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Israeili security forces break up demonstration

Associated Press

JERUSALEM – A reporter and news cameraman said they were injured Thursday when paramilitary border police fired stun grenades to break up a demonstration of women at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem.TV footage showed a stun grenade exploding among the reporters, who were several yards away from the demonstrators at the Qalandia checkpoint.Associated Press Television cameraman Eyad Moghrabi was hit on the leg by a flying piece of metal. Footage showed a reporter clutching her leg as the group scattered.”This was not the first time they fire where the journalists are located,” Moghrabi said. Police had fired the stun grenades from about 10 yards away.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld denied that reporters were targeted. He said officers warned everyone, including journalists, that their presence was illegal before firing the stun grenades.Crowd-control devices like stun grenades and tear gas have injured a number of journalists in recent weeks, and reporters say they’ve been targeted by Israeli security forces.The army denied the charge and said it would investigate the incidents.The military “does not intentionally harm journalists, and any such claims on this matter are baseless,” a military statement said, adding that there are “inherent risks to journalists” covering combat operations.At least three other journalists have been injured in the last three months while covering protests or Israeli military operations.While agreeing that the military did not have a deliberate policy targeting journalists, Daniel Blumenthal, vice chairman of the Foreign Press Association, said there are numerous complaints. “We assume some soldiers act on their own initiative because of their idea about where a journalist should be (during) an event.”


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