\n<\/p>\n
American journalist Heidi Levine of the Washington Post was injured in the attack. She described how dozens of settlers ambushed her as she was reporting at the scene.<\/p>\n
“I got jumped,” she said. “I was on the ground and they were kicking me and I was trying to hold onto my camera and my bag. I had my helmet and flak jacket on which protected me. They made me stand up and they kicked me again, and this went on for at least 10 minutes.”<\/p>\n
In a statement, Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray said Levine had been clearly identifiable as a journalist. <\/p>\n
“We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities,” he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the video evidence and testimony, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the facts remained unclear and were under investigation.<\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said personnel had been despatched to the area “following a report of a violent confrontation”. It said a female journalist had been injured during the confrontation. And that “all circumstances” surrounding the incident would be examined.<\/p>\n
As the farmers retreated, the sound of live ammunition cracked across the fields. It was unclear if settlers or Israeli forces were firing.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, Israeli forces began firing tear gas into the Palestinian fields to end the confrontation \u2013 a well-worn Israeli pattern of managing these conflicts.<\/p>\n
The UN says settler attacks on the olive harvest this year have so far killed one Palestinian and injured more than 120 others across the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Illegal Jewish outposts have mushroomed here over the past few years, clustering in closer around Palestinian olive groves.<\/p>\n
What we witnessed was part of a pattern being repeated day after day, as settler outposts here increase.<\/p>\n
The yearly olive harvest has become a litmus test of how the policies of Israel’s fiercely pro-settlement government are affecting Palestinians here, by presiding over growing violence by extremist settlers, and fuelling Jewish claims to the land.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n