This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/world/middleeast/washington-post-reporter-william-booth-detained-by-israel.html

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Washington Post Reporter Is Briefly Detained by Israel Washington Post Reporter Is Briefly Detained by Israeli Officers
(about 2 hours later)
JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities briefly detained The Washington Post’s Jerusalem bureau chief, William Booth, on Tuesday while he was conducting interviews near the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, according to the authorities and the newspaper. JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities briefly detained The Washington Post’s Jerusalem bureau chief, William Booth, and a colleague on Tuesday while they were conducting interviews near the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, according to the authorities and the newspaper.
Mr. Booth and another Post employee were quickly released. The Foreign Ministry later issued a statement calling the episode “regrettable” and praising Mr. Booth’s work, and the Government Press Office called the episode “an unfortunate misunderstanding.” Mr. Booth and his colleague, Sufian Taha, a contract writer for The Post, were quickly released. The Foreign Ministry later issued a statement calling the episode “regrettable” and praising Mr. Booth’s work, and the Government Press Office called the episode “an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Kris Coratti, a spokeswoman for The Post, said in an email that Mr. Booth had been detained by the Israel border police for about 30 minutes. “While Booth has now been released,” she said, “we regard the detention of any of our journalists anywhere as extremely troubling.” Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said that officers had been enforcing security measures around the Damascus Gate, where Palestinians have carried out several stabbings and shootings in the past four months, mostly against Israeli police officers. The measures prohibit Palestinians from “sitting around” in the area, Mr. Rosenfeld said.
Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said that officers had been enforcing security measures around the Damascus Gate, where Palestinians have carried out several stabbings, attempted stabbings and shooting attacks in the past four months, mostly against Israeli police officers. The measures prohibit Palestinians from “sitting around” in the area, Mr. Rosenfeld said. Palestinians using knives, guns and vehicles as weapons have killed at least 27 Israelis, an American student and a Palestinian since Oct. 1. About 160 Palestinians have been killed in the same period, the vast majority by Israeli security forces. Most were assailants, according to the Israeli authorities.
Palestinians using knives, guns and vehicles as weapons have killed at least 27 Israelis, an American student and a Palestinian since Oct. 1. About 160 Palestinians have been killed in the same period. Most were assailants, according to the Israeli authorities, and others were killed in clashes with Israeli forces.
A police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said in a statement: “A passer-by complained that he witnessed a number of people intending to stage a provocative situation and disturbances by young Arabs toward policemen responsible for security in the area, apparently for propaganda purposes. In view of the complaint, the policemen detained a number of suspects in order to clarify the facts in a sensitive and discreet manner at the nearby police facility.”A police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said in a statement: “A passer-by complained that he witnessed a number of people intending to stage a provocative situation and disturbances by young Arabs toward policemen responsible for security in the area, apparently for propaganda purposes. In view of the complaint, the policemen detained a number of suspects in order to clarify the facts in a sensitive and discreet manner at the nearby police facility.”
She added: “When the details of the incident were clarified and no suspicion at all of criminal activity was raised, the detainees were released immediately by the investigating officer without any other steps taken in the matter.” She added: “When the details of the incident were clarified and no suspicion at all of criminal activity was raised, the detainees were released immediately.”
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “This is a regrettable incident, casting an unnecessary shadow over the work of an excellent journalist. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will ask the police for the necessary clarifications.” According to the Foreign Press Association, Mr. Booth, Mr. Taha and a colleague, Ruth Eglash, were interviewing some high-school students on steps opposite the Damascus Gate when the police waved them away. They moved, along with the teenagers, under a tree.
Mr. Booth is a veteran correspondent for The Post, having served as a bureau chief in Mexico City, Miami and Los Angeles; as a pop culture correspondent; and as a reporter covering conflicts on several continents. “Shortly after, border police waved the two journalists over and asked them for their IDs,” the Foreign Press Association said. “They presented their Government Press Office cards as identification, but these were waved away, and they were asked for official identity documents.”
Last month, The Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, was freed after being detained for nearly 18 months by the Iranian authorities. The association continued: “Although the journalists made it very clear that they were reporting a story for The Washington Post, police took them to a nearby police station, where they were held for about 40 minutes, then released. When they asked police why they had been held, the police said they had suspected the journalists of ‘inciting’ Palestinians.”
Mr. Rezaian and three other Americans of Iranian ancestry were freed as part of a delicately negotiated swap with the United States, which released seven Iranians who had been held for sanctions violations. Kris Coratti, a spokeswoman for The Post, said in an email that “we regard the detention of any of our journalists anywhere as extremely troubling.”
The most recent annual report by the research organization Freedom House says that Israel “enjoys a lively, pluralistic media environment in which press freedom is generally respected,” but government officials have recently been critical of foreign journalists. The Foreign Ministry said it would ask the police for “the necessary clarifications” on the matter. “This is a regrettable incident, casting an unnecessary shadow over the work of an excellent journalist,” the ministry said.
Mr. Booth is a veteran correspondent for The Post, having served as a bureau chief in Mexico City, Miami and Los Angeles and as a pop culture reporter, among other roles.
The most recent annual report by the research organization Freedom House said that Israel “enjoys a lively, pluralistic media environment in which press freedom is generally respected,” but government officials have recently been critical of foreign journalists.
“We will consider revoking press cards from journalists and editors who are negligent in their work and give headlines that are opposite from reality,” Nitzan Chen, the head of the Government Press Office, wrote on Facebook on Feb. 3.“We will consider revoking press cards from journalists and editors who are negligent in their work and give headlines that are opposite from reality,” Nitzan Chen, the head of the Government Press Office, wrote on Facebook on Feb. 3.
He was complaining about a post on Twitter from Al Jazeera and a CBS News headline, which reported that the authorities had killed three Palestinians near the Damascus Gate — without also noting that the men had attacked border police officers with automatic weapons and knives. One of the border police officers died of her wounds. (The CBS headline was changed.) He was complaining about a post on Twitter by Al Jazeera and a CBS News headline, which reported that the authorities had killed three Palestinians near the Damascus Gate — without also noting that the men had attacked border police officers with automatic weapons and knives. One of the officers died. (The CBS headline was changed.)
Mr. Chen issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying his office would examine the matter. Mr. Chen issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying his office would examine the matter, saying the unnecessary detention was “probably the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
“The Government Press Office regrets today’s incident at Damascus Gate, in which a correspondent for The Washington Post was unnecessarily detained by the Border Police — probably the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding,” Mr. Chen said. “Freedom of the press is a supreme value in the Israeli democracy. Israel is doing its utmost to enable the foreign press to work freely, without any pressure. We call upon the security forces and journalists to act with restraint and to avoid confrontations during these tense times. The G.P.O. endeavors to prevent such incidents; we shall examine today’s events and draw the necessary conclusions.” “Freedom of the press is a supreme value in the Israeli democracy,” Mr. Chen said. “Israel is doing its utmost to enable the foreign press to work freely, without any pressure. We call upon the security forces and journalists to act with restraint and to avoid confrontations during these tense times.”
At a news conference in Berlin, where he was meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The press in Israel is robust, free, very energetic and free to say anything that it wants.”
“And you know what? It does,” he said. He added, “That’s not the case in our neighborhood,” a reference to the substantial press repression elsewhere in the Middle East.
Last month, The Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, was freed after spending nearly 18 months in an Iranian prison. Mr. Rezaian and three other Americans of Iranian ancestry were released as part of a delicately negotiated swap with the United States, which released seven Iranians who had been held for sanctions violations.
On Tuesday, Bahrain released four American journalists who had been detained two days earlier, accusing them of “acts of vandalism and rioting” and charging them with “unlawful obstruction of vehicles and attending unlawful gatherings,” the official Bahrain News Agency said.
The Americans were arrested in Sitra, a town that has been the site of demonstrations by Shiites, who are the majority of the Bahraini population, against the island nation’s Sunni rulers.
The journalists are Anna Therese Day, a freelance reporter and Fulbright fellow who has reported for The Huffington Post, and three crew members, according to a lawyer and relatives of Ms. Day.