Palestine: CFWIJ condemns the forced detention and physical assault against Givara Budeiri

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June 7, 2021- Givara Budeiri, Jerusalem correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic was assaulted and arrested by Israeli forces while she was on a work assignment in occupied East Jerusalem- in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Givara was reporting from a sit-in organized to celebrate the 54th anniversary of “Naksa” A term that Palestinian people use to describe Israel's occupation in 1967. Israel forces assaulted Givara while forcefully arresting her and destroyed the camera equipment belonging to the Al Jazeera staff. She was kicked badly inside the police car. Guevara was treated as a criminal in the police station and was not allowed to close her eyes or put off her heavy flak jacket. Israeli forces accused her of hitting a female officer- a claim that Givara straightforwardly denied. Several hours later she was released on the condition of not entering Sheikh Jarrah for 15 days. CFWIJ is horrified yet once again by the abuse of power from Israeli forces. We condemn the unjustified torture on Givara and demand to hold police officers accountable involved in this attack. 

Givara received a fracture in her left arm as a result of Israeli forces' torture. “They were kicking me in the car in a very bad way. They were kicking me from everywhere” Guevara stated after being released. She told Al Jazeera that she had received bruises on other parts of her body. She had a headache and pain in her left leg which made it hard to even walk. She spent a whole night in the hospital and was released on Sunday. “We will make you shut up, if we make Al Jazeera silent, everyone will shut up” Givara quoted the threats she received while in detention. She was only released on a condition to not enter Sheikh Jarrah for the next 15 days.

Writer and activist Mohammed El-Kurd tweeted shared the moments after Budeiri was related. He stated that Israeli occupation continues to target and suppress the journalists. We must not stop speaking about Palestine.”

The video of Givara’s arrest went viral and was shared massively to highlight the crisis to press freedom in Palestine under Isreal’s occupation. Her arrest was condemned globally by press freedom and human rights organizations. She was arrested while she had her press jacket on and was carrying a Government-issued Press card. She was pushed when she was trying to show her card. The cameraman tried to reach her and record the scene but Israeli forces smashed his camera. They did recognize the [ress crew and went on to violate their rights with impunity.

It is clear from the video and testimony of Givara that the Israeli forces held her captive without any apparent reason. It was a targeted attack on a woman journalist as she was merely performing her duty there just like others. She had her credentials on when she was taken into custody and that is a clear violation of her integrity. The heinous purpose behind apprehending her was just to obstruct her from reporting on the ground. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism has been documenting the cases of assaults and unlawful arrests of women journalists amidst the latest crisis. We strongly demand Israeli police officials to hold the officers accountable involved in the violation of the rights of women journalists. A woman journalist must not be intimidated or harassed for fact-based coverage while reporting from conflict zones.