Harassment of Aref Jaber
On 2 June, human rights defender Aref Jaber was intimidated and physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. They said they will kill him if he continues to document actions against Palestinians by the Israeli army and by Israeli settlers in Hebron.
Aref Jaber is a photojournalist and member of the Human Rights Defenders Group. He is a non-violent activist, who campaigns against illegal Israeli settlements. On 2 June, Aref Jaber photodocumented the killing of Rami Sabarna, a 37-year-old Palestinian worker by Israeli soldiers while he was carrying out road work for the Hebron Municipality in Jaber neighbourhood in the old city near the military roadblock leading to the Ibrahimi Mosque.
On 2 June, human rights defender Aref Jaber was intimidated and physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. They said they will kill him if he continues to document actions against Palestinians by the Israeli army and by Israeli settlers in Hebron.
On 2 June at around 9:45 am eight Israeli soldiers stopped Aref Jaber near his home in Jaber neighbourhood of Hebron. They pointed their rifles at him, and one soldier pushed him into the wall, banged his face and chest against the wall and kicked his legs and feet. Another soldier shot live bullets in the direction of the human rights defender, before telling him threateningly “you recorded the soldier who shot the terrorist”, a reference to the killing of Rami Sabarna. The soldier added “if you continue recording, or taking photos of the Israeli Army, I will kill you. Do you understand me?”
This incident comes a week after lawmakers in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) proposed legislation entitled “Prohibition against photographing and documenting IDF Soldiers” that would criminalise the documenting/recording soldiers “with the intention of undermining the spirit” of the army with punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
Front Line Defenders condemns the harassment, physical assault and threats against human rights defender Aref Jaber, which it believes are in retaliation for his human rights activities and his documentation of crimes committed by the Israeli Occupying Forces.
Front Line Defenders urges the Israeli authorities to:
1. Take all necessary measures to ensure the physical and psychological security of human rights defender Aref Jaber;
2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the accounts of physical and verbal assaults on Aref Jaber with a view to publishing the results and bringing those accountable to justice in accordance with international standards;
2. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Palestine are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.
