Foreign media group slams Israeli police attack on former AFP photographer

Jerusalem: An international media association on Tuesday condemned what it described as a “violent and unprovoked attack” on veteran photographer Menahem Kahana, a former AFP employee.

Kahana was covering a demonstration against a death penalty bill passed by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the day before.

According to the Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Kahana was “sprayed at a close distance by a water cannon” at the protest outside the Knesset.

“The force of the spray threw him to the ground and he remains hospitalised with pain to his neck, back and head,” the FPA said in a statement on X.

An AFP image shows Kahana lying on the ground next to a puddle of white liquid that was mixed with the sprayed water, according to an AFP reporter that was on the scene.

“There simply is no justification for this attack on journalists doing their job,” the group wrote, criticising the “lack of professionalism” of the officers involved and the “climate of impunity” encouraged by the police command and politicians.

An AFP journalist sits on the FPA board.

The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

Under the new law passed in parliament late Monday, Palestinians in the West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism” will face the death penalty as a default sentence.

The law has been widely criticised in Israel and abroad as discriminating against Palestinians.