RELATIVES of a Palestinian freelance photographer said Sunday that he has lost vision in one eye after apparently being struck by Israeli fire while covering a demonstration last week in the occupied West Bank. Muath Amarneh’s case has drawn significant attention among Palestinians and in several Arab countries, with journalists voicing solidarity by posting photos on social media with themselves wearing eye patches. Israeli paramilitary border police fired tear gas Sunday at Palestinian journalists who held a protest in solidarity with Amarneh in the city of Bethlehem. Protests were also held in Gaza City. Palestinian colleagues say Amarneh, 35, was targeted by Israeli forces during a demonstration Friday near the West Bank city of Hebron. Israel’s border police said it did not target Amarneh in Friday’s protest. It said it only used “nonlethal” means to disperse the crowd. A video from the incident posted online showed Amarneh being carried off by other journalists while bleeding from his left eye. The demonstrators were protesting what they say were confiscations of village land by the Israeli military. (SD-Agencies) |