RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), In a scene illustrating the escalating violence by extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, The Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine recounted details of the violent assault she endured while covering a settler attack on Palestinian olive harvesters in the village of Abu Falah, east of Ramallah.
Levine said the assailants knocked her to the ground and continued kicking her for more than 10 minutes, despite the fact that she was clearly wearing a press-marked vest.
Levine added that the settlers continued kicking her as she tried to hold on to her cameras and bag, noting that the helmet and protective vest she was wearing helped shield her from more serious injuries.
The settler assault left the photographer hospitalized with multiple fractures and injuries, prompting widespread condemnation and strong demands that those responsible be brought to justice.
The assault on Levine occurred during a broader attack in the West Bank village of Abu Falah, where about 80 masked settlers targeted olive harvesters, setting fire to olive trees and hurling stones at Palestinians. Some settlers used slingshots in the attack.
According to on-site accounts cited by Reuters, the attack continued even after Israeli military vehicles arrived at the scene. Israeli soldiers reportedly fired tear gas canisters towards Palestinians in the area.
A Reuters photographer witnessed an armed settler opening fire during the attack, while Levine said her colleagues stepped in to help her before an ambulance crew arrived and transported her to the hospital.
Levine was wearing a protective vest marked “PRESS” on the front and back. Her cameras and phone were stolen from her during the assault, the Washington Post reported.
According to Al Jazeera Net, these incidents are just the latest in weeks of intensifying settler attacks on local communities in the West Bank by extremists from illegal settlements who are largely protected or at least unrestricted by Israeli forces.
A Palestinian man was also shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers, according to an eyewitness who spoke to Al Jazeera and the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
According to Al Jazeera, other journalists managed to reach Levine when the settlers briefly backed away, but she struggled to stand. “She was in very, very bad shape. She couldn’t really get up off the ground,” journalist Jasper Nathaniel told the Qatari satellite channel.
Nathaniel said Israeli soldiers arrived after the settler assault and opened fire and used tear gas against Palestinians, shooting a local man in the leg, pointing their guns at paramedics, and shoving journalists.
There was widespread settler violence in other parts of the occupied West Bank on Friday, as well. In Burqa, east of Ramallah, four Palestinians were reported to have been injured in a settler attack on olive pickers. In nearby Turmus Aya, settlers assaulted farmers and burned vehicles and olive trees. A civil defense volunteer was also injured, according to WAFA.
