DUBAI: Israel has released 14 journalists and several others after illegally detaining them on Oct. 8 aboard a vessel, Wijdan (Conscience), one of several aid convoys of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a movement aimed at ending Tel Aviv’s unlawful blockade of Gaza.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Sara Qudah slammed the regime in a statement on Tuesday.
“Detaining and banning journalists undermines press freedom and obstructs independent reporting at a critical time.
“Journalists must be able to report freely and safely wherever news unfolds, including from conflict and war zones.
“Israeli authorities must allow international journalists immediate access to Gaza now, especially now that a ceasefire is in place.”
Emily Wilder, who was released on Oct. 12, told the CPJ that on the morning of Oct. 8, the Israeli military surrounded and boarded the vessel, and “held us captive for 12 hours on board until we reached the port of Ashdod.”
Wilder said she identified herself as a journalist and was wearing her press card. A soldier took her notebook and although it was returned later, it had “clearly been read,” she added.
Noa Avishag Schnall, reporting for Drop Site News, described the brutality she and others faced during detention by Israeli authorities.
In an Instagram video, she said she was hung by her wrists and ankles with metal shackles and beaten on the stomach, back, face, ear and skull. One of the guards sat on her neck and face, blocking her airways.
She said the men were threatened by guards and attack dogs, and some women were threated by pepper spray and rape.
Another journalist told the CPJ: “They pulled me by my hair across the port to where everybody was forced to kneel for some time. They zip-tied my hands behind my back, and my press card was on me the entire time. Later, they seized it — it was stolen from me.”
Human rights and legal advocacy group Adalah, which is representing the detained journalists and activists, told the CPJ that Israeli authorities “treated the journalists accompanying the flotilla no differently than they treated the activists,” even though the journalists were there to report on the voyage.
Earlier this month, Israel detained more than 400 people, including 32 journalists, who were aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Two of them told Reporters Without Borders they were assaulted.
Jonathan Dagher, head of the RSF’s Middle East Desk, said: “The arrest of the journalists aboard the flotilla was already a blatant violation of the right to reliable information. But the mistreatment — including violence — they were subjected to is unacceptable.”
