WATCH: IDF officer gets prison for throwing stones at journalists

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man April 28, 2015 | Edit

The incident is not the first time Israeli security officials have been documented attacking journalists at West Bank protests, and in the village of Nabi Saleh.

An IDF officer videotaped throwing rocks at Israeli and Palestinian photojournalists last week was sentenced to two weeks in prison. A second officer was sentenced to 30 days confinement on base.

In a video first published by +972 and Activestills on Friday, a deputy company commander can be seen throwing rocks at a freelance Israeli photojournalist and a Palestinian photographer who works for Agence France‑Presse (AFP). One of the officers also tackled the Israeli photographer, Haim Schwarczenberg.

A brigade-level disciplinary hearing sentenced the two officers from the Kfir Brigade for their conduct, Haaretz reported.

Before watching video of the incident provided to it by +972, the IDF Spokesperson described the officers’ behavior toward the journalists as “reasonable force.”

After watching the +972 video, the military spokesperson said the incident would be looked into and later told Haaretz that “the behavior seen in the video is reprehensible.”

Although the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit provided +972 with two separate statements on the video last week, it has yet to respond to our queries following the sentencing of the two officers. This post will be updated if and when a response is received.

The incident is far from the first time Israeli security officials have been documented attacking journalists and human rights workers in Nabi Saleh and at other regular protests in the West Bank.

Israel is currently imprisoning or detaining 20 Palestinian journalists, including some who are held without charge or trial under administrative detention, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Late last year the Israeli cabinet approved a draft measure that would increase the criminal penalty for stone-throwing to 20 years in prison. The measure would not apply to the West Bank, however, which due to its status as occupied territory falls under military law.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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