The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has denounced a settler attack that left the Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine badly beaten and needing surgery as a “despicable act of terror”. Levine, 63, an award-winning journalist who lives in Israel, was set upon last Friday by masked Israeli settlers who used clubs and other weapons to attack Palestinians attempting to harvest their olives. The photographer, who is in hospital recovering from hand surgery, broken ribs and other injuries, said she was beaten for more than 10 minutes.
Huckabee said: “We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this. Attacking a female photographer is despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards.” What else has Heidi Levine said about the attack? She said: “I was attacked, pushed to the ground.
Luckily, I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking and kicking me. I’ve been covering this region for over 40 years and I have never seen this country in such a state as it is today. I’ve invested decades of blood, sweat and tears into this.
They cracked my bones, they haven’t cracked my spirit.” How have Israeli authorities responded? In a move Levine said left her “shocked and insulted”, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been ambiguous in addressing the assault. He said he condemned “violence against anyone” but referred to the attack as “alleged” and said its circumstances remained unclear.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has criticised “unbridled violence” after one of the most violent days of unrest in years left public buildings burned, hundreds of shops destroyed and looted and at least 2,400 people arrested in cities across the country. Macron said “nothing justifies” violence and that local state officials would be able to ban certain street gatherings if they deemed it necessary. Macron condemned the “failures” he said had led to the crisis, but he refused the resignation of the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez.
What is causing the wave of protests across Europe? School conditions, housing costs and the cost of living have brought demonstrators on to the streets in several countries including Spain, France and Portugal. Protests in Albania against the prime minister, Edi Rama, entered their sixth day on Sunday.
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