israelis fire Uzis at journalists
And this time it was with lead – not rubber bullets.
On Monday, five reporters covered a peaceful demonstration against further construction of the apartheid wall near the West Bank settlement of Efrat.
>The five reporters were from AFP, Reuters, the Palestinian news agency Maan, and a Palestinian internet media outlet.
>The demonstrators were Palestinians, foreigners, and a handful of sympathetic israelis. No one picked up any stones, or made any threatening moves.
>The israeli attackers were private security guards hired by the contractor that builds the apartheid wall.
Without warning, four of the israeli security guards suddenly opened fire with Uzi submachine guns, as can clearly be seen in photos taken by AFP photographer Moussa al-Shaer.
Mr. al-Shaer said, "We shouted, ‘We are journalists!’ but the israelis continued to fire for about 10 minutes from only about twenty-five feet away. We felt the bullets pass 20 centimeters away from us.”
The machine gun fire did not stop until one of the israelis approached the journalists.
Moussa al-Shaer said, “We told him, 'If you want to kill us, kill us.'
Ten minutes later the israeli army arrived and saw two of the foreign demonstrators arguing with the israeli security guards. The army arrested the two demonstrators and took them away.
Moussa al-Shaer said, “We told the army, 'There are crazy people here firing at us,' but the army didn’t care. Then the contractor who builds the apartheid wall came down and told us, 'If I were here instead of the security guards, I would also have fired at you!'"
It started when Palestinians quietly gathered to protest the laying of a foundation for more of the apartheid wall. Suddenly four israeli security guards started threatening everyone. The Palestinians departed, but the journalists remained, thinking they would not be fired on.
“We didn't know where to hide and what to do with ourselves,” said Moussa al-Shaer. “One of the guards said that they had taken pictures of us, and that we would not be spending the night at our homes."
One Palestinian who lived in the area said, "We can argue with soldiers, but private security guards are unwilling to talk. Only shouts, curses, threats and gunshots, a lot of gunshots. The incident could have ended with many casualties.”
Source:
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,...
(Picked up from antiwar.com)
(See the photos)
