US officials condemn settler attacks in the West Bank that injured an unarmed American journalist
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded Saturday night to the recent attacks in the West Bank, saying that the United States expects Israel to take further steps to prevent attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank. His comments came after footage showed people attacking Heidi Levine, an American photographer for the Washington Post. "We are very disturbed by those images and what we are seeing," Rubio told reporters. "We've asked the Israelis, and we continue to ask them, to crack down on that stuff," Rubio said, adding that the State Department has looked into the circumstances behind the incident.
Rubio says he expects to receive an update from the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The United States Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, also responded to the attacks and wrote, "Details of who is under investigation, but those who attacked an unarmed reporter should spend years in prison. We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law against whoever participated in this. Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards.
Dishonorable act of senseless violence." https://x.com/i/web/status/2111550492476125290 This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences . The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, spoke with photographer Heidi Levine, who was attacked in Binyamin, and told her, "I express deep sorrow and apologize for what you went through. The vile behavior of these perpetrators does not represent the citizens or the values of the State of Israel."
The president added, "All branches of the government, security forces, and law enforcement must use all available means at their disposal to conduct a thorough investigation, reach the lawbreakers, and bring them to justice." https://x.com/i/web/status/2111448060144525750 This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences . As stated, a Washington Post photographer, Heidi Levine, claimed on Friday that she was attacked and robbed by settlers near Ramallah while wearing a protective vest identifying her as a journalist, until she was evacuated to a hospital.
Levin recounted that a group of attackers beat her and knocked her to the ground: "They just kept kicking me again and again, probably about 50 times," Levin told reporters. West Bank: 150 settlers block a Palestinian family's court-ordered return
Left out here: Writes Palestinians out of their own story
The article never says that Levine was covering the Palestinian olive harvest. It never says that the settlers who beat her were attacking Palestinian farmers at the same time. Without this, a reader believes the attack was a one-off assault on a foreign journalist rather than a settler attack on Palestinians in which she was also hurt.
How we know
- Anadolu Agency (English) reported“Levine was covering the annual Palestinian olive harvest in the occupied West Bank on Friday when Israeli occupiers attacked her and several Palestinians.”US 'very disturbed' by attack on American journalist in occupied West Bank: Rubio (opens in a new tab)
- Al Arabiya English reported“which took place as Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians”US wants Israel to ‘crack down’ on settler violence in West Bank, Rubio says (opens in a new tab)
- The Guardian reported“The attack on the Palestinian farmers and Levine”US ambassador to Israel calls West Bank settler attack on American photojournalist ‘terror’ (opens in a new tab)