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Last update - 18:03 30/06/2008
Gaza reporter: Israeli security officials broke my ribs
By Reuters
Tags: Israel, border security, Gaza 

A Palestinian journalist said from his hospital bed on Monday that Israeli security personnel abused him and broke his ribs on his way home to the Gaza Strip after receiving a journalism award in Britain.

Mohammed Omer, who writes for the pro-Palestinian Washington Report, said he was strip-searched and detained for nearly four hours at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge when he crossed from Jordan into the West Bank, en route to the Gaza Strip, on June 26.

"They wanted to humiliate me. I collapsed in tears ... I had to throw up twice and I fainted twice," Omer said. "They asked silly questions about everything I had done during my trip to London and Europe and they made fun of me."
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An Israeli government spokesman declined immediate comment and said he would look into the incident.

Omer, 24, received the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, awarded to journalists who expose "establishment propaganda", according to its web site, at a ceremony in London on June 16.

Omer said that at the Allenby Bridge, he was forced to strip to his underwear by an Israeli officer who then "snatched it down off me". He said two officers dragged him by his legs, his head sweeping the floor, in front of other passengers.

After he vomited and fainted, Israeli security personnel summoned a Palestinian ambulance to take him to hospital.

At a hospital in nearby Jericho, he contacted Dutch diplomats who had facilitated his trip to Europe, and they drove him to an Israeli border crossing with the Gaza Strip.

Back in the Hamas-controlled territory, he was admitted to hospital where doctors said he had suffered a nervous breakdown and that several of his ribs had been broken.

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      1.   This is why there will NEVER be peace EVER 18:39  |  The Warrior 4 Life 30/06/08
      2.   Killing or beating the messenger 18:39  |  Janice 30/06/08
      3.   Palestinian Journalist Beaten Up by IDF 18:44  |  Marcos 30/06/08
      4.   several large grains of salt please 18:46  |  don 30/06/08
      5.   PPP. Probably Pal Propaganda 19:05  |  Brinda 30/06/08
      6.   Sorry to hear it 19:19  |  JOJO 30/06/08
      7.   Not very bright 19:25  |  Aphemia 30/06/08
      8.   So what do the Dutch say 19:26  |  Dave Duncan 30/06/08
      9.   Shocking,but not surprising,israel has done worse things! 19:29  |  lakshmi 30/06/08
      10.   #5 19:29  |  Herb 30/06/08
      11.   No Humiliation Too Trifling For The Pariah State 19:34  |  chet 30/06/08
      12.   #6 dont worry 19:38  |  Bob 30/06/08
      13.   You are not the resistance 19:41  |  Donald 30/06/08
      14.   #6 JOJO: Here`s a link to his stories 19:46  |  Aphemia 30/06/08
      15.   Why did he try to cross into Israel and why Dutch helped him in 20:01  |  Absolute Sweden 30/06/08
      16.   Sorry Guys, The Story is All Over the World 20:23  |  Mark of Lewiston 30/06/08
      17.   Hey Don, shove your grains of salt 20:24  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      18.   Absolute 20:28  |  Kimmo 30/06/08
      19.   Aphemia, we also have Mohammed`s... 20:41  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      20.   Absolute Stupid 20:44  |  wibism 30/06/08
      21.   #19 BBS-Sorry to hear about this 20:48  |  Aphemia 30/06/08
      22.   So JOJO, who decides "bias"? 20:49  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      23.   Tuth?? 20:56  |  Skeptic 30/06/08
      24.   Terror doesn`t pay 21:01  |  Yuval 30/06/08
      25.   Hey, yesterday I read about the "chistki" at Haaretz. 21:02  |  Andreas 30/06/08
      26.   He had a nervous break-down-SHAME 21:08  |  Paul 30/06/08
      27.   Oh no: "They made fun of me"! 21:08  |  McQueen 30/06/08
      28.   Abuse or not:investigate 21:10  |  Siem 30/06/08
      29.   so... 21:11  |  rm 30/06/08
      30.   What`s up, Israel? 21:11  |  newageblues 30/06/08
      31.   Why isn`t he exposing "establishment propaganda" in the Strip? 21:12  |  McQueen 30/06/08
      32.   Palestinian journalists 21:18  |  Philippe 30/06/08
      33.   Aphemia 21:19  |  Philippe 30/06/08
      34.   Donald 21:21  |  Philippe 30/06/08
      35.   Aphemia 21:24  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      36.   Terrorist 21:26  |  FH 30/06/08
      37.   Skeptic, get your facts straight... 21:35  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      38.   Israelis Kill More 21:37  |  Don 30/06/08
      39.   Yuval, Mohammed is no terrorist 21:41  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      40.   Does Abu Gharib ring a bell here? Democracies can`t do this. eom 21:42  |  d.dor 30/06/08
      41.   Tahar haneshek - LOL 21:56  |  David 30/06/08
      42.   israeli brutality 22:14  |  bitterblood 30/06/08
      43.   Big BS news # 39 22:14  |  Philippe 30/06/08
      44.   more from paliwood 22:24  |  Arie 30/06/08
      45.   Suffering a nervous breakdown 22:25  |  Arie 30/06/08
      46.   Compulsive liars 22:32  |  JP 30/06/08
      47.   Phillippe in Los Angeles 22:34  |  wibism 30/06/08
      48.   McQueen of NY 22:42  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      49.   Phillipe on Mohammed 22:56  |  BBSNews 30/06/08
      50.   `Palestain`..SMACK POW PING BANG It`s "Israel" Spell it Right! 23:00  |  David P 30/06/08
      51.   The IDF committed the holocluster in Jul 2006 23:00  |  Aounist 30/06/08
      52.   McQueen in NYC 23:09  |  wibism 30/06/08
      53.   David P in Santa Cruz 23:11  |  wibism 30/06/08
      54.   Paul: He had a nervous breakdown 23:11  |  Guy From NYC 30/06/08
      55.   Big BS news # 49 23:25  |  Philippe 30/06/08
      56.   51 Aounist.great phrase `holocluster` 23:37  |  lakshmi 30/06/08
      57.   `TRAVELER`S TUMMY` ......I get it all the time 23:38  |  David P 30/06/08
      58.   #33 Phillipe-I remember the Daniel Pearl story, too 23:40  |  Aphemia 30/06/08
      59.   the real holocaust 23:41  |  bill 30/06/08
      60.   Another Kristalnachtmare.... 23:45  |  Gray 30/06/08
      61.   #27, McQueen in NY 00:01  |  Silvienne 01/07/08
      62.   It ain`t smart to HUMILIATE people 00:19  |  newageblues 01/07/08
      63.   #50 David P in Santa Cruz small correction 00:34  |  Labhras 01/07/08
      64.   #46 JP re compulsive liars 01:01  |  Labhras 01/07/08
      65.   horrible accident (only broken ribs?) 01:09  |  Moshe 01/07/08
      66.   #47 wibism 01:19  |  Labhras 01/07/08
      67.   Maybe his lover slapped him arround 01:29  |  Realist 01/07/08
      68.   BS Journalist: A Humiliation To His Parents 01:53  |  Tex 01/07/08
      69.   British airport security are no better 01:54  |  Free Gilad Shalit 01/07/08
      70.   Poor Palestinian Journalist Ordeal 02:18  |  JG 01/07/08
      71.   Reporter and Absolute #15 02:27  |  Victor on behalf of 01/07/08
      72.   I have never seen 02:53  |  Janice 01/07/08