Saturday, December 06, 2008

activestills photographer Tess assaulted by Israeli soliders in Hebron

While the settlers are going around perpetrating violence against Palestinian civilians, the Israeli soldiers are attacking the few journalists and photographers who try to document the events...


w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 14:07 06/12/2008
IDF soldier assaults Haaretz photographer in Hebron
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

An Israeli photographer on assignment for Haaretz was assaulted by an Israel Defense Forces soldier in Hebron on Saturday. The photographer, Tess Scheflan, suffered light head injuries and was taken by an ambulance to hospital.

Scheflan, who is a staffer for the Jini photo news agency, stayed in Hebron alongside Haaretz reporter Fadi Edayat to cover the aftermath of the forced eviction of Jewish squatters from a disputed home in the West Bank city.

Edayat said Scheflan and another photographer were snapping pictures of Palestinian families inside their homes, which lie not far from the evacuated "House of Contention" in central Hebron, when IDF troops arrived and temporarily requisitioned the homes.

When the three journalists exited the home, they spotted three IDF soldiers in the street. As Scheflan began taking pictures of the soldiers, they began to approach her. One of the soldiers tried to swipe her camera before attempting to grab the camera of the other photojournalist at the scene.

Scheflan then remarked something to the soldier, who responded by delivering a fisted blow to her face. The soldier then used the butt of his rifle to strike Scheflan in the head.

Shortly afterwards, Scheflan received treatment at the scene from an IDF medic. She was subsequently transferred by ambulance to Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

The assailant soldier is an infantryman serving in the Haruv battalion. Haaretz provided details of the incident to the IDF Spokespersons Unit, which said that an investigation was underway.

No comments:

Post a Comment