Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

CHAPTER 2War zones and conflict areasThe IPI concluded that since the beginning of the violent crisisin Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on September 28,2000, journalists have repeatedly been targeted, shot, beaten,arrested, threatened and intimidated by Israeli soldiers, police,politicians, settlers and civilians, as well as by Palestinian police,politicians and civilians. Out of a total of 220 incidents, there weresix deaths. Journalists and media workers have been injured by liveammunition, shrapnel or rubber-coated bullets, and were harassedand physically assaulted in other ways.At least 165 press freedom violations were carried out by Israeliauthorities. Twelve violations were committed by Israeli settlers.One was perpetrated jointly by soldiers and settlers. Another fifteenviolations were carried out by the Palestinian authorities, fourby Palestinian paramilitaries, and five by Palestinian civilians.Fifty-two Palestinian media workers have been attacked, 17 beaten,29 shot, and a further eight shot at. Five of the journalists whowere killed were Palestinian, one Italian. Four were killed byIsraelis and one by Palestinian paramilitaries; the sixth is disputed.On December 17 2001, the IDF released a report on shootings ofjournalists by IDF soldiers. Only one soldier was found guilty ofshooting a journalist. His commanding officer was reprimanded.The report only found seven cases worth investigating; none involvingPalestinian journalists.On the day of the first Intifada deaths, September 29 2000, freelancejournalist Khaled al-Zeghary was beaten by Israeli soldiersand shot in the leg with a rubber-coated metal bullet while coveringclashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Zeghari said: “I wasfilming while lying down on the ground. All of a sudden the soldiersapproached and began beating me with bats and sticks on myhead and shoulders.” Zeghari did not realise until doctors examinedhim that he had also been hit by a rubber bullet. He said itwas the 20th time he had been attacked by Israeli soldiers.On October 21, Ibrahim Al Husary, working for Al Wattan TV;Jamal Ismail Al-Arouri, a photographer with Agence France Presse(AFP); and Jacques-Marie Bourget, working for Paris Match, wereshot by an Israeli sniper while covering clashes in Al Bireh, on theoutskirts of Ramallah. Al Husary said they were clearly identifiableas press because of their cameras. Bourget was flown to France forsurgery. His deputy editor said: “A 57-year-old man can’t easily bemistaken for a 15-year-old rock thrower.”On November 11, Yola Monakhov, an American photographer36