LONDON: Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Givara Budeiri was arrested by Israeli police while covering a demonstration in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah.
She was later released and banned from entering the neighborhood for 15 days.
Budeiri was visibly assaulted by Israeli forces while being arrested, and her crew’s equipment was destroyed.
Another Al Jazeera journalist reporting from East Jerusalem, Hoda Abdel Hamid, said that even though Budeiri was wearing a press jacket and carrying her Israeli-issued press card, she was arrested for no apparent reason.
“She was being pushed, that continued as she was trying to get her press card. And then as the cameraman was trying to reach her his camera was smashed,” Abdel Hamid said.
“We spoke to several witnesses and they all said there was no reason for that kind of tension and that it was not clear why they decided to specifically go [after] Givara while there were other journalists doing exactly what she was doing,” she said.
A Reporters Without Borders spokesperson said that: “This is a clear violation of press freedom, because this journalist was clearly recognisable as she was wearing a press vest, and there is a clear will from the Israeli authorities to prevent journalists from doing their job and from reporting on the ground.”
An Israeli aid raid destroyed a building in the Gaza Strip on May 15 that housed media offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press, among others, during the 11-day conflict.
Previously, a video of CNN Jersualem correspondent Ben Wedeman being manhandled by Israeli forces went viral and sparked further condemnation for how journalists covering the conflict were being treated.
