Tag: Bil’in

Bil’in Cameraman in Court Tomorrow

by the ISM media team, October 16th

Emad Bornat, the Reuters cameraman and video-journalist who was kidnapped by Israeli forces after a demonstration in Bil’in on October 6th, has been in detention now at Ofer military prison for 10 days. Emad was due to have a hearing yesterday to determine his bail conditions after the military authorities insisted that he live outside Bil’in. This hearing never happened and today there are no judges available so Emad has to wait until tomorrow to hear where and under what conditions he will be allowed to live.

Because Emad is so ‘dangerous’ the military are also demanding that he live in a place easily accessible for the Israeli army and that someone be responsible for supervising him. Emad, a respected video-journalist whose work featured in the award-winning “Bil’in Habibti”, is accused of throwing stones at soldiers whilst simultaneously filming.

AP: Israeli army “accused of attacking journalists”

Associated Press

The Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association on Thursday accused the IDF of “unprovoked violence against journalists” after two Palestinian journalists were beaten up and one of them detained in the West Bank.

“In both cases there is no evidence that either colleague was doing anything other than pursuing their journalistic duties,” the FPA said in a statement.

Emad Borat, a freelance cameraman for Reuters news agency and other groups, has remained in custody since he was detained while filming soldiers entering the Palestinian village of Bil’in on Oct. 6, said Shai Carmeli-Pollak, an [Israeli] film maker.

Bilin, located near the boundary with Israel, is the scene of weekly protests against the West Bank security barrier. Pollak said Borat was beaten up inside a military jeep after his detention and needed six stitches for a gash on his face.

A military judge has ordered Borat to be released, but he remains in custody while prosecutors appeal the order. The IDF has accused Borat of throwing stones at border police while filming, Pollak said.

Borat was the main photographer for Pollak’s documentary, “Bilin My Love,” which won best documentary at the recent Jerusalem Film Festival.

The FPA complaint also cited the case of Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a photographer for Agence France Presse. Ashtiyeh, 38, said an Israeli soldier chased and kicked him after he tried to take photographs of an Israeli checkpoint next to the West Bank city of Nablus.

The FPA, which represents foreign journalists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said both cases raised “serious concerns about the treatment of journalists by members of the Israeli armed services.”

The IDF did not return calls seeking comment.

Journalists Join with Villagers of Bil’in in Solidarity With Emad Bornat

by Ash

For more pictures, see this blog entry.

Palestinians along with international and Israeli peace activists gathered this morning along with cameramen from different press agencies in solidarity with Emad Bornat.

Emad Mohammad Bornat of the village of Bil’in, video photographer for Reuters and documentary film maker, was arrested on Friday October 6th, 2006 by an Israeli Border Police unit that entered the village, firing rubber bullets and sound grenades.

Holding a banner “Soldiers, Stop Your Lies!”, demonstrators marched towards the gate in the apartheid fence built on the land of Bilin where border police and soldiers were standing in a line. A group of Israeli soldiers were noticed hiding in an olive grove on the outskirts of the village.

Cameramen were marching at the front of the crowd to show their solidarity with Emad. Demonstrators chanted slogans in Arabic, English and Hebrew. One Palestinian activist from the village was detained and dragged away by border police and beaten. The Israeli soldiers didn’t listen to protesters demanding his release. A few minutes later, he managed to escape and run away. One Israeli activist was arrested in the process of de-arresting another activist but was later released.

The army followed the demonstration to the village firing sound bombs and tear gas causing damage to some Palestinian properties. A villager and a 14 year-old boy were shot with rubber bullets.

For more information:
Mohammed Khatib: 054 557 3285

Bil’in to Demonstrate in Solidarity With Cameraman held by Israel

UPDATE, Thursday 12th, 6.30pm: The military judge at Ofer refused to release Emad into house arrest at the home of someone in Bil’in, insisting that an alternative be found outside the village. For now, Emad remains in an Israeli prison. The next hearing is on the 15th.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

At midday, Friday the 13th of October, the villagers of Bil’in will march in solidarity with Emad Bornat, the Reuters cameraman and video-journalist, also a resident of Bil’in. The demonstrators will hold up cameras as a sign of solidarity with Emad and protest against the Israeli army’s crackdown on freedom of press.

Today, October 11th, at the appeal hearing, the Israeli military decided to launch an indictment against Emad. The judge will make a ruling tomorrow at 4pm, but that might not be the end of his captivity. After an initial hearing at Ofer military court on the 10th, military judge Shlomo Katz, ordered Emad to be released, but the Israeli military appealed this decision and said he should be held for a further 72 hours. The judge gave the army 24 hours to contest the judgement or indict him.

Emad Mohammad Bornat of the village of Bil’in, video photographer for Reuters and documentary film maker, was arrested on Friday October 6th, 2006 by a Israeli Border Police unit that entered the village, firing rubber bullets and sound grenades. Emad is being held in Israeli military custody and will be brought in front of a judge at Ofer military base tomorrow Tuesday the 10th of October.

Emad, who was filming at the time, was arrested by an Israeli Border policeman. When Emad arrived at the police station in Givat Zeev, he was wounded. The Border Police soldiers claimed a radio “fell” on him in the jeep, on the way to the station. He was taken to the Hadassah – Har Hatzofim hospital and was then taken back to the police station in Givat Zeev. After he was interrogated, the police refused to view the tapes that Emad filmed. Emad is accused of “assault on an officer” and of stone throwing and was sent to the Etzion prison. Israeli Border Police have in the past been rebuked by military judges on false testimonies towards arrested Palestinian demonstrators and their Israeli supporters.

Emad has tirelessly documented the struggle of his village against the wall and settlements, and is known by many other professionals with whom he works and cooperates, giving them video material for their films and reports. He is a man of peace and a dedicated and responsible video-photo-journalist. His video footage has been broadcast throughout the world, showing the demonstrations against the wall Israel is constructing on his village’s land. It shows the routine, and often brutal, violence of the Israeli military in general and the Border Police in particular on the demonstrations, especially as used against Palestinians.

For more information:

Mohammed Khatib: 054 557 3285
Attorney Gaby Laski: 054 449 18988
Israeli video-journalist Shai Polack: 054 533 3364

Israeli Holidays Impede Palestinian Freedom of Movement

by Tom Hayes, October 11th

I visited the village of Bil’in, close to Ramallah, on Saturday. The villagers had asked for an international presence in the village after the IOF had arrested Emad, a Palestinian cameraman who works for Reuters on Friday after the weekly demonstration against the Apartheid Wall, which will separate the villagers from a majority of their agricultural land.

A new IOF commander has taken over responsibility for the area and has threatened to renew raids on the village to arrest villagers involved in the weekly demonstrations. Previously the IOF have arrested known protesters and village youths and demanded large sums of money for their release.

We walked through the fields towards the Apartheid Wall to reach the village’s outpost on the isolated part of their land beyond the wall. Villagers keep a permanent presence at the outpost to reassert their right to access their land. We walked through the gate in the barrier (which in Bil’in consists of two fences and a security road surrounded by large rolls of razor wire) and asked the IOF soldiers to be let through onto the isolated land on the Western side of the barrier. The soldiers told us that we could come through but that Palestinans could not come through to their land during the Jewish holiday. We asked why we were treated differently and were told ‘because you are tourists…’.

As we were let through the gate the soldier told us ‘this is not Auschwitz…’. Who was he trying to convince?

We visited a villager from Bil’in who was staying at the outpost, close to several illegal Israeli Jewish-only settlements. He told us he was unable to go back to the village because he would to be allowed back to his agricultural land if he left it. He was not willing to leave the land to the settlers and the army so he planned to stay there until access to the lands beyond the wall was permitted again.

The people of Bil’in are continuing their resistance to the annexation of their land and need more international support over the coming weeks. The villagers expect disruption to access to their land throughout the Jewish holiday. Similarly, in Tel Rumeida, access to the Ibrahimi Mosque, and freedom of movement for Palestinians has been impeded to allow for hundreds of Israel visitors.

On Saturday in Tel Rumeida hundreds of Israeli visitors were allowed to march into the Palestinian controlled area. Palestinians were cleared out of the way by soldiers shooting sound bombs and tear gas.

The restrictions on movement over the holiday period are a further example of the apartheid system operated by the IOF, similar restrictions were put on Palestinians during the Passover period this year.