Settlers Beat a Washington Post Photographer During the Olive Harvest
Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians picking olives near Abu Falah, north-east of Ramallah, setting trees and cars alight. A local official said twelve Palestinians were hurt, four of them dual American citizens. The veteran photojournalist Heidi Levine, 64, was beaten for about ten minutes: “They were kicking me and I was trying to hold onto my camera.” She is in stable condition.
A BBC team witnessed the attack, the arrival of Israeli forces and tear gas fired into the fields. The United Nations says the past fortnight has seen more settler attacks than the whole of last year’s harvest, with one Palestinian killed and more than 120 injured this season. The Washington Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, said Ms Levine was clearly identifiable as press and demanded “a thorough investigation”; the Israeli military said “all circumstances” would be examined. The State Department said it condemned “criminal violence by any party”. Earlier this month an AFP photographer, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, was also beaten covering the harvest; the Committee to Protect Journalists calls it “a disturbing pattern”.