Ramallah – 28 October 2011: A group of Israeli settlers Wednesday, 26 October 2011, attacked an Al-Jazeera channel crew as they returned from filming in the village of Beit Lou, west of Ramallah.

The Al-Jazeera Jerusalem office issued a statement yesterday that the group of settlers – outside the nearby settlement of Nahaliel – threw stones at the Al-Jazeera crew’s car while they were on their way to Ramallah after visiting the village. Crew cameraman Majid Al-Safadi suffered mild injuries from glass shards after a stone struck the windshield. 

Al-Jazeera also reported that a unit of the Israeli occupation army and border guards came to the scene, they told the crew that they couldn’t do anything, and instructed them to go to the nearest police headquarters. The crew however was unable to comply as the nearest police headquarters are located inside the Jaba – East Ramallah – or Hashmonaim – near N’lin village – settlements, both of which the crew are unable to enter because of security reasons related to their safety and wellbeing.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemns the targeting of the Al-Jazeera crew by settlers, and renews its demand that the international community intervene immediately to protect Palestinian journalists, whose lives are constantly threatened by Israeli occupation forces and settlers.