Mahmoud Jabari, a journalist and blogger for Al-Jazeera Talk and the World Youth News service – a global online news project for 14-19 year-old students – was released from Israeli custody yesterday afternoon, he told IPI by telephone today.

Jabari, 19, was arrested while taking photographs of a demonstration in Hebron on Friday 25 February, recording clashes between the demonstrators and security forces, the reporter said.

According to Jabari, he was approached by a group of Israeli soldiers but believed at first that they intended to walk past him, as he had been seen taking pictures and was wearing his press pass. The soldiers grabbed him and forced him into a vehicle, he said. Jabari says he was kicked and punched, and sustained an injury to his left ear.

Jabari told IPI that his claims to be a journalist fell on deaf ears, and that his press identification card was not accepted by the investigating officer.

After spending Friday in Kiryat Arba’ police station, he was transferred to the Ghosh Etsion arresting station where he was held until yesterday.  Although he was allowed access to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, he could not speak to a lawyer, the journalist told IPI.

The journalist, who has already received international acclaim for his work in using journalism to further peace and understanding in the Palestinian Territories, said: “I am against violence. But even if I believed in violence, I am a journalist,” Jabari told IPI. “I don’t throw stones.”

“We welcome the release of Mahmoud Jabari, but note again that security forces must respect the right of all journalists to film, photograph and record events of public interest. Mahmoud should never have been arrested in the first place,” said IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. “I would also like to add that we are encouraged by the next generation of journalists who are taking upt he mantle for press freedom.”

Journalists in the Palestinian Territories must regularly contend with attacks from Israeli security forces, Palestinian Authority forces and Hamas-affiliated security. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms recorded 218 attacks against journalists in the region in 2010.