US journalist Jasper Nathaniel has accused the US embassy in Israel of failing to protect him after he was chased by Israeli settlers while reporting in the occupied West Bank, in what he called an ambush.
Nathaniel's posts on X have led to outrage online over not just the targeting of a journalist, but also the unabating Israeli settler attacks.
On Sunday, Nathaniel had been covering the first day of the olive harvest in the village of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah, where he filmed a settler attack that left dozens injured - including an elderly Palestinian woman, a Swedish activist, and an Italian activist.
The attack was one of dozens reported this week. The United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs recorded 71 incidents of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank in the span of just seven days.
Both Nathaniel and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said that Palestinian farmers were escorted by the Israeli military, ostensibly for protection from settler violence, but were instead led directly into an ambush.
The Swedish activist with ISM was attacked while trying to defend the elderly woman. “I felt that I could not watch, and I decided to get the attention of the settler because otherwise I didn’t know what would happen to this woman,” she said in an ISM press release, where she was not mentioned by name.
“I got some minor injuries myself, but I really don’t think they can be compared to the injuries that Palestinians suffer every day that this occupation goes on just for living their life, just for existing.”
Footage of a settler clubbing the elderly woman quickly went viral, alongside screenshots of Nathaniel’s text exchange with the US embassy in Israel. During the ambush, Nathaniel himself was attacked by settlers. Video shows him being chased by a mob before taking refuge in a car. A settler then smashed the car windows before turning to beat the woman, footage which Nathaniel captured on camera.
In the text exchange, an embassy representative told him that the US could not provide protection, saying it was the responsibility of the host nation, Israel, to safeguard the nearly 60,000 Americans living in the occupied territories.
The video and messages have intensified scrutiny of the US embassy’s role in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, while drawing renewed attention to the daily violence carried out by Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank.
“This picture of an Israeli settler tormenting a Palestinian farmer on her land captures so much about the daily routine of living under occupation for over 70 years. Unprovoked, unhinged, unseen by the American public, and entirely protected by the American government,” Palestinian American Imam Omar Suleiman posted on X.
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese also condemned the rise in settler violence, asking where "decent" Israelis were.
"For 2 years, the world has seen scenes like this from the West Bank," she posted on X. "I wonder where decent Israelis are; those who protest in Tel Aviv. Hatred of Hamas is one thing, but do they not feel some obligation to act to stop their fellow citizens behaving like criminals on the loose?"
"America can send Israel billions to continue a genocide but can’t protect one of its citizens from being almost murdered by a pack of armed settlers," one social media user posted. "What an embarrassment."
Social media users also pointed out the hypocrisy in both the US embassy’s treatment of Nathaniel and the wider media’s lack of coverage of the attack.
"If an American tourist was being chased and attacked by masked & armed government-backed terrorists in any country other than Israel, it would be immediately become a major diplomatic crisis with wall to wall media coverage," journalist Jeremy Loffredo posted on X.
Palestinian-American political analyst Omar Baddar posted on X: "If there was an image of a Palestinian clubbing an elderly Israeli woman in the head and knocking her unconscious, it would be on EVERY SINGLE NETWORK as a main story. But the racist & often murderous brutality directed at Palestinians is deemed unworthy of attention."
Another social media user posted that if the attack had happened in Iran, "Washington would’ve called it an 'act of war'."
A video of an American man expressing outrage has circulated widely on social media. In it, he says that, had the attack occurred in the US, the perpetrators “would be killed immediately”. He adds that when Palestinians defend themselves, they are often labelled terrorists and brought before Israeli military courts.
A few online defended the US embassy's response to Nathaniel. "I'm going to be real here; this is what I would have said if I was this ACS officer. Because it is, technically, true; the host country is responsible and diplomats aren't bodyguards," one social media user posted on X.
"But what is unsaid here?" he continued, is "the US has unlimited leverage over Israel. Which it doesn't use."
Some also noted that the outrage surrounding the incident stems in part from Nathaniel’s identity as an American in the West Bank - an unfortunate reflection of how Palestinian oppression only gains wider attention when amplified by western voices.
"I appreciate Jasper for helping our farmers, but it’s sad that Palestinian voices need validation from an American journalist to be believed," one Palestinian social media user posted on X. "Settler attacks happen almost daily, yet they only make news when filmed by an American. Again, much appreciation to Jasper."
Chats with the US embassy
Warning: There are more photos and videos about the settler violence in the news but I won't post them because it is hard to watch and NSFW
Sergio Lima
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in reply to Sergio Lima • •Uai, @Sergio Lima , não chegou o redirecionamento da matéria sobre a Ajor pra você?
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Sergio Lima
in reply to Aracnus • • •