2021-02-21

I’lam Media Center strongly condemns the actions of the police officers who attacked our colleague, Reham Athamleh, on January 13, 2021. The attack happened during a protest against the Prime Minister’s visit to Nazareth which was organized by civil movements.

Athamleh stated that the police officers prevented her from fulfilling her duties as a journalist for the news website “Bokra”. Later on, the situation escalated and Athamleh was attacked by the police, and prevented from leaving the protest site.

This incident shows the reality of the Arab community. The occupation culture cultivates a hostile attitude towards the Arab - Palestinian community in Israel which causes police officers to use violence even against members of the press.

These attacks are only a symptom of a long standing approach of law enforcement towards the Arab society, where they are treated as second class citizens, their rights are stomped on, and they are treated like violent criminals.