18 July 2010
The Israeli occupation forces continued their attacks on Palestinian journalists, whom covering the peaceful marches, where they threw tear gas and sound bombs at a group of journalists, on Friday, 16 July 2010, they include: Associated Press photographer Abdul Hafiz Hashlamoun, France Press Agency photographer Mousa Alshaér, Pal Media cameraman Samer Hamad, Maan News Agency photographer Luay Sababa, and Al-Quds TV cameraman Akram Natshe; while they were covering a peaceful march in the village of Alma’sara near Bethlehem city. Yesterday, 17 July 2010 The Israeli occupation forces attacked the photographers of: Agency France Press Hazem Bader, Reuters Agency Abdul Rahim Al-Aqusini, and Associated Press Abdul Hafiz Hashlamoun, as they also detained Associated Press photographer Iyad Hamad, while they were covering a peaceful march in the town of Beit Omar Near Hebron.
 
 

Hashlamoun said he went on Friday with a group of journalists to cover the weekly march of Alma’sara near the city of Bethlehem, where the Israeli army started throwing sound and gas bombs between the legs of journalists, causing them not to focus in photography and a serious bottleneck from gas smell. Hashlamoun added: "There were a group of Israeli soldiers their mission was to impede the journalist’s work and to evacuate them from the area." 
"yesterday was the fiercest against journalists", Al-Aqusini said - who is still lying in Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron – who also said that he was standing with a group of photographers to cover the march of Beit Omar, during that time one of the Israeli soldiers throw a sound bomb from a close distance at him, so it hit him under his left ear, which caused him the loss of consciousness and a hole in his left eardrum and his main auditory nerve. Al-Aqusini added: "I’m still hearing a sensation in my ears and sometimes I feel the inability to focus".
Bader said: "Yesterday was very bad for journalists; we were targeted directly by the officer and soldiers. Personally the officer threatened me then he beat me with a stick on my face and legs, causing me a wound in my nose and cheek and bruises on my left leg, and I wasn’t able to stand, the harder thing was when the officer prevented my colleagues from helping me. The officer also struck my colleague Hashlamoun with iron sound bomb on his back causing him bruises in the back. " 
Form his part, Hamad said that the Israeli soldiers arrested him because he protested about the beating of his colleague Bader, where the soldiers took him and made him sit on the ground for two hours under the sun. During that the Israeli settlers who were in the area insulted and provoked him The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the Israeli continued targeting of Palestinian journalists, especially during their coverage of the weekly marches in the West Bank. Since the violations have become a major threat to the lives of journalists and their safety. MADA also demands the international community and human rights organizations to intervene immediately to stop these attacks. 
On the other hand MADA strongly condemns the raid of WATAN TV headquarters by members of the Palestinian security forces yesterday in Ramallah, after the television broadcast images of Hizb Al-Tahrir political party march, which was yesterday in Ramallah. WATAN director Muammar Orabi said that armed individuals in civilian clothes who identified themselves as security and intelligence members raided WATAN headquarters yesterday around 5:00 PM, demanding the arrest of the journalists who covered the march of Hizb Al-Tahrir, they also wanted to confiscate the tape that they have recorded. Orabi added: "After a verbal argument and some calls they have gone back and evacuated the building." 
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Contact: 
Riham Abu Aita
Public Relation Officer
Ramallah
riham@madacenter.org
www.madacenter.org
00970 2 2976519