Last week, Israeli soldiers arrested Jewish American reporter Jeremy Loffredo, along with three other journalists, at a West Bank checkpoint over a video report by Loffredo for The Grayzone that covered the missile strikes Iran carried out against Israeli military installations. Police claim that the report showed “the locations of missile drops near or inside sensitive security facilities, with the aim of bringing this to the notice of the enemy, and thereby assisting them in their future attacks.”
One of the reporters who was jailed with Loffredo recounted how the IDF soldiers blindfolded them and treated them roughly; he even said that they drew guns on the group before bringing them to a Jerusalem detention center. The soldiers reportedly told the journalists to hand over their phones. When they refused to comply on the grounds that it was an illegal request, the soldiers pointed a gun at one of them, dragged him out of the car, and threw him on to the ground. After the other journalists left the car, the military went in and took their cameras, phones and other personal belongings.
According to the journalist, “The soldiers told the female Israeli photographer that she should have been raped by Hamas.”
Although the other journalists were released after being detained for around 11 hours, Loffredo remained in custody and was investigated for what they claimed was “aiding the enemy in a time of war.”
The footage included in his report showed the locations where Iranian missiles fell, including how close they were to facilities such as the Nevatim base and the Tel Aviv headquarters of the Mossad. He acknowledged in his report that Israeli military censors did not give the Israeli media authorization to publish information about where the missiles fell.
In a hearing, Loffredo’s attorney argued that the images in the video were taken from sources that are available to the public, one of which was a report from PBS. His attorney also took issue with the fact that he had been questioned at night without the benefit of a translator.
Although the Jerusalem Magistrates Court extended his detention, a judge then ordered his release after it was revealed that the military censor gave an Israeli journalist approval to publish Loffredo's original video in his own report about Loffredo’s case. As a result, it was impossible to justify keeping him in custody when Israel’s own journalists were allowed to share the same footage.
However, the police then appealed this decision and said that the censor had only approved the article retroactively. They maintained that Loffredo’s refusal to unlock his phone for them justified further detention while they try to crack the device and search for more evidence linking him to the crime they are accusing him of.
Loffredo has since been released, but the police were given until October 20 to continue searching his phone. During this time, he cannot return to the U.S. and authorities have seized his passport.
Multiple news outlets reported the same information but were not targeted by Israeli authorities
It is not clear why Loffredo has been singled out while other reporters who shared the same information about the Iranian strike locations have not been subjected to investigations. ABC News and PBS News Hour, among other international news outlets and programs, broadcast from the locations of some of the blasts.
In a statement denying Israel’s claims, The Grayzone noted: “The claim that Loffredo and The Grayzone represent Israel’s enemy in wartime merely suggests that the Israeli government views the American people and free press as a legitimate target. Indeed, we are an independent outlet with no relationship, financial or otherwise, with any foreign country or political organization.”
Loffredo’s story may sound outrageous, but it is also the reality for countless Palestinian journalists who are being held in Israeli prisons on equally questionable charges.
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