Settlers attack Palestine TV crew while Israeli soldiers watch

Israeli settlers attacked the Palestine TV crew this morning while they were returning from a filming assignment in the Jordan Valley, reported Wafa news agency.

According to a Wafa correspondent, the crew, composed of three members, were stopped and forced out of their vehicle near the village of Bittin, east of Ramallah.

The settlers proceeded to harass and attack the Palestine TV members until they were bruised, and were protected by Israeli occupation officers nearby, who did nothing to stop the brutality.

Settler violence has become part of daily life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Observers believe that the settlers are officially, albeit under the radar, encouraged and funded to carry out such attacks.

Palestine TV is a local broadcaster funded by the Palestinian Authority. Israeli authorities routinely suppress any PA-supported or linked activity in occupied East Jerusalem.

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In a report published in 2020, the Journalists’ Support Committee, a non-profit organisation representing journalists, said Israeli occupation forces have committed more than 56 violations against Palestinian journalists in occupied Jerusalem during the first half of 2020.

The report also revealed that the Israeli occupation renewed the ban on Palestine TV’s activities in Jerusalem, fined six journalists, confiscated four items of media equipment, raided the homes of six journalists, threatened and beat six others and sentenced one.

Moreover, in 2019, Israeli police and intelligence personnel stormed Palestine TV’s office in East Jerusalem and handed the closure order to its administration.

Palestine TV says that the Israeli authorities often harass its staff, arresting and questioning them.