An American-Israeli photojournalist on Thursday lodged a complaint with the IDF
Spokesman’s Office, the Government Press Office and the Foreign Press
Association, alleging that IDF soldiers intentionally fired anti-riot projectiles
at him and a fellow journalist while they were covering a protest in the West
Bank village of Nabi Salih last Friday.
“At the start of the weekly
Palestinian protest in Nabi Salih, Alexandroni Brigade reservists and Border
Police officers opened fire with riot-control weapons on a group of some 10 press
photographers,” Mati Milstein, 36, and originally from New Mexico, said in his
complaint letter.
RELATED:PM rules journalists covering flotilla not to be sanctioned 'Shin Bet asks pregnant Al-Jazeera reporter to remove bra' “At the time the attack took place, the troops had
already repelled Palestinian protesters with tear gas canisters, and the only
people left on the street in view of the Israeli force were accredited press
photographers,” wrote Milstein.
“The photographers were clearly
identified; carrying still and video cameras and tripods and wearing
unique blue flak jackets and helmets marked with ‘PRESS’ or
‘TV.’ The distance between the journalists and soldiers was
approximately
100m. and visibility was clear,” he wrote.
Milstein said that the
tear gas canisters and rifle-fired gas grenades shot at the Israeli, Palestinian
and foreign journalists were not fired in an arc, indicating to Milstein that
the soldiers were not trying to fire over him and his colleagues, rather,
directly at them.
He said the barrage lasted three to five minutes and
included at least 12 rounds fired at the journalists, none of whom were
wounded.
When he went to the soldiers to complain, officers from the
Alexandroni Brigade threatened him with arrest and demanded that he stand
against a wall, which prevented him from performing his job, Milstein
said.
“Other television and still photographers in the area were also
sequestered – under threat of arrest – to a location behind military lines from
which it was virtually impossible to photograph the events,” he
said.
Milstein, who first reported the incident in a post he wrote for
the blog “972mag,” told
The Jerusalem Post by e-mail on Thursday that in the
years that he has worked at the protests, “previous Israeli military commanders
serving in this sector had generally taken a more tolerant and sophisticated
approach to dealing with the weekly protests, not infrequently seeking
negotiation or coordination with Palestinian village leaders aimed at diffusing
potentially violent situations. However, since early 2001, army and Border
Police units operating in Nabi Salih have taken an increasingly heavy-handed
approach to the protests.”
He said a similar escalation has been carried
out toward the press, an escalation he says is “the product of a military
environment that increasingly sees the media as an enemy or a fifth column
rather than as one of the key elements required for the maintenance of a
democratic, transparent state.”
Milstein said that he knows of other
journalists who have suffered abuse from one side or another in covering the
conflict, but have kept quiet to avoid damaging their credibility or out of
professional interests.
He said that he is seeking no personal damages
following the incident, and that he decided to file the complaint because of a
situation in the West Bank where “abuse of journalists and draconian limitations
on press freedoms are now largely seen as acceptable. And perhaps, in some cases
and in some units, are even encouraged.”
None of the other journalists
filed a complaint with the Foreign Press Association, but the FPA referred the
case to the International News Safety Institute and forwarded his entry on
“972mag” to Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists,
Milstein said.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office responded that “the IDF
respects journalistic freedom of expression and understands its
importance. As proof of this, every week there are dozens of journalists
present covering the disturbances [in the West Bank] in a free manner, as long
as they do not interfere with the work of [IDF] forces.
“Every complaint
that is issued will be thoroughly examined by the IDF and any deviation from
command, if discovered, will be dealt with accordingly. It should be noted that
journalists who enter territories in which there are disturbances and illegal
activities on a regular basis – such as Nabi Salih – do bear responsibility.
Since full information on this incident was not submitted, it will not be
possible to examine it in depth,” the IDF spokesman said.
Click here to follow Ben Hartman on twitter