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Live News - A Survival Guide - International Federation of Journalists

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CHAPTER 2War zones and conflict areasFreelance ‘couldnot afford flackjacket orinsurance’Roddy Scott, a freelancejournalist with FrontlineTelevision <strong>News</strong>, was killedwhile making a film aboutthe independence strugglein Chechnya.He was filming a battlebetween Chechen andRussian forces inSeptember 2000 inIngushetia when he died.Scott, 31, was working ona long-term freelanceproject to document theChechen campaign.Writing in Guardian Media,Vaughan Smith, director <strong>of</strong>Frontline, said thatfreelances like Roddyspent months making filmsat their own expense.“Roddy had to wait for a£500 payment before hecould make his trip, anddid not have insurance ora flack jacket.“Roddy made his ownassessment <strong>of</strong> the dangersinvolved and decided thatthey were worth taking. Hefelt the international mediawas in dereliction <strong>of</strong> itsduty in failing to take thenecessary risks to coverChechnya.”■Kenia, a village near Ramallah, although they all had valid presscards. Al Shami was beaten and cameras and cassettes wereretrieved only after they had been inspected by Israeli authorities.Khalid Jahshan, a Palestine Television photographer; HusamAbu-Allan, an AFP photographer; and Lu’ay Abu-Haykal, a Reutersphotographer were beaten by Israeli troops while covering clashesbetween Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers in Hebron onFebruary 11. When the journalists tried to defend themselves anIsraeli soldier struck one with a rifle butt, while another pointed arifle at a journalist’s head. ID cards were temporarily confiscated.Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television station, is widely watchedby Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and in Israel. Its staff havebeen harassed by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities. InDecember 2001 Al-Jazeera correspondent Saif Shahin was beatenby Palestinian Security Forces while leaving his <strong>of</strong>fice in Gaza City.In March 2002, the Ramallah <strong>of</strong>fices <strong>of</strong> Al-Jazeera were hit bymachine gun fire from an Israeli tank shortly after correspondentshad finished an interview with a Palestinian minister.On April 20, Israeli troops shot Laila Odeh, Abu Dhabi TV BureauChief, in the leg, while her crew was filming at the Rafah refugeecamp in Gaza. Odeh identified herself as a journalist to Israeli soldiersnearby, and left the area immediately when ordered to do so.She was shot by an IDF soldier as she was fleeing. After criticism,the IDF stated that “the presence <strong>of</strong> journalists among rioters andat friction points represents a danger to their well-being”.French television TF1 reporter, Bertrand Aguirre, was shot whilecovering clashes near Ramallah in the West Bank on May 15 with agroup <strong>of</strong> TV cameramen. An AP television news video showed anIsraeli border guard, cigarette dangling from his mouth, jump out<strong>of</strong> a dark green jeep, calmly aim his M-16 rifle in the direction <strong>of</strong>the TV crews, and fire a single shot. “If I had not been wearing thisjacket, I would be dead now,” Aguirre said afterwards. Israeli policedecided not to prosecute, “due to a lack <strong>of</strong> evidence”.In July 2001, Israeli military authorities ordered field commandersto protect journalists who cover street clashes in the West Bankand Gaza Strip. Days later, Israeli soldiers attacked seven journalistscovering confrontations as a religious Jewish group laid claimto the Temple Mount under the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Reuters photographerAmmar Awad said that a soldier kicked him in the mouth andcontinued to attack after he ran away.Mohammad Al Bishawi, 27, a photographer for Al Hayat Al Jadida,38

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