Israeli police attack journalists in Jerusalem, fracturing wrist of CNN producer

By Oren Liebermann, CNN

(CNN) — Israeli police attacked a group of journalists outside the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, including a CNN producer who suffered a fractured wrist in the violent incident.

Police officers also damaged photographic equipment and confiscated memory cards from journalists who were outside the Lion’s Gate of the Old City covering Ramadan prayers.

On Tuesday, Muslim worshippers, barred from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque because of wartime restrictions, gathered outside the walls of the Old City to perform the Tarawih prayers of Ramadan. But police prevented them from praying and pushed them away. The worshippers relocated to a street inside the nearby Wadi Al Joz neighborhood.

Police then relocated the worshippers one more time to a spot near the Old City walls when, moments later, officers threw stun grenades at the group. Two journalists were detained at the scene as officers assaulted them and damaged their equipment. Several other journalists at the scene who were documenting the unfolding incident, including CNN’s senior producer Abeer Salman, attempted to intervene but were pushed away.

After the two journalists were released, Salman and other journalists went to check on their colleagues. Police ordered the journalists back. Footage shows the group acquiescing to the police instructions when an officer in plain clothes – possibly indicating a special police unit – grabbed Salman’s hand, twisting it and causing a fracture in the wrist.

In a police statement issued to Israeli reporters on Tuesday and shared with CNN, the police accused journalists at the scene of refusing to follow orders, claiming they were “part of the disturbances.” The police statement went on to claim that “only after they were detained by police did they identify themselves as journalists and were subsequently released.”

The Union of Journalists in Israel ripped the police statement as “factually incorrect.” The union called for the police commissioner to immediately suspend the officers involved and launch an internal investigation.

“Police officers attacked several journalists without provocation, including foreign press,” the group said. “The officers damaged professional equipment, confiscated memory cards documenting their illicit actions, and inflicted a bone fracture on a CNN producer.”

Nir Gontarz, a member of the union who deals with violence against journalists, said police intentionally targeted the journalists, fully aware they were at the scene.

“Sometimes journalists are accidentally hit, including by police officers, while doing their job. In this incident, it was not a mistake. The police marked the journalists as targets, and attacked them,” Gontarz said. “It wasn’t a by product, it wasn’t coincidental, it was an intentional attack on journalists.”

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) also condemned the “unprovoked assault” on journalists. “The FPA calls on the Israel Police to immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them,” the organization said. (CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond is a board member of the FPA.)

“None of this is acceptable,” the FPA said.

CNN has sought comment about the incident from police but has not received a response.

Following the attack on journalists, CNN issued the following statement: “On Tuesday evening, a CNN producer was among a group of journalists covering Muslim worshippers praying outside the Old City of Jerusalem during Ramadan. Police officers at the scene violently dispersed the crowd, which included many journalists. During this incident, an officer grabbed our producer causing a fractured wrist that required hospital treatment. We demand an explanation and accountability for this unprovoked assault and are pursuing this matter with the relevant authorities. As journalists, we abide by Home Front Command regulations during wartime, but those regulations do not under any circumstances permit officers to assault journalists.”

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