Israeli military arrested, handcuffed, and interrogated Palestinian journalists who had just covered a peaceful protest inside a “closed military zone.” According to the Israeli military’s own regulations, journalists are allowed in such areas.
By Hagar Shezaf | Israel Palestine News, reposted from Haaertz | Aug 31, 2021
“When I photographed the arrest they detained me as well, but we were on our way out, going home,”
— Mashour Wahwah, journalist working for the Palestinian news agency WAFA
Israeli soldiers arrested seven Palestinian journalists who covered a protest in the South Hebron Hills on Friday. According to the journalists, they were told they were being arrested since the area had been declared a closed military zone, but the military’s own rules permit journalists to be in such areas.
Mashour Wahwah, a journalist working for the Palestinian news agency WAFA, told Haaretz that he was there to document the gathering of Palestinian residents of the area, whose land is slated for expropriation by Israel. “The prayers ended, and we wanted to return home, but suddenly the army arrested one of the residents,” he said. [NOTE: learn more about Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land here.]
Wahwah added that before the arrests there had been no confrontations and the army did not need to use any riot control measures. “When I photographed the arrest they detained me as well, but we were on our way out, going home,” he added.
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