16, 2001. = Majdi=20 al-Arbid, free-lance: Legal Action

November = 15, 2000.=20 Al-Roa= '=20 TV: Harassed, Censored

November 12, 2000. = Mazen = Dana, Reuters: Attacked, Harassed

November = 12, 2000.=20 Abdel= =20 Rahim Qusini and Nasser Ishtayyeh, Reuters:=20 Attacked

November 11, 2000. Yola=20 Monakhov, The Associated Press: = Attacked

October 31,=20 2000. Ben=20 Wedeman, CNN: Attacked

October 31, 2000. = Sulei= man=20 al-Shafei, Israeli Channel 2 TV: = Harassed

October 23,=20 2000. Nasser= =20 Shiyoukhi, Associated Press: Harassed

October = 21,=20 2000. Jacque= s-Marie=20 Bourget, Paris-Match: Attacked

October = 21,=20 2000. Bruno= =20 Stevens, Lib=E9ration, Stern:=20 Attacked

October 18, 2000. Patric= k=20 Baz, Agence France-Presse: Attacked

October = 17,=20 2000. Mahfou= z=20 Abu Turk, Reuters: Attacked

October 12, 2000. = Voice = of=20 Palestine: Attacked

October 12, 2000. Sever= al=20 Journalists: Attacked

October 11, 2000. = Atta=20 Oweisat, Zoom 77: Legal Action

October 9, = 2000.=20 Luc=20 Delahaye, Magnum, Newsweek: = Attacked

October=20 7, 2000. Walid=20 Suleiman Amayreh, Akhbar al-Khalil:=20 Imprisoned

October 4, 2000. Atta=20 Owiesat, Zoom 77: Attacked

October 2, = 2000.=20 Mazen=20 Dana, Reuters: Attacked

October 2, 2000. = Louay = Abu=20 Haykel, Reuters: Attacked

October 1, = 2000. Amer=20 Jabari, ABC News: Attacked

September 29, = 2000. Khaled = Abu=20 Aker, France 2, The New York Times:=20 Attacked

September 29, 2000. Hazem<= B>=20 Bader, The Associated Press: = Attacked

Sepember=20 29, 2000. Mahfou= z=20 Abu Turk, Reuters: Attacked

September 29, = 2000.=20 Khaled= =20 Zeghari, Reuters: Attacked


Cases 2002

April 9, 2002. Gilles Jaquier, France 2:=20 Attacked

Jaquier, a cameraman with television = channel France=20 2, was wounded by a single gunshot near his shoulder while = reporting=20 outside the West Bank city of Nablus, an eyewitness told CPJ. = Jaquier, who=20 was wearing a bulletproof vest, was transported to a Jerusalem = hospital=20 after having the bullet removed at a hospital in Nablus. It is = unclear who=20 fired the shot, but the witness said the area was quiet at the = time of the=20 shooting.

April 9, 2002. Yuzuru = Saito, TV=20 Tokyo: Harassed

Saito, a reporter with The = Associated Press,=20 was threatened in Bethlehem by Israeli forces, who confiscated a = tape from=20 his cameraman.

April 9, 2002. = Vincent=20 Benhamou, free-lance: Harassed

Benhamou, a French = cameraman,=20 had a tape confiscated by IDF troops. He told the AP that after he = turned=20 to walk away from the soldiers, he heard two shots fired in the=20 air.

April 8, 2002. Nile TV, Abu = Dhabi TV:=20 Harassed

Several Israeli soldiers raided a building = in=20 Ramallah housing Egyptian television channel Nile TV and United = Arab=20 Emirates channel Abu Dhabi TV. A witness reported that troops = forced the=20 journalists in the office to lie on the ground and knocked Nile TV = cameraman Raed al-Helw to the ground. Soldiers dismantled = journalists'=20 cell phones and threw the parts around the room. They also fired = live=20 rounds at a locked office door to gain access to the room, = according to=20 the same witness. After 45 minutes, the soldiers left and searched = the=20 rest of the building, which houses several other foreign = television=20 stations.

April 5, 2002. Several=20 Journalists: Attacked

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) = fired stun=20 grenades and rubber bullets at reporters outside the Ramallah = compound of=20 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli troops fired stun = grenades at a=20 group of at least two dozen reporters attempting to cover the = pending=20 arrival of U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni, who visited the = compound=20 on April 5 to meet with Arafat, CPJ has confirmed. Eyewitnesses = told CPJ=20 that the journalists had driven to the compound in several armored = press=20 cars. Shortly after they arrived and exited the vehicles, IDF = troops=20 arrived. The Israeli soldiers then hurled about six stun grenades = in their=20 direction. According to CNN, stun grenades "produce a blinding = flash and a=20 very loud explosion, designed to disorient those targeted." One = grenade=20 exploded under CNN reporter Michael Holmes' foot. The IDF troops = ordered=20 the journalists to leave and then fired rubber bullets at their = armored=20 vehicles, CNN reported. The journalists regrouped and tried to = return to=20 the area but were turned back by Israeli troops. Some journalists = had=20 their press accreditation confiscated, CPJ sources = said.

April 3, 2002. Maher Rumani, Al-Manara:=20 Imprisoned

Rumani, a news presenter for the = Ramallah-based=20 Al-Manara radio station, was detained by Israeli forces on or = about April=20 3 and has not been heard from since, according to station=20 staff.

April 3, 2002. Ashraf Faraj = and Jalal=20 Ehmad, Al-Roa: Imprisoned

According to CPJ sources, = Faraj=20 and Ehmad, respectively an editor and a cameraman with the = private,=20 Bethlehem-based television station Al-Roa, have been in Israeli = custody=20 since April 3. Several other journalists detained with them in = downtown=20 Bethlehem have been released.

The group had set up a = makeshift=20 media center in Manger Square to cover events unfolding in the = town.=20 Troops confiscated cameras, tapes, and other equipment. Faraj and = Ehmad=20 are being held at a facility near Beitunia in the West Bank, = according to=20 CPJ sources.

April 2. Al-Quds Educational TV's = offices near=20 Ramallah were occupied by Israeli troops early in the evening. Two = staffers were detained briefly, and the station was forced off the = air.=20 The troops remain in the building and several tanks are in the = building's=20 parking lot.

Al-Quds Educational TV is a project affiliated = with=20 Al-Quds University. Among the station's recent programming has = been health=20 information, public service announcements, and programming = designed to=20 help children deal with traumatic experiences.

April 2, 2002. Gamma agency photographer Atta = Oweisat was=20 detained by Israeli troops in Ramallah and held for nearly six = hours. He=20 and other journalists were ordered out of their car and forced to = take off=20 their flak jackets and put their personal possessions on the = ground. The=20 troops detained Oweisat when they found that his press card had = expired.=20 He was blindfolded and handcuffed during his = detention.

April 2, 2002. In Bethlehem, an Israeli soldier = fired one=20 round toward the car of Reuters photographer Magnus Johansson, = which was=20 clearly identified as a press vehicle. Johansson heard soldiers = shouting=20 at him. When he got out of the car, he was ordered back in. The = shot was=20 fired as he attempted to drive away.

April 1,=20 2002. NBC correspondent Dana Lewis and his two-person camera = crew came=20 under IDF fire in Ramallah at dusk while driving in an armored car = that=20 was clearly identified as a press vehicle. After an initial burst = of=20 gunfire hit the car, a lone IDF soldier opened fire with a second = burst=20 from a range of about 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters).

The = journalists then stopped the car, turned on an interior light to = make=20 themselves visible, and placed their hands on the windshield. = After 15 to=20 20 seconds, the soldier fired a third burst, hitting the = windshield. The=20 NBC crew escaped by driving away in reverse.

April 1, 2002. BBC reporter Orla Guerin and her = television crew came under Israeli fire while covering peaceful = protesters=20 walking through the streets of Bethlehem. Video footage of the = incident=20 shows the camera panning on the demonstrators and then focusing on = a tank,=20 which then fires machine gun rounds at the camera. The crew took = cover=20 behind a car that was clearly marked press. No one was injured in = the=20 attack.

April 1, 2002. In = Bethlehem,=20 Palestinian militants threatened journalists working for The = Associated=20 Press, Reuters, and Palestine TV and forced them to hand over = footage,=20 shot the night before, of the body of an alleged Palestinian = collaborator=20 who had been shot in a parking lot.

March 31, 2002. Israeli authorities announced = they would=20 begin enforcing existing rules under which journalists must submit = reports=20 about defense matters to a military censor. They also said any=20 Palestinians found working in Israel for foreign news = organizations=20 without proper documentation would risk arrest. Repeated = violations could=20 result in heavy fines and the closure of foreign media offices,=20 authorities said. In Jerusalem, Israeli authorities threatened to = fine any=20 news organization US$15,000 if it was found harboring Palestinians = "without the proper permits."

March = 31,=20 2002. Boston Globe reporter Anthony Shadid was wounded = by a=20 single gunshot in Ramallah. Shadid told CPJ that he and his = colleague,=20 Boston Globe stringer Said Ghazali, were walking away from=20 Palestinian National Authority chairman Yasser Arafat's compound = in=20 Ramallah when a bullet entered Shadid's left shoulder. The area = was=20 completely quiet at the time, and both journalists were wearing = flak=20 jackets marked "TV" in red tape. Shadid told CPJ that he did not = see who=20 shot him but said that Israeli tanks and soldiers were surrounding = the=20 area. The journalist was taken to a Palestinian hospital after = receiving=20 first aid from a group of Israeli soldiers.

March 29, 2002. Palestinian cameraman Carlos = Handal, who=20 works for Egyptian Nile TV and Abu Dhabi TV, was shot in the mouth = after=20 his car came under attack in Ramallah, according to international = press=20 reports. Handal is currently hospitalized in stable condition. It = is=20 unclear who fired the shot that hit him.

March=20 29, 2002. The Tel Aviv­based Foreign Press Association = reported=20 that Israeli forces commandeered a Ramallah building used by local = and=20 foreign journalists. Israeli troops forced all media = representatives out=20 of the building.

•March 14,=20 2002. A group of journalists traveling in an Associated Press = (AP)=20 armored car came under fire from Palestinian gunmen in the West = Bank city=20 of Ramallah, according to international wire service reports.=20

According to the AP, the gunmen fired on the car for about = 30=20 seconds, puncturing the vehicle's tires. No one was injured in the = attack.=20 The gunmen later told the reporters that they had opened fire on = the=20 vehicle after hearing a report that Israeli soldiers were driving = around=20 in a vehicle with TV markings—a rumor Israeli officials = vehemently denied.=20

• March 13, 2002. The = central Ramallah=20 offices of the Qatar-based satellite network, Al-Jazeera, came = under=20 Israeli fire.

Al-Jazeera correspondents told CPJ that the = station's=20 office was hit by Israeli machine gun fire shortly after they = finished an=20 interview with Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. = The=20 gunfire came from a tank stationed about 100 meters (111 yards) = beyond the=20 office and struck a window where a second staff cameraman was = filming=20 Israeli-Palestinian clashes some 300 meters (333 yards) away. =

One=20 round entered the fifth floor office and hit a wall, narrowly = missing the=20 cameraman's head. Others in the office, including Abed Rabbo, = ducked for=20 cover. Some rounds hit the other floors in the building outside,=20 Al-Jazeera sources said.

• = March 13, 2002.=20 Raffaele Ciriello, an Italian free-lance photographer who was on=20 assignment for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, was = killed by=20 Israeli gunfire in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to = press=20 reports and eyewitness testimony.

Ciriello was the first = foreign=20 journalist killed while covering the current Palestinian uprising, = which=20 began in September 2000.

The photographer died after being = hit by a=20 burst of machine gun fire from the direction of an Israeli tank in = Ramallah during Israel's military offensive in the West Bank and = Gaza=20 Strip.

Amedeo Ricucci of the Italian television station = Rai Uno=20 told CPJ that he and his cameraman were accompanying Ciriello at = the time=20 of the incident. They were trailing a group of Palestinian gunmen = who were=20 some 200 yards in front of the journalists. Ricucci said the area = was=20 quiet and was located roughly 500 yards to a half-mile from a = nearby=20 refugee camp where fighting between Israelis and Palestinians was = taking=20 place.

The three journalists were standing inside a = building off=20 an alleyway, Ricucci said. Shortly afterward, a tank emerged at = one end of=20 the street some 150 to 200 yards away, he said. Ciriello left the = building=20 and pointed his camera at the tank. He then came under fire = without=20 warning. Ciriello was shot six times and died of his wounds soon=20 afterward.

There was at least one Palestinian gunman in = Ciriello's=20 vicinity at the time of the shooting, according to press reports.=20

The Italian government has demanded a full investigation = into the=20 attack, according to the AP.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) = spokesman was unable to provide details about the circumstances of = the=20 shooting and claimed to have no information about the presence of=20 journalists in Ramallah, which the IDF said was a closed military = area.=20

The IDF added that journalists who entered the area were=20 "endangering" themselves and claimed that it was not clear whether = Ciriello's death was caused by Israeli or Palestinian gunfire.=20

Palestinian doctors said Israeli forces fired the rounds,=20 according to press reports. Ricucci told CPJ that Ciriello's = camera was in=20 the hands of Italian authorities. The images it contained could = help=20 determine the source of the firing and the circumstances of the=20 incident.

• March 13, = 2002. Reporter Tareq=20 Abdel Jaber of Egyptian TV told CPJ that he and his cameraman were = driving=20 on a main street in Ramallah when their car, which was clearly = identified=20 as a press vehicle, came under fire.

There was no fighting = taking=20 place in the area at the time, Abdel Jaber said.

Bullets=20 penetrated the car and struck his flak jacket, but he was not = seriously=20 hurt. Although Abdel Jaber did not visually identify the shooter, = he said=20 that Israeli tanks and military personnel surrounded the entire = area.=20

• March 12, 2002. Israeli = forces opened=20 fire on a hotel housing numerous journalists near the West Bank = city of=20 Ramallah.

In the early morning hours of March 12, Israeli = forces=20 directed heavy machine gun fire at the City Inn Hotel, from which = some 30=20 to 40 reporters and cameramen, most of them representing Western = media=20 outlets, were filming an Israeli army operation against the nearby = Al-Amari refugee camp.

Israeli forces fired on the hotel, = which is=20 located some 300 hundred yards from the Al-Amari camp, for about = 15=20 minutes, according to press reports and journalists at the scene = who were=20 interviewed by CPJ.

Israeli forces gave no prior warning = of the=20 attack. Journalists said the gunfire smashed windows and damaged = the=20 interior and exterior of the building.

There were no = injuries.=20 However, gunfire destroyed an ABC camera after the fleeing crew = left it on=20 its tripod. One round struck the camera directly in its = lens.

An=20 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman told CPJ that the army was=20 responding to Palestinian gunfire emanating from the upper floors = of the=20 hotel and from other nearby buildings.

The spokesman added = that=20 the army was unaware that journalists were in the hotel, and that = Israeli=20 forces ceased fire after news agencies alerted the IDF of the=20 situation.

Several journalists who spoke with CPJ = vehemently denied=20 that a gunman was in the hotel, which was located away from cross = fire and=20 provided a good vantage point on the refugee camp.

"If = there is a=20 gunman, I would not stay in the building for one minute," ABC = television=20 news producer Nasser Atta told The Associated Press. =

Journalists=20 argued that the army should have been aware that media = representatives=20 were inside the hotel because some 20 clearly identified press = vehicles=20 were parked out front. Several Israeli tanks drove by the hotel = before the=20 attack, they said.

• February = 21, 2002.=20 Israel Defense Forces entered a two-story building housing offices = and=20 studios used by the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) = broadcast=20 outlets, Voice of Palestine radio (VOP) and Palestine Television. = Khaled=20 Al-Siam, the station's director, told Agence France-Presse that = the IDF=20 soldiers confiscated equipment and later detonated explosives, = setting the=20 building on fire and causing it to collapse.

•=20 February 14, 2002. One or more IDF soldiers opened fire on = Sagui=20 Bashan, a reporter with Israel's Channel 2 television station, = near the=20 Gaza Strip while the journalist was driving his car toward the = Karni=20 border crossing. Bashan was attempting to retrieve film footage = from his=20 cameraman, who was covering the aftermath of a bomb attack against = an=20 Israeli tank in which three soldiers were killed.

Moments = before=20 the incident, a soldier at an IDF roadblock located in Israel = proper,=20 about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the Karni crossing, tried to = prevent=20 Bashan from entering the area, even though Bashan identified = himself as a=20 journalist and displayed the press markings on his car. Bashan = asked the=20 soldier to produce an official military order to justify barring = him=20 access, which the soldier was unable to do. Bashan then told the = soldier=20 that he intended to approach the Karni crossing. He re-entered his = car,=20 put the vehicle in reverse, and headed for the crossing via a side = road.=20

Moments later, several rounds of live gunfire struck his = car.=20 Bashan was grazed in the arm and leg by ricochet bullets and later = treated=20 at a hospital. An IDF spokesman contacted by CPJ said the incident = was=20 "under investigation." He did not explain why the soldier tried to = keep=20 Bashan from performing his professional duties. Nor did he explain = why=20 deadly force was used against a journalist who clearly posed no = threat to=20 the IDF.

• February 13, = 2002. According to=20 the Foreign Press Association of Israel (FPA), the IDF denied = journalists=20 access to the Gaza Strip during military operations. In a = statement, the=20 FPA said, "We understand possible concerns for the safety of = journalists=20 in a conflict zone. But the IDF's sweeping closure went well = beyond what=20 is justifiable under these circumstances." The statement added = that=20 journalists were even denied access to areas where no conflict was = taking=20 place. A single press pool was created for print journalists only, = "which=20 creates at least the appearance of an effort to avoid visuals," = the FPA=20 said.

• February 2, 2002. = According to the=20 FPA, Palestinian police harassed and confiscated the tapes of = camera crews=20 who were filming rioting outside a courtroom in the West Bank city = of=20 Jenin. (A Palestinian mob had stormed the courtroom and killed = three=20 defendants accused in a murder case.)

•=20 January 19, 2002. In the early morning hours, Israeli forces = entered a=20 five-story building that houses administrative offices and = broadcasting=20 facilities for the Palestinian National Authority's Voice of = Palestine=20 radio station, as well as studios for the official Palestine = Television.=20 The forces confiscated equipment and later detonated explosives, = setting=20 the building on fire and causing half of it to collapse. =

VOP=20 resumed broadcasting using the facilities of a private West Bank=20 Palestinian radio station. The Gaza-based Palestine Television = also=20 continued to broadcast through its main facility.

The = Israel=20 Defense Forces described the action as a response to an attack by = a=20 Palestinian gunman on a banquet hall in the Israeli city of Hadera = two=20 days before, in which six Israelis were killed and dozens=20 wounded.

• January 3, 2002. = Palestinian=20 security authorities in the West Bank city of Hebron descended on = the=20 offices of the weekly newspaper Hebron Times and ordered = its=20 immediate closure. No official reason was given. Staff from the = newspaper=20 alleged that the PNA was responding to U.S. "pressure" to close = the paper,=20 which frequently criticized Israel and the United States' Middle = East=20 policies.


Cases 2001

• December 13, = 2001. Israeli=20 missiles hit the Voice of Palestine radio station broadcasting=20 headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to = international=20 news reports. The building's main transmitter was destroyed, = knocking the=20 station off the air.

Later, bulldozers flattened the = building while=20 Israeli soldiers detonated explosives that toppled a 90-foot radio = and=20 television tower and destroyed the station's transmitter, which is = also=20 used by Palestine TV.

Voice of Palestine went back on the = air=20 using another frequency. Palestine TV reportedly broadcast with = poor=20 reception.

The attack came amid Israeli military strikes = against=20 Palestinian National Authority targets in what Israel described as = reprisals for recent deadly suicide bombings and shootings carried = out by=20 radical Palestinian groups. Israel holds Palestinian leader Yasser = Arafat=20 responsible for the violence.

• = December 6,=20 2001. Israeli authorities barred Awad Awad, a photographer for = Agence=20 France-Presse (AFP), from entering Israeli prime minister Ariel = Sharon's=20 office. Awad, who had covered news events at the office on several = previous occasions, was there to photograph a meeting between = Sharon and=20 the Norwegian foreign minister.

Awad was denied entry = despite=20 having the necessary Israeli Government Press Office press card, = which=20 grants journalists access to official events.

Israeli = authorities=20 later told AFP, without further explanation, that Awad would not = be=20 allowed in the prime minister's office for 15 days.

• October 24, 2001. Israel Defense = Forces (IDF)=20 harassed journalists and barred them from covering clashes in the=20 Palestinian village of Beit Rima on October 24. Journalists from = the=20 Associated Press, Reuters, and AFP tried to enter the town by car = but were=20 turned back by the soldiers. They then attempted to enter the = village=20 through a back road, but Israeli soldiers again refused them = entry. One=20 journalist was told it was a "closed military area." The group = returned to=20 the village's main checkpoint. They managed to drive through the = military=20 post but were pulled over soon after by a group of soldiers who = told them=20 to leave the village immediately. When the group protested, a = soldier hit=20 one journalist's camera lens, and Israeli soldiers shoved two = other=20 journalists. The convoy was then escorted out of the village by = Israeli=20 military cars.

• October 12, = 2001.=20 Palestinian security forces barred journalists from entering = the=20 Meghazi refugee camp in Gaza, where the militant Islamic Jihad=20 organization was staging a memorial service for a group member who = had=20 been murdered. Media outlets received the order via fax from = Police Chief=20 Ghazi Jabali.

• October 12, = 2001.=20 Palestinian security forces arrested Alaa Saftawi, publisher of = the=20 militant Islamic Jihad weekly Al-Istiqlal, over an article=20 criticizing the Palestinian National Authority's crackdown on=20 demonstrators in Gaza.

He was released without charge on = November=20 16.

• October 9, 2001. = Palestinian=20 authorities barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza = Strip and=20 prevented other reporters from reaching the scene of bloody = clashes=20 between Palestinian protesters and Palestinian police that = resulted in the=20 deaths of two protesters and the injuries of dozens more a day = earlier.=20 The ban remained in effect for one and a half days.

The=20 demonstrators were protesting U.S. military strikes against = Afghanistan.=20 Some of the protesters expressed support for Osama bin Laden, the = prime=20 suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and = Washington, D.C.

On October 8, Palestinian authorities = banned some=20 foreign reporters from entering Gaza and prevented others from = reaching=20 the scene of clashes. At least two journalists who did manage to = cover the=20 clashes were attacked by Palestinian police and later detained for = several=20 hours.
For security reasons, the journalists involved in this = incident=20 asked that their names and affiliations not be revealed to the=20 public.

• September 20, = 2001. At about=20 11:00 a.m., Palestinian police and security agents descended on = the=20 offices of the private television station Al-Roa TV and ordered = the=20 station to cease broadcasting immediately.

No reason was = given for=20 the suspension, and the officers failed to provide station staff = with any=20 official documentation to justify the raid. Station director Hamdi = Faraj=20 eventually received a document from the local police stating that = the=20 station had been closed by order of Hadj Ismail Jaber, general = director of=20 the Palestinian military and police forces in the West Bank. =

Staff=20 at Al-Roa told CPJ that they believe the closure came in reprisal = for a=20 news bulletin aired earlier in the day. The bulletin announced = that Al-Roa=20 had received a statement from the Al-Aqsa Brigades, a group = affiliated=20 with Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization, claiming responsibility = for an=20 attack on two Jewish settlers in the West Bank, which resulted in = the=20 death of one settler.

The Palestinian National Authority = (PNA) was=20 evidently embarrassed by Al-Roa's bulletin, which suggested that a = group=20 technically under Arafat's control might have violated the = recently=20 announced Palestinian cease-fire.

By Al Roa's own count, = it was=20 the 10th time PNA authorities had closed the station since it was = founded=20 in the early 1990s.

On September 22, authorities allowed = the=20 station to resume broadcasting.

• September 14,=20 2001. Palestinian police briefly detained several = photographers and=20 cameramen working with international news agencies in the Gaza = Strip and=20 confiscated their equipment. The journalists had been covering a = rally to=20 commemorate a Palestinian suicide bomber that the militant Islamic = group=20 Hamas staged in the Nusseirat refugee camp. During the rally, one=20 protestor reportedly held up a portrait of Osama bin Laden, the = exiled=20 Saudi financier suspected by the United States of orchestrating = the recent=20 attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Palestinian = police=20 later stated that they "confiscated media material which = documented=20 illegal acts" at an illegal rally. Although the PNA returned the=20 journalists' camera equipment that weekend, some of their video = footage=20 had been erased. The AP reported yesterday that its video was = missing 45=20 seconds of footage. Another photographer told CPJ that images = stored on=20 his digital camera had been erased.

• September=20 11, 2001. According to international press reports, = Palestinian police=20 and armed gunmen prevented several news photographers and = cameramen from=20 documenting events in the West Bank city of Nablus, where groups = of=20 Palestinians celebrated the terrorist attacks on the United States = by=20 honking horns and firing live ammunition rounds into the air.=20

According to The Associated Press, Palestinian security=20 authorities summoned a free-lance cameraman working for the AP = that same=20 day and warned him not to air his footage of the events. Members = of the=20 Tanzim militia, affiliated with the Fatah organization, also = issued=20 warnings that the AP cameraman interpreted as = threatening.

Later,=20 the AP quoted Palestinian National Authority (PNA) cabinet = secretary Ahmed=20 Abdel Rahman as saying that the PNA "[could] not guarantee the = life" of=20 the AP cameraman if the film were broadcast. In the end, the = footage was=20 not aired, apparently out of concern for the journalist's safety.=20

• August 13, 2001. Tarek = Abdel Jaber and=20 Abdel Nasser Abdoun, a reporter and cameraman, respectively, for = the=20 state-run Egyptian Television network, were assaulted by an = unidentified=20 Israeli soldier at the Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and = the West=20 Bank city of Ramallah while they were filming in the = area.

Abdoun=20 told CPJ that the soldier approached him and Abdel Jaber when they = left=20 their car to gather film footage. Abdoun said the soldier ordered = him in=20 English to move back, and that he obeyed. The soldier then tried = to kick=20 him in the shin. He then approached Abdel Jaber and slapped him = across the=20 face. The soldier proceeded to kick Abdoun in the groin, and he = fell to=20 the ground.

According to Abdoun and Abdel Jaber, the other = soldiers=20 at the checkpoint did nothing to stop the attack. Abdoun captured = the=20 incident on video. Abdoun was taken to Makased hospital in = Jerusalem,=20 where he was treated and released after three hours.

In an = August=20 12 statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman's office = called=20 the incident "wrong and completely unacceptable" but accused the=20 journalists of refusing to leave the scene and of "provoking the = soldiers=20 guarding the checkpoint."

The IDF said that the soldier = involved in=20 the attack was "tried by the battalion commander and received a=20 [suspended] 21-day prison sentence...and was suspended from = commanding=20 positions."

• July 31, = 2001. Muhammad=20 al-Bishawi, a reporter for the Nablus-based Palestinian news = service Najah=20 Press Office and for IslamOnline.net, an Internet news service = based in=20 Qatar, was killed in an Israeli missile attack that had targeted = Hamas=20 leader Jamal Mansour. Israel had accused Mansour of masterminding = several=20 suicide bombings.

Various sources, including al-Bishawi's=20 Cairo-based editor, reported that at the time of the attack, = al-Bishawi=20 was in the Palestinian Center for Studies and Media, a Hamas = information=20 office, to interview Mansour for an article he was writing for=20 IslamOnline.net.

Al-Bishawi covered many topics for=20 IslamOnline.net, ranging from Palestinian weddings to suicide=20 bombers.

• July 29, 2001. = Israeli soldiers=20 attacked a number of journalists in the compound of the =
Al-Aqsa mosque=20 in Jerusalem, where the journalists were covering clashes between = Israeli=20 forces and Palestinian protesters.

Some 15 to 20 = journalists were=20 covering events in the Al-Aqsa compound. Among them were Awad Awad = and=20 Majfouz Abu Turk of Reuters, Atta Oweisat of Zoom 77, free-lancer = Mona=20 al-Kawatmi, and Rashid Safadi of Al Jazeera. The journalists said = they=20 were standing together in a group and that because of their = position and=20 equipment, they could not have been mistaken for Palestinian=20 demonstrators.

Abu Turk told CPJ that Israeli soldiers = first tried=20 to deny journalists entry to the compound by blocking all seven = doors. He=20 said that most of the journalists barred from entering the = compound=20 eventually gained access, including himself. Once the clashes = began, the=20 journalists said, Israeli forces started firing rubber bullets and = tear=20 gas into the crowd. (The army denied using rubber bullets.) The=20 journalists said that the attacks against journalists started = during the=20 "second wave" of Israeli attacks against = demonstrators.

Individual=20 journalists were abused, threatened, and forcefully removed from = the=20 compound. Awad sustained a broken tooth when he was kicked in the = face by=20 an Israeli soldier. Awad said that at about 3:15 p.m., as he was=20 photographing the clashes, a soldier charged him and kicked him in = the=20 mouth. Bleeding, Awad ran away. A few moments later he was again = attacked=20 by the same soldier, who kicked him several more = times.

• July 29, 2001. Sakher Abu al-Aoun, a = correspondent=20 for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in the Gaza Strip, was beaten by = five=20 assailants armed with pipes as he made his way to AFP's offices. = He=20 suffered a concussion.

In a letter to Palestinian leader = Yasser=20 Arafat, AFP said the incident was "particularly alarming because = the=20 assailants...clearly said they knew Sakher was a = journalist."
AFP=20 quoted Palestinian Authority secretary general Ahmed Abdulrahman = as saying=20 that the attacks against Abu al-Aoun were probably connected with = a report=20 the journalist filed about bloody clashes involving two feuding = families=20 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza.

• July=20 9, 2001. Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron = attacked=20 Mazen Dana and Nael Shiyoukhi, cameramen for Reuters; Hussam Abu = Alan, a=20 photographer for Agence France Presse; and Imad al-Said, a = cameraman for=20 Associated Press Television News.
The journalists were = covering=20 settlers attacking a Palestinian wedding party in the Al-Raf = section of=20 the city, across from the large Jewish settlement of Kiryat=20 Arba.

After they arrived at the scene, the photographers = began=20 filming the violence from 20 to 30 meters (22 to 33 yards) away, = until=20 Israeli border police ordered them to leave the area. They moved = to a=20 different location and resumed filming the settlers, who were = throwing=20 stones at cars and homes. Some of the settlers turned on the = journalists=20 and threw stones at them.
One settler pointed his machine gun = at the=20 cameras of Shyioukhi and al-Said. Abu Alan was beaten by another = settler.=20 None of the journalists were seriously injured, although Abu Alan=20 sustained slight injuries to his face and neck.

According = to the=20 journalists, the soldiers and police who were present did nothing = to stop=20 the attacks.

• June 26, = 2001. Hazem Bader,=20 a free-lance cameraman working with The Associated Press = Television News,=20 came under heavy machine gun fire while riding in his car in the = West Bank=20 city of Hebron.

At around dusk, Bader was driving home = from an=20 assignment when his car was attacked in the Palestinian-controlled = Bab=20 al-Zawiyah section of the city. Bader said the gunfire came from = an Israel=20 Defense Forces (IDF) outpost near the Jewish settlement of Tel = Rumeida,=20 about 500 meters (555 yards) away.

The first round of = shots hit a=20 wall just a few meters from his car, forcing him to exit the = vehicle and=20 take cover. Ten seconds later, Bader said, another round struck a = nearby=20 streetlight. A few minutes later, five or six rounds were fired = directly=20 at his car, three of which struck the vehicle.

Bader told = CPJ that=20 the street where the attack occurred was empty and peaceful. "It = was an=20 open and clear area," Bader said. "No one was moving in the area." = He=20 added that his car was plastered with Arabic, Hebrew, and English = stickers=20 that clearly identified it as a press vehicle.

IDF = spokesman=20 Olivier Rafowicz told CPJ that he had no information about the = incident=20 but added that the IDF had received a letter of inquiry from the = AP and=20 was "looking into it." Israeli authorities had taken no action on = the case=20 by year's end.

• May 29, = 2001. Joshua=20 Hammer, the Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek magazine, and Gary = Knight,=20 a photographer on assignment with the publication, were detained = by=20 Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The two were = interviewing=20 Palestinian militants in the town of Rafah who claimed to be = members of=20 the Fatah Hawks, an organization that Palestinian National = Authority=20 officials claim no longer exists.

During the interview, = the=20 militants informed the two journalists that they were being = detained "to=20 protest unfair American and British press coverage of the=20 Israeli-Palestinian conflict," according to Newsweek. The = journalists'=20 driver and translator were also detained.

In a statement, = the=20 militants said: "This operation comes as a message to the U.S. and = British=20 governments to reconsider their calculations and that all their = citizens=20 in Palestine and the Arab world will be subject to abduction and = killing=20 in case the full, biased and unjustified support continues to the=20 government [of Israel]."

The journalists were allowed to = leave=20 unharmed after four and a half hours. They said they did not feel=20 threatened, Newsweek reported. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials = denied any=20 involvement in the incident.

• = May 15,=20 2001. Bertrand Aguirre, a reporter for the French television = channel=20 TF1, was wounded in the chest by a live round while covering = clashes=20 between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators near the West = Bank=20 city of Ramallah.

Aguirre had just finished a stand-up = report when=20 an Israeli border policeman opened fire from about 150 to 200 = meters (166=20 to 222 yards) away. A single round struck the journalist in the = chest.=20 Aguirre's bulletproof vest most likely saved his life. =

Aguirre was=20 standing about 50 to 100 meters (55 to 111 yards) behind = stone-throwing=20 Palestinian demonstrators who were between him and the border = policeman.=20 The incident occurred during a lull in the clashes, according to=20 eyewitnesses.

While it is uncertain whether the soldier = was aiming=20 at Aguirre, video footage shows the soldier opening fire in the = direction=20 of unarmed demonstrators and journalists. The footage shows that = he was=20 not in a life-threatening situation and had violated the IDF's = rules of=20 engagement.

"It's clear that the soldier opened fire with = live=20 ammunition on an unarmed crowd and that he was shooting to kill. = Was he=20 aiming at me or not? I can't tell that," Aguirre told CPJ. The = journalist=20 contended that he was easily recognizable as a reporter since he = was=20 holding a microphone and wearing a conspicuous white flak jacket = as he=20 stood alongside his camera crew.

On June 21, Danny Seaman, = director of the Government Press Office's Foreign Press = Department, told=20 CPJ that an internal police investigation into Aguirre's shooting = was=20 under way. Investigators had received video footage of the = incident,=20 Seaman said, along with the bullet that wounded the journalist.=20

The investigation, Seaman said, was taking place under the = jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. He reported that if any = evidence=20 of wrongdoing was found, the Justice Ministry might initiate a = criminal=20 prosecution. Seaman said the results of the investigation were = expected to=20 be released in late June.

In September, the Justice = Ministry=20 dismissed the case for what it said was lack of evidence. A report = of the=20 investigation dated November 20 contained a lengthy account of the = Justice=20 Ministry's investigation of the Aguirre case. After interviewing = the=20 Israeli soldier who fired the shot, other soldiers, and = journalists on the=20 scene, the investigator concluded that "it is impossible to make = the=20 connection with certainty between the shot fired by the suspect = and the=20 wounding of the journalist because the whole picture is not = present.... In=20 my opinion, it is appropriate to close the case due to lack of=20 evidence."

• April 20, = 2001. Layla Odeh, a=20 correspondent for the United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi TV, was = shot by=20 Israeli troops at about 1 p.m. while she and two colleagues were=20 interviewing residents in the town of Rafah whose homes had been = destroyed=20 by Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the journalist told = CPJ.

Without=20 warning, two shots were fired in the journalists' direction from a = nearby=20 IDF position. When the crew attempted to flee the scene, a third = shot was=20 fired, striking Odeh in the back of her thigh. She was taken to = the Shifa=20 hospital, where she underwent surgery to remove the bullet. =

Odeh=20 and her colleagues reported that no clashes were taking place in = their=20 vicinity at the time of the shooting. They also maintained they = were=20 clearly identifiable as journalists due to their conspicuous = camera=20 equipment. Video footage appeared to confirm their = account.

IDF=20 spokesman Olivier Rafowicz expressed regret for the incident and = said that=20 an IDF investigation was under way. He told CPJ that "there was no = intention to hit the journalists" and added that the TV crew had = been in a=20 dangerous "area of violence."
On April 25, CPJ protested the = attack in=20 a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and urged him to ensure = that=20 Israeli authorities launched a thorough investigation into this = incident,=20 as well as other similar cases involving journalists wounded by = Israeli=20 gunfire.

In a June 7 letter to CPJ, Prime Minister = Sharon's=20 spokesman Raanan Gissin wrote that the Odeh incident was "under = official=20 IDF investigation," but said he "cannot release any of the = findings yet."=20 He added that "the Prime Minister and the IDF are serious about = examining=20 this matter thoroughly."

On June 11, a CPJ delegation met = with the=20 Israeli ambassador to the U.S., David Ivry, and presented him with = the=20 Odeh case and those of 15 other journalists wounded by live rounds = or=20 rubber-coated steel bullets since violence erupted in the occupied = territories in late September 2001.

In response to CPJ's = research,=20 the embassy wrote on June 19: "There was an investigation into = this=20 incident. The investigation revealed that Ms. Odeh was hit by a = rubber=20 bullet fired from a raised lookout position. The severity of her = injuries=20 was due to the use of rubber bullets from this position. Because = use of=20 rubber bullets in this situation were found to be dangerous, their = use has=20 been forbidden in such cases."

The ambassador also promised = to send=20 a detailed report to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and to the = IDF=20 asking for their immediate attention to the specific incidents = highlighted=20 by CPJ. In December, the IDF said the case was still under=20 review.

• March 26, 2001. = Israeli soldiers=20 attacked Amer Jabari, a cameraman for ABC News; Nael Shiyoukhi, a=20 cameraman for Reuters; and Hussam Abu Allan, a photographer for = Agence=20 France-Presse, while they were covering a Palestinian = demonstration in the=20 West Bank village of Halhoul.

According to Shiyoukhi, an = officer=20 approached the journalists and ordered them to evacuate the area = in=20 exactly one minute or face arrest. He gave no reason for the = order.=20
When the journalists did not leave, soldiers began to push = them, and=20 one punched Jabari in the nose. Shiyoukhi was pushed against a = military=20 jeep. He also reported that an officer would have arrested him had = a group=20 of women not intervened.

Abu Allan, who was watching the = incident,=20 was struck with a rifle butt. The Israeli army alleged that the = cameramen=20 were preventing the soldiers from performing their work, and that = one had=20 attacked a commander. The cameramen denied these = allegations.

March 21, 2001. Palestinian National Authority = (PNA)=20 security forces, acting on orders from President Yasser Arafat's = office,=20 closed the Ramallah bureau of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite = channel=20 and barred its staff from entering the premises. The move = apparently=20 resulted from an Al-Jazeera promotional trailer that advertised a=20 forthcoming episode in a documentary series about the Lebanese = civil war.=20 The trailer showed a demonstrator holding a pair of shoes over a = photo of=20 Arafat.

On March 19, PNA security authorities contacted the = bureau=20 to demand that Al-Jazeera withdraw the trailer within two hours or = else=20 face closure. Shortly thereafter, security officials visited the = bureau=20 and told staff that their office was closed indefinitely. On March = 21,=20 Palestinian security forces took up positions in front of the = bureau and=20 prevented staff from entering.

On March 23, following=20 international condemnation and the intervention of several = high-profile=20 Palestinian figures, Arafat allowed Al-Jazeera's bureau to=20 reopen.

• March 10, 2001. = Reuters cameramen=20 Mazen Dana and Nael Shiyoukhi and Agence France-Presse = photographer Hussam=20 Abu Alan were attacked at around 4 p.m. by Jewish settlers in the = West=20 Bank town of Hebron.

The journalists were filming settlers = throwing=20 stones and empty bottles at local Palestinian residents near the = Jewish=20 settlement neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.

Dana was struck in = the leg=20 by a bottle and in the face by a stone, which cut his lip and = broke three=20 teeth. The settlers also threatened to smash the journalists' = cameras.=20 Shiyoukhi, meanwhile, was kicked in the leg and hit in the neck = with a=20 stone before fleeing.

Israeli soldiers finally intervened = and=20 escorted Dana and Abu Alan away from the scene of the attack. = However, the=20 journalists were again attacked by a separate group of Jewish = settlers,=20 who broke Abu Alan's camera. All three photographers were taken to = a=20 hospital for treatment.

• March = 8, 2001. An=20 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier in an armored carrier =
opened fire=20 in the direction of three Reuters journalists—Christine = Hauser, Ahmed=20 Bahadou, and Suhaib Salem—at the Netzarim Junction in the = Gaza Strip.=20 Reporter Hauser, cameraman Bahadou, and free-lance photographer = Salem were=20 about 50 meters (55 yards) from the armored carrier when the = soldier=20 started firing a heavy machine gun in their direction. The = journalists=20 quickly took cover.

Reuters reported that when the shooting = occurred, Bahadou and Salem were pointing their cameras in the = opposite=20 direction from the carrier, and that Hauser had taken out her = notebook.=20 The journalists believed they had made eye contact with the IDF = soldiers=20 in order to assure them that they were press. The Netzarim = Junction was=20 described as quiet at the time.

Army spokesman Olivier = Rafowicz=20 later characterized the gunfire as "warning shots," claiming the=20 journalists had violating IDF policy by approaching the outpost. = Due to=20 the "tense security situation in Gaza," Rafowicz told Reuters, = "civilians=20 are not allowed to approach...outposts because of a present threat = of=20 terror activity." He added that the journalists failed to inform = the IDF=20 ahead of time of their presence in the area.

However, = Reuters=20 pointed out that the IDF requires no such notification from = journalists=20 working there. Hauser later said that contrary to what the Israeli = army=20 reported, the journalists were walking away from the IDF post when = the=20 shooting occurred.

In a June 19 response to CPJ's research, = Israel's embassy in Washington, D.C., wrote that an "investigation = was=20 launched the day of the incident. The investigation found that the = soldiers involved acted within IDF guidelines. An official = statement from=20 the IDF Spokesman was issued."

• = February 16,=20 2001. From February 16 to 20, Israeli authorities barred = editions of=20 three Palestinian daily newspapers—Al-Quds, Hayat = al-Jadida,=20 Al-Ayyam—from entering the Gaza Strip. The measure was = part of a=20 closure of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel in response to an = attack on=20 Israeli soldiers by Palestinian militants.

•=20 February 15, 2001. A transmission tower of the private = television=20 station Nablus TV was damaged by Israeli gunfire during clashes = between=20 Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus. = The tower=20 was perched atop a residential building that was hit by the = Israeli=20 fire.

Ayman al-Nimer, technical director of the station, = said that=20 because of the destruction, about 40 percent of the station's = viewers=20 could not watch the channel. Israeli fire had also knocked out the = station's transmission in January, stopping all broadcasts for =
20=20 days.

Nimer told CPJ that he could not confirm that the = station=20 was targeted, but the fact that the transmission tower has been = hit twice=20 within a short period of time raises questions about the Israel = Defense=20 Forces' intentions.

• February = 11, 2001.=20 Louay Abu Haikal and Hussam Abu Alan, photographers for Reuters = and Agence=20 France-Presse, respectively, were attacked by two Jewish settlers = while=20 covering clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers = in the=20 West Bank city of Hebron. Abu Haikal told CPJ that when he tried = to defend=20 himself from attack by pushing the settlers back, an Israeli = soldier=20 struck him in the neck with a rifle butt. The soldier then aimed = the rifle=20 at Abu Allan's head and threatened to shoot him, according to the=20 journalists. The soldier temporarily confiscated the journalists'=20 identification cards, which were returned after their respective = news=20 agencies were contacted.


•February 9,=20 2001. Laurent van der Stock, 36, a veteran photographer = working for=20 the GAMMA photo agency and Newsweek magazine, was struck in the = left knee=20 by a live bullet while covering clashes between Palestinian = demonstrators=20 and Israeli troops near the West Bank town of Ramallah. The bullet = entered=20 above his knee and exited through the back of his leg, severing an = artery=20 and causing nerve damage.

At the time of the incident, van = der=20 Stock and several other photojournalists had been covering clashes = near=20 the City Inn Hotel, along Ramallah's border with its sister city,=20 Al-Bireh, for about two hours. An Israeli army position composed = of=20 soldiers in jeeps was located about 100 meters (111 yards) away = from the=20 hotel. According to journalists at the scene, armed Israeli troops = were=20 also stationed in buildings situated on the high ground behind the = jeeps,=20 some 500 meters (555 yards) from the journalists. =

According to the=20 journalists, Palestinian demonstrators had launched several = attacks on the=20 Israeli jeeps, using stones, pipes, and slingshots. The soldiers = responded=20 by exiting their jeeps and opening fire with rubber bullets, tear = gas, and=20 stun grenades. Palestinian gunmen in buildings along the main road = also=20 fired sporadically on the Israeli positions in the course of the=20 afternoon.

At about 3:15 p.m., van der Stock ventured into = the=20 middle of the road during clashes in order to photograph = Palestinian=20 youths retreating from an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) = counterattack. "I=20 understood the demonstrators would run back, so I ran [out] about = 20=20 seconds ahead of time and photographed people running [retreating] = toward=20 me," van der Stock told CPJ. "I was shot in the [left] knee." =

Van=20 der Stock described the situation just prior to the incident as = chaotic=20 but added that anyone firing live ammunition into the crowd should = have=20 known that he was a photographer, since he carried two cameras = around his=20 neck.

In a telephone interview, IDF spokesman Olivier = Rafowicz=20 told CPJ that IDF troops and Palestinian gunmen were engaged in a = fierce=20 gun battle at the time van der Stock was shot. Because of the = general=20 confusion and because the bullet that entered the photographer's = leg was=20 never retrieved, the army was unable to determine who fired the = shot,=20 Rafowicz claimed.

Nonetheless, van der Stock and = eyewitnesses=20 interviewed by CPJ maintained that the shot was likely fired by an = Israeli=20 soldier stationed either on the ground or in a nearby building. = "The way=20 the bullet came and hit him straight in the knee, there was no = doubt it=20 came from straight ahead [i.e., the Israeli positions]," one = photographer=20 at the scene told CPJ. "The Palestinian gunmen who were firing = earlier=20 were in the buildings...100 meters [111 yards] to the left and = right but=20 behind Laurent. His back would have been to the Palestinian = gunmen...From=20 what I saw...it would have to be a ballistic miracle for him to = have been=20 hit by Palestinian fire." Moreover, journalists on the scene added = that=20 gunfire from the Palestinian side had ceased for some time before = van der=20 Stock was shot.

On March 13, CPJ wrote the IDF spokesman's = office=20 to urge the IDF to launch a serious and thorough investigation to=20 determine if one of its soldiers in fact fired the round that = injured=20 Laurent van der Stock, and for what reason. CPJ also requested = that the=20 IDF release the findings of this investigation, along with any = additional=20 information that might shed light on the incident. The IDF = responded that=20 it was looking into the incident and promised to reply in detail = to CPJ's=20 concerns.

On December 17, 2001, CPJ received a faxed = document from=20 Israel's Government Press Office, titled "Report on Injury of = Foreign=20 Journalists Covering the Violence in the West Bank and Gaza and=20 Operational Procedures Implemented by the IDF."

The report = claimed=20 that it was impossible to establish that van der Stock was hit by = IDF=20 fire, adding that several attempts were made to have the = photographer=20 speak directly to the brigade commander so a more thorough = investigation=20 could be conducted, but that these attempts were = unsuccessful.

•February 8, 2001. The offices of the = official=20 Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida, located in the = West Bank=20 town of Al-Bireh, were hit during a barrage of gunfire that lasted = from=20 about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. No one was injured, but windows in the = front of the=20 building were heavily damaged. The staff took cover in the = basement during=20 the shooting.

According to staff, the shots came from the = direction=20 of the Israeli army base on Jabal al-Tawil, near the Jewish = settlement of=20 Pisgaout.

•January 16, = 2001. Majdi=20 al-Arbid, a free-lance cameraman and the owner of a private = production=20 company in the Gaza Strip, was detained by the Preventive Security = Services of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Gaza in = connection=20 with video footage of the PNA's execution of a Palestinian accused = of=20 collaborating with Israel.

The PNA was apparently angered = that the=20 execution had aired on Israel's Channel 2. Only a few = PNA-sanctioned=20 journalists were allowed to cover the execution, and al-Arbid was = not=20 among them. PNA officials suspected that whoever shot the footage = then=20 gave it to al-Arbid, who passed it to Channel 2.

Al-Arbid = was=20 released on January 23, after eight days in = detention.


Cases 2000

• November 15, = 2000.=20 Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces raided = the=20 private Bethlehem television station Al-Roa' and temporarily = forced it off=20 the air. During the raid, two PNA soldiers beat station director = Hamdi=20 Farraj and several other staff members, the journalists said, = while other=20 soldiers threatened to shoot the staff and destroy the station's=20 equipment. After forcing the staff outside, the soldiers locked = the=20 station's doors and confiscated the keys.

Though the = authorities=20 did not give a reason for the raid, it was apparently prompted by = Al-Roa's=20 incorrect report that Israeli forces had bombed a Palestinian = military=20 facility in Bethlehem.

The melee continued outside until = other PNA=20 security agents arrived on the scene and intervened to stop the = beatings.=20 Farraj and several staff members were briefly detained. The = station was=20 allowed to resume broadcasting shortly thereafter.

Two = days later,=20 at 8:30 p.m. on the evening of November 17, Palestinian police = ordered the=20 station to cease broadcasting. The police carried a letter to PNA = chairman=20 Yasser Arafat, asking Arafat to order the closure of Al-Roa' and = the=20 arrest of Farraj, whom the letter accused of promoting sectarian = strife.=20 (Farraj was not arrested).

The letter was signed by PNA = police=20 chief Ghazi Jebali, by the head of Arafat's Bethlehem office, = William=20 Nasser, and by other police and security officials. The officers = also=20 carried a written reply from Arafat that said "Do what you think = is=20 necessary," Al-Roa' reported.

Station staff told CPJ that = the=20 authorities had accused the station of promoting religious = "strife" within=20 the Palestinian community, but did not elaborate.

On = November 19,=20 about 100 local residents marched to the station's offices and = demanded=20 that it reopen. Al-Roa' then went back on the air, in defiance of = the=20 closure order, and was still broadcasting at press = time.

• November 12, 2000. Israeli soldiers = stopped Reuters=20 cameraman Mazen Dana at the Khallet Khadour checkpoint, near the = Jewish=20 settlement of Kiryat Arba, and prevented him from entering the old = city of=20 Hebron. Dana was traveling with Mary Robinson, the U.N. high = commissioner=20 for human rights.

The soldiers claimed that all = journalists were=20 prohibited from entering the old city. After Robinson protested, = Dana told=20 CPJ, he was finally allowed to proceed.

After they passed = through=20 the checkpoint, a group of Jewish settlers attacked Dana's car = with stones=20 and metal bars. Afterwards, the journalist was taken to the local = police=20 station and questioned for one and a half hours.

• = November 12, 2000. Jewish settlers attacked = a car=20 carrying Reuters photographers Abdel Rahim Qusini and Nasser = Ishtayyeh,=20 who were traveling from Jerusalem toward the West Bank city of = Nablus to=20 investigate news that a settler had been killed that day. =

As the=20 journalists approached a bus station at the Za'tara intersection = on the=20 main road to Nablus, they saw some five Israeli soldiers standing = with a=20 handful of settlers. Suddenly, about a dozen settlers walked from = behind a=20 concrete barrier and started hurling stones at their car. A = separate group=20 of about 30 settlers then began throwing stones and pieces of = cement. One=20 stone broke the glass of the left window and struck Qusini in the=20 shoulder.

Israeli soldiers witnessed the incident but did = not=20 intervene, according to the two journalists, even though their car = displayed a "Press" sticker and had Israeli license plates. Qusini = was=20 taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus for treatment and was released = later=20 in the day.

• November 11, = 2000. Yola=20 Monakhov, a 26-year-old free-lance photographer working with The=20 Associated Press, was struck in the lower abdomen by a live round = fired by=20 an Israeli soldier in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. She = sustained a=20 fractured pelvis and serious injuries to her bladder and other = internal=20 organs.

According to the AP, Monakhov was with a small = group of=20 Palestinian youths, some of whom had been hurling stones toward an = Israeli=20 outpost near Rachel's Tomb, when an Israeli soldier appeared from = around a=20 corner and took aim at the group from a distance of about 50 yards = (55=20 meters). Monakhov fled along with the youths to take shelter = behind a=20 closed gate.

"There was maybe one youth pressed in the = doorway with=20 me," she told the AP, explaining that her backpack prevented her = from=20 entering the area. "I was waiting for the shot. And a second later = I=20 collapsed."

After initial denials, the Israeli Defense = Forces (IDF)=20 acknowledged on November 17 that one of its troops had shot the=20 journalist. The IDF announced that it was conducting an = investigation into=20 the incident.

In December, the IDF formally apologized to = Monakhov=20 and said that the soldier who fired the shot violated IDF = regulations. The=20 IDF also promised that the soldier as well as his commanding = officer would=20 face a court martial. To CPJ's knowledge, the disciplinary = actions, if=20 carried out, would be the first such action taken by the IDF = against=20 soldiers who abused journalists.

• October 31,=20 2000. Wedeman, CNN's Cairo bureau chief, was hit in the lower = back by=20 a live round at the Karni border crossing between Israel and the = Gaza=20 Strip.

Wedeman told CPJ that he had gone to the Karni = crossing=20 following reports of clashes there earlier in the day. He and his = crew=20 initially stationed themselves across the street from a group of=20 Palestinians whom he presumed had been among the protesters = earlier.=20

"[They] were on one side of the street and a handful of=20 journalists [were] on the other side," Wedeman said. He described = the=20 situation as tense but relatively stable at first, although there = was=20 sporadic gunfire. Journalists at the scene were wearing flak = jackets and=20 helmets.

As Wedeman and CNN cameraman Muhammad Assad = walked down=20 the road toward an olive grove, a burst of gunfire erupted. = "Within=20 minutes there was shooting. Intense shooting," he said. "I heard = bullets=20 over my head. We realized we were not in a good position." He = added that=20 what appeared to be a shell landed 16 to 22 meters (17 to 24 = yards) away.=20

About five minutes later, while Wedeman was taking down = his tripod=20 and preparing to leave the area during a lull in the firing, he = was struck=20 in the back. The bullet passed through Wedeman's flak jacket. He = could not=20 determine the source of the shot, but did say that his back was to = the=20 Israeli position, between 400 yards (437 meters) and one mile = (1.62=20 kilometer) away.

Agence France-Presse reported that = journalists,=20 including the CNN crew, were fired on by Israeli forces. An = official at=20 CNN told CPJ that there was "no reason to believe whoever fired = upon=20 Wedeman knew he was a journalist."

CPJ released a news = alert about=20 the attack on the afternoon of October 31.

•=20 October 31, 2000. Israeli soldiers detained Suleiman = al-Shafei, a=20 reporter and cameraman for the Israeli television station Channel = 2, when=20 the journalist tried to reenter Israel from the Gaza Strip via the = Erez=20 checkpoint. The soldiers told al-Shafei that he was violating an = order=20 prohibiting Israeli citizens from entering the occupied = territories.=20

After al-Shafei identified himself as a Channel 2 reporter = (and an=20 Israeli citizen), the soldiers called in Israeli police, who took = the=20 journalist to a nearby police station and questioned him for four = hours.=20 He was asked why he had gone to Gaza, whom he had met with, and = what he=20 had seen. Al-Shafei refused to answer the questions and protested = his=20 detention.

The police officers then tried to make = al-Shafei sign a=20 written pledge that he would not enter Gaza for 90 days. He = refused and=20 was eventually released on 5000 shekels (US$1250) bail, but the = soldiers=20 confiscated his footage of the aftermath of Israel's bombing of=20 Palestinian National Authority offices in Gaza the night = before.

In=20 a virtually identical incident on November 2, Israeli soldiers = again=20 stopped al-Shafei at the Erez checkpoint for violating the ban on = entry=20 into the occupied territories and transferred him to police = custody. After=20 another interrogation, he was released on bail of 15,000 shekels=20 (US$3750).

• October 23, = 2000. Israeli=20 soldiers prevented Nasser Shiyoukhi, a reporter and photographer = for The=20 Associated Press, from entering the West Bank village of Sumoua, = near=20 Hebron. His Israeli government press card was also confiscated. =

At=20 the time of the incident, Shiyoukhi was returning to Sumoua, = having left=20 in order to help a number of foreign reporters who were having = difficulty=20 gaining access to the town. When he arrived at the checkpoint, the = soldiers told him he could not reenter Sumoua, and then took his = press=20 card.

• October 21, 2000. = Jacques-Marie=20 Bourget, a reporter for the French magazine Paris-Match, = was struck=20 in the chest by a live bullet and seriously injured while covering = clashes=20 between stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli troops in = Ramallah. He was=20 hospitalized in Ramallah and then flown to Paris for treatment 24 = hours=20 later.

At the time of the incident, Bourget was standing = along a=20 wall with a group of journalists and other bystanders. They were = near, but=20 not among, a group of demonstrators, Paris-Match reported = and other=20 eyewitnesses confirmed. A bullet then struck Bourget in the chest, = entering his lung.

A Paris-Match editor in Paris = told CPJ=20 that the magazine was not sure who fired the round that hit = Bourget, and=20 that the magazine did not believe he was targeted intentionally. = However,=20 another Paris-Match journalist had a different = view.

"From=20 where he was standing, only those in front of him could have hit = him. And=20 those in front of him were Israeli soldiers," Paris-Match = deputy=20 editor Patrick Jarnoux told The Toronto Star. "He was = nowhere near=20 the clashes, standing alone with a photographer," Jarnoux added. = "And a=20 57-year-old man can't easily be mistaken for a 15-year-old rock=20 thrower."

• October 21, = 2000. Bruno=20 Stevens, a free-lance photographer working with the French = newspaper=20 Lib=E9ration and the German magazine Stern, was = grazed in the=20 throat by a live bullet while covering clashes between Israelis = and=20 Palestinians in Ramallah. At the time, Stevens was standing with = several=20 other journalists, well away from Palestinian demonstrators.=20

Stephens told CPJ that the bullet, which he believed was = fired by=20 Israeli troops, passed over the head of a British free-lance = photographer=20 and then ricocheted off a wall before grazing his throat. He = suffered a=20 minor burn.

The incident took place just minutes after the = shooting=20 of Paris-Match's Jacques-Marie Bourget, who was part of the = same=20 group of journalists.

• = October 18, 2000.=20 An Israeli soldier shot Patrick Baz in the finger with a = rubber-coated=20 metal bullet while the photographer was covering clashes between = Israeli=20 forces and stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in Ramallah. Baz = was=20 standing with another photographer at the time.

Although = armed=20 Palestinians at the scene later engaged in gunfire with the = Israeli=20 forces, Baz said this happened after he was hit.

"It was = obvious=20 [we were journalists]. We were wearing white helmets and flak = jackets,"=20 Baz told CPJ. "I got it on my finger while [the finger] was on my=20 camera...I can't say it was a stray bullet.

"I would not = complain=20 if I was in the middle of the demonstration...[but] we were on the = side=20 between demonstrators and soldiers and in an empty field, really," = he=20 continued. "You could call it a no-man's land."

• October 17, 2000. Reuters = photographer Mahfouz Abu=20 Turk was wounded in the hand by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired = by=20 Israeli troops while he was covering clashes that erupted between=20 Palestinians and Israeli forces in Bethlehem after the funeral of = a=20 Palestinian boy.

Just before the attack, Abu Turk was = photographing=20 the clashes from behind a cement block. He was taken to the = hospital in=20 Beit Jala, where he received four stitches for the = wound.

Abu Turk=20 claimed that his camera equipment clearly identified him as a=20 journalist.

• October 12, = 2000. At around=20 5 p.m., Israeli attack helicopters opened fire on two transmission = towers=20 and other technical facilities used by the Voice of Palestine in = the West=20 Bank city of Ramallah. The attack briefly knocked the Palestinian = National=20 Authority radio station off the air, but it quickly resumed = broadcasting=20 on an FM frequency.

The Israeli army acknowledged that it = had=20 deliberately targeted the radio towers. A military spokesman = justified the=20 attack by charging that the station had incited Palestinians to = commit=20 violence. Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, head of the Israeli army's = operations=20 branch, told Reuters that Palestinian state television broadcasts = of=20 Palestinians dragging an effigy of an Israeli soldier had incited = a mob=20 attack in Ramallah earlier that day, in which two Israeli soldiers = were=20 killed.

CPJ protested the attack in an October 18 letter to = Israeli=20 prime minister Ehud Barak.

• = October 12,=20 2000. A Palestinian mob prevented several cameramen and = photographers=20 from filming the killing of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah. Some = journalists were assaulted and had their film or cameras=20 confiscated.

A cameraman from ABC News was kicked in the = groin and=20 stomach by the crowd and prevented from filming the = event.

British=20 free-lance photographer Mark Seager was also assaulted and had his = camera=20 seized. "Instinctively, I reached for my camera," Seager later = wrote in=20 the London Sunday Telegraph. "I was composing the picture = when I=20 was punched in the face by a Palestinian. Another Palestinian = pointed=20 right at me shouting ‘no picture, no picture!' while another = guy hit me in=20 the face and said ‘give me your film!' I tried to get the = film out but=20 they were all grabbing me and one guy just pulled the camera off = me and=20 smashed it to the floor."

Patrick Baz, a photographer for = Agence=20 France-Presse, had two of his cameras confiscated by the crowd, = though he=20 had not taken any photographs of the killing. "I bumped into a = crowd. They=20 wanted my film," he told CPJ, saying the mob apparently suspected = him of=20 belonging to an undercover Israeli unit. "I hadn't taken any = shots. I had=20 nothing to give them. I was pushed and harassed. They started = pulling at=20 my camera." He said he ended up getting one of the cameras back = after=20 pleading with the crowd, but the other was destroyed.

One=20 journalist working for a Western news organization who was at the = scene=20 said the angry crowd prevented several other cameramen and = photographers=20 from filming the incident.

• = October 11,=20 2000. Israeli police called in Atta Oweisat, a photographer = for the=20 Israeli press agency Zoom 77, for questioning in Jerusalem. The = journalist=20 thought he was being summoned in reference to a complaint he filed = about=20 his beating at the hands of an undercover Israeli security unit in = Jerusalem on October 4 (see case above).

Instead, Oweisat = was=20 charged with insulting the police, injuring an officer, and = preventing the=20 police from arresting demonstrators. Oweisat vigorously denied the = charges. "My presence as a photojournalist has been a nuisance for = [Israeli undercover agents] who infiltrate among the local = Palestinians=20 during demonstrations and who are strongly opposed to their = identities=20 being exposed," he argued.

The journalist was released on = bail of=20 5000 shekels (US$ 1250). The charges against him were still = pending at=20 year's end.

• October 9, = 2000. A=20 rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli forces hit the camera = lens of=20 Luc Delahaye, a free-lance photographer with the Magnum photo = agency and=20 Newsweek magazine. At the time, the journalist was shooting = clashes=20 between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in the town = of=20 Ramallah. Delahaye estimated that he was shot at a distance of 40 = yards=20 (44 meters). His camera was destroyed.

While working at the = same=20 location the next day, his head was grazed by another rubber = bullet. One=20 week later, he was hit on the forehead by a third rubber bullet = while=20 photographing a Palestinian protester who had just been hit in the = head by=20 a live round.

"In the three incidents I was definitely = targeted by=20 the soldiers, but I cannot say if I was targeted as a human being = or as a=20 journalist," Delahaye told CPJ, adding that he was wearing only a = T-shirt=20 and not a flak jacket. "It is impossible to say."

• October 7, 2000. Walid Suleiman = Amayreh, publisher of=20 the biweekly Akhbar al-Khalil, was detained by Palestinian = police=20 after his live appearance on the Gulf-based satellite news station = Al-Shareqah. During the program, Amayreh criticized the = Palestinian=20 National Authority (PNA) for rampant corruption and for pursuing a = peace=20 settlement with Israel. He also called for the release of = imprisoned Hamas=20 activists.

The journalist was questioned and forced to sign = a=20 pledge affirming that he would abide by Palestinian information = laws. He=20 was released after 30 hours in custody.

•=20 October 4, 2000. Atta Owiesat, a photographer for the Israeli = press=20 agency Zoom 77, was assaulted by a group of undercover Israeli = security=20 agents while covering the funeral of a Palestinian in Jabel = Moukaber, a=20 neighborhood of Jerusalem. He was standing with other Israeli = journalists=20 when undercover Israeli security agents arrived and began = arresting=20 Palestinian youths.

"When I began to take pictures, seven = of [the=20 Israeli agents] attacked me, threw me to the ground, and started = beating=20 me and stepping on me, trying hard to pull the cameras away from = me,"=20 Oweisat recalled. "I was holding the camera-which was hanging from = my=20 neck-tight. Then a Border Patrol soldier came and held me by the = neck and=20 one of the [agents] stepped on my stomach." Oweisat was knocked=20 unconscious and woke up in the hospital. His bulletproof vest = prevented=20 serious injuries, he said.

A week earlier, Oweisat had = filmed a=20 group of Israeli undercover agents in Jerusalem's Shufat refugee = camp. He=20 believes this might have motivated the attack.

• October 2, 2000. Israeli forces firing = live ammunition=20 shot Mazen Dana, a Hebron-based Reuters cameraman, in the left = foot and=20 leg while he was covering clashes on Hebron's Shalalah = Street.

It=20 was Dana's second combat wound in two days. The day before, he was = hit in=20 the same leg by an Israeli rubber-coated metal = bullet.

• October 2, 2000, Reuters photographer = Louay Abu=20 Haykel was hit in the leg by a rubber-coated metal bullet while = covering=20 clashes between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank city of = Hebron.

• October 1, 2000. = Amer Jabari, a=20 Hebron-based cameraman for ABC News, was wounded in the head by an = unidentified object, thought to be either an Israeli rubber-coated = metal=20 bullet or a rock thrown by a Palestinian demonstrator, while = covering=20 clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli troops in=20 Hebron.


• September 29, = 2000. Khaled=20 Abu Aker, a correspondent with the French television station = France 2 and=20 the West Bank stringer for The New York Times, was beaten = by=20 Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. The attack occurred = after=20 Abu Aker refused to comply with a police officer who demanded that = the=20 journalist hand over a rubber bullet that he had picked up off the = ground.=20

Abu Aker was hit in the shoulder with a truncheon and = punched in=20 the face. His shirt was ripped and his eyeglasses stomped on in = the=20 ensuing melee, which another officer joined.

•=20 September 29, 2000. Hazem Bader, a cameraman stringing = for The=20 Associated Press, was wounded in his right hand by a rubber-coated = metal=20 bullet while covering clashes between Israeli troops and = Palestinian=20 demonstrators at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. The bullet was fired = by an=20 Israeli soldier from an estimated range of 15 yards (16 meters), = according=20 to Bader and another eyewitness.

Bader and a few other=20 photographers and cameramen had been filming Israeli soldiers = shooting at=20 demonstrators near the Magharbeh Gate, which overlooks the Western = Wall.=20 The journalists were stationed behind a stone column about 15 = yards (16=20 meters) away from the soldiers. Bader claimed he was hit on = purpose. "It=20 was a clear shot at us," he said. "We were far from the=20 demonstrators."

The bullet broke three bones in Bader's = hand. The=20 journalist later had two metal plates inserted in his hand. At = year's end,=20 he still had no movement in two of his fingers and had been unable = to work=20 since the attack.

• Sepember = 29, 2000.=20 Reuters photographer Mahfouz Abu Turk was hit in the left = thigh with a=20 rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli troops. He had been = covering=20 the clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque and was taking cover = behind a=20 large stone column. He retreated after being wounded but still = kept=20 filming while heading in the direction of the mosque. =

Shortly=20 thereafter, Abu Turk was hit in the right foot by another rubber = bullet.=20 He was taken to Al-Makased Hospital for treatment and released the = same=20 day.

• September 29, 2000. = Israeli=20 soldiers beat Reuters cameraman Khaled Zeghari and shot him in the = leg=20 with a rubber-coated metal bullet while he was covering clashes at = the=20 Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The attack took place about five = minutes=20 after Associated Press cameraman Hazem Bader was shot.

"I = was=20 filming the crowd during Friday prayers and when the clashes took = place by=20 the Magharbeh Gate. I took refuge behind a large rock [stone = column] in=20 the courtyard of the Islamic Museum," Zeghari said, adding that = after 10=20 minutes or so a group of Israeli soldiers stormed the courtyard = and opened=20 fire.

"At that time I was filming the event while lying = down on the=20 ground. All of a sudden the soldiers approached me and began = beating me=20 with bats and sticks on my head and shoulders," Zeghari said. = "Trying to=20 protect my head against their fierce beating I ran toward = Magharbeh Gate=20 and from there I was [taken], bleeding from my head and right leg, = to=20 Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem for treatment."

Zeghari did = not=20 realize that a rubber-coated metal bullet was lodged in his leg = until=20 doctors examined him at the hospital. The bullet was apparently = fired at=20 close range.

In addition to the bullet wound, Zeghari = suffered a=20 cut and several bruises on his head as well as bruises on his = back, right=20 shoulder, and left hand. He lost his camera during the=20 melee.





------=_NextPart_000_0161_01C2491A.CD50D800 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/brief_banner_02.gif R0lGODlhWAIoALMAAOrq6vf29qakpNLS0iIiIpWVlWRkZN/f38TDw0RERMlcXIqKioGBgbS0tAAA AP///yH5BAAAAAAALAAAAABYAigAAAT/8MlJq7046827/2AojmRpnmiqrmzrvnAsz3Rt33iu73zv /8DgBDEYII7IpHLJTAYAgWVjIaxar9isdsvtZhqygADwCAQoBq96zW6733CfQDZQIA6Kw2SQ2DT+ gIGCg4SFhoeIiYqLjI2Oj5CRkpOUlZaXmJmam5ZXBTEBCqIKAmcPAA19Gpysra6vsLGys7S1treG njBiowoUqKpfuMPExcbHyMnKy4G6L3WjDQN6p6lx19jZ2tvcW58vDaICo9TA3efo6err7BjfLuG9 CBPm7fb3+Pn6Pu8WTwBQKpiSYGbgKSNJAlYLps/gvocQI0rM0I9gAwYGEmhMYECAHgQM/xgsWBCy pMcHBTZuNFDO2sSXMGPKTFcRQQICBgo0QNCggAEHBA4cEJDAgQMDCwowKEpgzICfDhIQMVVvhMMP QkEcGDDhAJkbVyUAEEpW6FcbZdOGNXGAZ8UVY9NSY3OgABUdXoG07emhrYB5IeKSpTc3ANmzHwIY KQB4gmEEAuZY6ScAaGMKS6k1ADoXwE8C8xAQcMCgQtXASksaYABmwwECBBCvgk1mAOy1OMYqZYxA aSm0IBn85blANoqhwmG0Dbnz4oK5NwbgzgA5sg6Qb/EKSI5hLMG6DLgGHhDypIQGkk/VHSPCMEnZ hpVeDvJuc1AMDQx8tS9ewmvSD4gG4P8vLrUnYAICQJUdBa/F1oEABOh0hm0JGMfDdo3Jd8MBIQ2U HgsYxsBhaRJgl8NIIvD1AHQ1BEASiT+EeAFIl203nQYaiiVSBQywCMKOF4RkIT/+FfVhBQM0YAoC QPV3SlGl2TYgPQWO8BOJRSVwI0AdvMbQikPuQFJ/IB0pg4ldvaCUjyuguWJIuXH3AQCs8fCHkECs iR8DiDGw4IMMNHYRn3v8yQGdZp4CpzMFRMXmjE3+MtocUt5F5ZchQCmBpo4FdIApTxgEwDQVMNnH QE84lupYYW31qQWjDgBfmI6FNFeZe9TWXxQIIIYQYgAcMeRFiT4gq7FOGsGisqYdsSj/PUc4GQVV CFC71kWtGStnV0RQcOyK1f4SLZK6lgFSA1lJ8OsFB2C7lbrlEmSEdN5+FcVXwdIKwAIB2CpQuHc4 Nq+ojb3rn3hROHmKszCatmZedLaWL5IBX0CsWEkFOoE0zXZbL7LqauwtT9sK8UkAPxlw4xCRTlCZ lgGOZqlYVYqQ5XYENEweRwyAFkBKCcxF1E0MUPUZUmYsoNEZHGoEYVTSZmQATgv89gBRGVWIBmiu PYtSeKfIR15rPNV111BbFSAZAAIUIcDMFMj4i9h1Gtv2dl8NcDehZfzVrp+OCYDudpIN8N4Dg366 XY8YyLhvAcC2TeOK8okREsKCI7c2/93o9sbaESt6NIDa/oBnFgCcl1jAcvyGrbHhGgc3XwVtXy2y uiT9LV5vrC+JZ79zWD7HASSlJ8YdF2VHMm+1gS37HntbiCviJEvmIqqZEy5W6ogzLlbbyGVbxScA FJWGB0wSIB1ABRCQgHiVmlZzpkAx5b2iQGVUbWUEmLKAA2Mwklg+UzUzNIoA3zOKcMyHGQd84jO/ GcBRjMUSxxgFbhZw07mqcZHR/QUlrbOLoqgRBQkwZmMYIMkdzMLB8KhtHhfRw0XIEMPukcFFktlg GQrwjX7xaRrbCRDbitYAOhUNA7YSgNoURp55NDFYSknSzzT2sx4KCRUdfKEJLUUnEv/OzoTfwKIL PzhDEwZqVCBxVRoHBzYM6E0C28nWYly4Ohua0Yl0uksTA9TEedUNhyWqmwX2uDE+9Wo74qlhGQcJ uH0pZlE8cQwPCXLFO3kQMErpisgQiYVP/Od8HUhfWwyQkeLsQWbywxQIoDQW8w3EVAU5xW3KABs9 NApGpmIQbOgRFRoeZSBFmUdlQLkZBE3DID2hVffuxkMnYStvdeJQaIQDHQ4VgF4Y8OFOhFXIIuro ZFVTFDglcxHAcLJ7jfEXSv5yhheeAXAXMCIqROIQpZDhbabA0BlCVM4JqPOZtUpPmR5FyQ8BVFvp kVEHZRieex7xAj8bjvYooDarkSf/oSKLGBz5RiOugCSRm2yjBRYJxwX06mvfLEM42QWnnUjgcig5 Sz9f6r2DlkFO9pTA4XRRvgmir0mGyYu3UEkgVX6AU5txwK186p9ZHiB/WUtPMYeKQP/0MkC/nMCV POOAbPXUKEETgdwsoMQMBWp08CuJcM5gxJBAjqUNi9sJz8MavQEGW3adwOHkqVPv+fCGwuFKv95K SAuMSKW30xbkBDcQdR4ud5TkW1kZdDvymKRViZ3sRs0qHh5i8oTAo45HhAISuPnpLHKLYiC5Qqf6 1C2TfSUDXy8QRMwsQLDcwesHMTAiR25UGh+C7E0lO9eQAaa1IcMgfZ501VC27ALx/yuqCTjFv7Pk sitO5UwZKjDVU1Z1RVdlksrocZOMiM8wOHOAcjcwpgzQM7In9dbbQgKYdqUmUW7iUevMaB7+VhNI wdERjKwZssLVrYYz4o5lZeonbKZUnIoaMDwf8N4h3M9uL/piGm07EOFSmFD9at1gjdud/b7poW8K 7v3wZDsaCjKnoX3TXQKMxA8hV1uYpCYH3NoY7NROwJp8R4VXG8jgTdQZDLDMT9WXgeheygRXYm7D xCupqgaAU6kqUVR0+V0AROUMVN5DAsLjkN5ouR9LUZhp1AkrOR22AkLT2K1KRtdEIQozF/4wi3Bl BO68uXsgDbQZr4VTQY6VxAEC2/+fO6ijI9koTZu12Mzu7E/vjS1krbk0oBs3HzZPrtLU0PQDkmIs RkMYx0U21vQMK8hE39V7bNZASExsxJktuo2UdtlDQ5SkxI6vRKMB5QbSp+ZTqjeVJfgPTmCD4gN8 pgBsTbIDz9CA0eBEKgMEynPKAJVS0Akon+Bftv4Hm3KTTb350RpBiOpGr5XqdiPiSpLIAO3z1Js9 xjKlBXL07sswZ2Fc+XewPNrgef4FIL9bQLaUYgoRRrgIF+D3iKhBuCeAzo4/k1jCs/VpvYaHY/VG XMgrQDoLX0a1Vwu5qRcpn9kRzyH01TViUK5EU1hTVhhyosiwBQbsyIpY8aVAmZL/tNGvRHEeAvfY BVRI8lbz1UUc9/XlwBDHainlD52kpFGKxd3nDpLdNDNqlyJD9mWR/TdsIzs0SZmtoZT9FGd/Qtzd znGchCRLZ/jZavK8HYJ6rq60vXBqTJp3kQCi4Z/DN4MGxRjZ9J0Cg2LNfkriTcU6FN/Jg0x/bkzp mxuW8Y3Zzm21VZ657KZskPeT5uOW5+IBVuF/CEu/nPT4PRh+JwNheF/9adIMjiS+81Q9TZF0+3D5 57RfM6f34jgh5BNOeiJpDEl4/2rm0Aqf3OVbIRnz442yKPp1fidrVqaDd3CVAPoulWa060awL4Qd 5YMRANxHfhRYyDtwftUvhCqC//vrnzAO0RmyMRbwgSqIQVAeYBiy4Sf8t3/GcX+yIRS4QR6iAlHp 8gsYSA/11x0WyCadMRDAcoD0QCssAiyi8n8qQICwEk8GqIFa0A/fFhUKNw2QkRHrI21jEBZOFnbs 8FSgxCRcNxN00Wo5gHVCeIQ8UBFRMDXldhNjVi3pthLFtoPvxw490xFLYShI6AUfpQMNp0xbGIYs kB2PAQh3QBXTABBboYOjURGnoQ6GUzUkJIZukFM5oDfdR4d6qCYxICXiU4V7GIheWHJFWEeCeIgq oIUmYBv3IV2I+IiQGIlhqIglIBrj5YiSmImauIn5QImB4RVTo2ZvaAFGUYqmeKyKqJiKqriKrNiK rviKsBiLsjiLtFiLtniLuJiLuriLvNiLvviLwMiLzsACqaARXzSKnJiMyriMb+CJIGAT2xZP88OM 1FiN1igEVLAVRbCN3NiN3viN4MiNUyB211iO5niOL4CFpLSO7NiO7viO8OiON6EBwViP9niP+JiP +riP/NiP/viPAMmKV3AT5VaQBnmQCJmQCrlL6NiQDvmQEBmREjmRFFmRFnmR+hABADs= ------=_NextPart_000_0161_01C2491A.CD50D800--