Israeli investigation into the beating of Mohammed Omer

Mohammed Omer, winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism was beaten by Israeli security guards upon his return home to Gaza in June. We blogged about it at the time. Stuart Littlewood, author of Radio Free Palestine, writes in The People’s Voice that he has received an explanation “of sorts” for the treatment of Omer in a letter from the Israeli Embassy in London to his MP,

The letter says Mr Omer claimed he was held by the Israelis for over 12 hours, but according to their officers he was at Allenby Bridge for only three hours. Official records from a number of sources, including Jericho Hospital, confirm the testimonies of the security officers at the scene and, they say, raise doubts over the credibility of Mr Omer’s testimony. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recognizes the inconvenience caused and “has apologized for any personal grievance”… Mohammed says emphatically that Israeli investigators have not contacted him: “No investigation was done, simply because no one got in touch with me to take my part of the story, no one asked for medical reports…” link