Israeli Border Police Officers Filmed Attacking Arab Journalist in East Jerusalem
Photojournalist Mustafa Al-Haruf was documenting Friday prayers in East Jerusalem's Wadi Joz neighborhood when he was attacked by Border Police. Two officers involved were suspended, and the incident is under investigation
Screenshot of a video of the incident taken from Nir Hasson's Twitter
Israeli Border Police officers were filmed violently attacking Arab photojournalist Mustafa Al-Haruf in East Jerusalem on Friday.
Al-Haruf, along with several other press photographers, had just finished documenting a prayer in the Wadi Joz neighborhood when an Israeli Border Police officer asked him and another photographer, Faiz Abu Ramila, to leave the site.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, police have not allowed most Muslim worshipers to enter the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa, and prayers are being held on nearby streets instead.
"We started walking, and then a police officer told us not to pass there. We tried to explain that [another] officer asked us to go through there, but he just started kicking us." What followed was recorded by Turkish television.
Al-Haruf is seen continuously asking the police officer who had attacked him for his details and demanding other policemen who were pushing him and Abu Ramila to calm down. One of the officers then punches him in the head several times and walks away.
A moment later, the attacking officer seems to lose his temper as he returns toward Al-Haruf, drawing his weapon and threatening to shoot him. The officer then hits Al-Haruf on the head with the barrel of his gun. As the officer walks away, another officer starts to choke al-Haruf from behind, knocking him to the ground.
The officer who walked away then returned and kicked Al-Haruf in the head nine times, while other officers pushed away the photographers who documented the scene.
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According to witnesses, Al-Haruf was handcuffed and threatened to be placed under arrest. Only after one of the officers noticed his physical condition was he released.
Al-Haruf was transferred to Al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, where he was treated for deep cuts to his head and face.
Al-Haruf, who works for the Turkish News Agency, is a veteran photographer in Jerusalem. He has documented the situation in Israeli communities bordering Gaza extensively over the last weeks.
The commander of the Border Police, Chief Brik Yitzhak, ordered the immediate suspension of the two officers involved in the incident, saying "on the face of it, it appears that the incident does not fit with the values" of the Border Police. The details of the case were forwarded to the police for further investigation.