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Journalists Shot By Israeli Forces In Territories
contributions by Guillaume Bonnet for AFP
JERUSALEM (AFP) - In Bethlehem, a Russian-American photojournalist working for the U.S. Associated Press news agency, Yola Monakhov, was shot and wounded in the abdomen and taken to Jerusalem's Hadassa hospital where she remained Saturday evening.
Monakhov, a 26-year-old Russian-American, was shot as she was covering violence near the Jewish religious site of Rachel's Tomb, the source said.
The Associated Press bureau in Jerusalem said Monakhov's life was not in danger.
The radio said Monakhov was among the protesters when she was shot.
Press photographers and cameramen covering the Palestinian unrest are increasingly finding themselves right in the line of fire, with some suspecting that they are becoming deliberate targets.
Thursday, a French photographer from the U.S. Associated Press agency was hit by a bullet in the thigh from an Israeli soldier, and left slightly wounded.
"I was lucky, as the bullet ricocheted from a wall before hitting me," said Laurent Rebours, on his last day of duty in Gaza.
From a hospital bed with time to reflect, he was unsure if the Israelis “deliberately” targeted him.
"It is true that I was close to young Palestinians," he said, "but with their telescopic sites, the Israelis saw clearly that I was a journalist and they had no hesitancy about opening fire."
An Israeli army spokeswoman said that it could only have been an accident. "It was just a stray bullet," she said, saying the army could not have fired at him intentionally.
According to the Palestinian journalists' union, 24 journalists (mainly U.S., French and Japanese) have already been wounded since the start of the Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, on September 28th.
The worst incident happened October 21st in Ramallah on the West Bank, when a reporter from the French weekly Paris Match, Jacques-Marie Bourget, 57, was hit by a bullet in his left lung.
Every mornings hold similar scenarios. News hunters go out to find out where clashes are happening. Once on the spot, they start by observing, either with binoculars or tele-lenses.
"We study which way the wind is blowing for the tear gas, who is firing from where and with what: rubber bullets, ball-bearings or live rounds. Then, we go to work," said AFP photographer Christophe Simon.
But nothing is straightforward on the ground. There are few shelters, as the army frequently clears up areas by uprooting trees and knocking down buildings behind which young Palestinians shield themselves to attack soldiers. Sometimes, there are only olive trees to hide behind.
Despite the risks, the photographers first have to clear away the youngsters who hang round to touch the cameras or ask questions, then line up their lenses with the spot targeted by the stone-throwers.
Chris Anderson, a Canadian photographer with New York Times magazine, gets within a couple of meters (yards) of the young Palestinians and well within range of the soldiers, wearing a helmet but no flak-jacket.
He says he does not want to die and does not consider himself brave, but if he is not in the front line he will not get what counts.
Several journalists have had close calls. For Rahma Talal Abu, correspondent for the second French television channel, it was September 30th in the Gaza Strip when he was covering the shooting of little Mohamed al-Durra, 12, an event which was shown around the world.
"I saw death happen, but that's the job - journalism - take it or leave it," he says.
Same for Fayez Nureldine, a photographer with AFP for 13 years. A week ago, he came under heavy fire along with four journalists, including one from CNN who was wounded in the abdomen.
"For several days I have felt feel like I'm a target," he said. "Therefore, inevitably, I am even more afraid, particularly with the soldiers now using silencers on their rifles."
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