Israeli Forces Blindfold & Handcuff Palestinian Reporter Who Filmed Settler Attack in Masafer Yatta

On Saturday, Basel Adra, reporter for Local Call and +972 Magazine, was detained while covering an Israeli settler attack in the West Bank area of Masafer Yatta. After he refused to hand over his video footage, Israeli soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded him and then sat him in a chair in the blazing sun for hours. The Union of Journalists in Israel denounced Basel’s detention, describing it as a “serious violation of freedom of the press.” Adra joined the show to discuss the difficulty of witnessing the crimes of Israeli forces against Palestinians as a local journalist. “I’m a Palestinian journalist, and there is a hate from them toward me just because I … film them when they are doing these crimes,” says Adra, who calls for international groups to fight for freedom of the press for Palestinians. “They know that there is no consequences for their acts and their violence toward us.” This incident comes during a pattern of escalating violence against Palestinians, including attacks by settlers against residents of the occupied West Bank.