Ja'far Zahid Ashtiyeh, Nasser Ishtayeh and Wajdi Mohammed Shtayyeh were attacked by stone-throwing settlers; in their attempts to escape the attack, Ishtayeh and Shtayyeh were beaten by Israeli soldiers.
(MADA/IFEX) – Ramallah, 20 April 2011 – Three photographers covering settler violence in the eastern neighborhood of Burin in Nablus city were attacked on 19 April 2011, by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
The photographers – Ja’far Zahid Ashtiyeh of Agence France Presse, Nasser Ishtayeh of the Associated Press, and Wajdi Mohammed Shtayyeh, of the APA (Austria Presse Agentur) agency, were attacked by stone-throwing settlers. In their attempts to escape the attack, Shtayyeh and Ishtayeh were beaten by Israeli soldiers.
In his statement to MADA, Ashtiyeh said that they had gone to the area to cover settler attacks when they were met by settlers who threw stones at them. Ashtiyeh sustained wounds to his shoulder.
“We tried to stay away after that but Israeli soldiers beat Nasser to the ground, causing severe bruising, and savagely beat Wajdi both with their arms and rifle butts. He sustained a broken and bleeding nose,” Ashtiyeh told MADA.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemns Israeli attacks on journalists and urges the international community to take serious and effective steps to end the suffering of journalists, who endure ongoing targeting by Israeli occupation forces.
