Al-Jazeera reporter detained, then released by Israel police; claims hand ‘broken’

Reporter for the Qatari-based news agency allegedly had her hand “broken,” but after her release she gives a TV interview appearing to be unhurt.

By World Israel News Staff

The Al Jazeera reporter arrested on the weekend in Jerusalem said Sunday she thinks the Israeli authorities “are afraid from the media.”

Al Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri was arrested by Israeli police Saturday in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem that has turned into a media hotspot over the pending evictions of several Arab families from Jewish-owned buildings.

Israeli police claimed that Budeiri shoved an officer after being asked for her identification, but the network issued a statement saying the arrest was “unacceptable” and it “demands answers.”

Budeiri was handcuffed and taken away by two border policewomen but released several hours later.

Al Jazeera is known for its biased coverage of Israel. Network officials stated that Budeira suffered a broken hand in the altercation. A picture posted to Twitter by a Palestinian journalist showed Budeira with her left arm in a cast.

It is not clear how Budeira received the injury or how serious it was, because in an interview posted by fellow Al Jazeera correspondent Nida’ Ibrahim after Budeira’s release from police custody, she is seen waving both hands in the air, including her left arm, apparently uninjured.

Budeira said that in her 21 years of reporting, “this is the first time I see this thing on the ground,” saying Israel was trying to “shut up” Al Jazeera.

“They wanted first Al Jazeera so everybody will [be] afraid. It was clear that they afraid from media,” Budeiri said.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered Al Jazeera‘s affiliate AJ+, which operates in the United States, to register as “an agent of the Government of Qatar” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. That law requires entities and individuals considered to work on behalf of a foreign government to register with the DOJ as such an actor, thereby requiring them to disclose their funding and relationship with any foreign government.

The Al Jazeera Media Network “is little more than a mouthpiece for the Qatari regime. This foreign government uses AJ+ as a platform to spread Jew-hatred and anti-American propaganda in the U.S., promoting Qatari foreign-policy priorities,” said Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project, a nonprofit organization that works to protect the human and civil rights of Jewish and pro-Israel communities worldwide.