© Associated PressAl Jazeera’s Givara Al Budeiri, wearing a protective vest marked “press,” is dragged away by police at a protest in Sheikh Jarrah.
An Al-Jazeera journalist was arrested earlier by the Israel Police in the flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, according to footage posted online and the Palestinian Authority.
She was identified as Givara Al Budeiri, the Qatari network's Jerusalem correspondent, by an Al Jazeera official.
A police statement says two suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested for attacking officers after they refused to identify themselves. Police do not immediately comment on whether the woman is a journalist.
The PA's official Wafa news agency confirms the arrest and condemns the "aggression of the occupation forces."
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Footage of the incident filmed by Al Jazeera cameraman Nabil Mazzawi shows the reporter surrounded by Israeli officers, who push her near a wall and handcuff her. Budeiri can be heard repeatedly screaming: "Don't touch" as she is being restrained.
The camera used by the Al Jazeera crew was reportedly damaged during the altercation.
According to the Doha-based news network, there was no apparent reason for the arrest and the Israeli police acted with excessive force while taking Budeiri into custody. The police said they detained a woman and a man in Sheikh Jarrah after they refused to identify themselves and assaulted officers. Budeiri said she was accused of kicking a female soldier, which she denies.
Mostefa Souag, acting director general of the Doha-based channel, said the arrest fits a pattern of harassment of its journalists by the Israeli side.
"The silencing of journalists by terrorizing them has become a routine activity for the Israeli authorities, as witnessed in recent weeks in Gaza and occupied Jerusalem. These actions cannot be viewed in isolation," he said.
Reports in Israeli media suggest the arrest followed a conflict between the journalist and police over her press credentials. Budeiri, who has been working for Al Jazeera since 2000, is accredited with the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO). According to Haaretz, she apparently didn't have her press card on her and failed to produce it when asked by police. Al Jazeera insists Budeiri was carrying the proper papers and that the police prevented her from showing them. The journalist was wearing a flak jacket marked "press" when she was arrested.
Budeiri was released from Israeli custody hours after her arrest. She said she was banned from returning to Sheikh Jarrah for 15 days as a condition of being freed.
Budeiri was eventually treated for a broken hand caused by too-tight handcuffs and being repeated kicked in the police van:
Didn't realise Seth Rogen was an Israeli, just saw him in Dima Khatib's tweeted video. 🤣 [Link]