Israel Detained a US Journalist for 4 Days. Why Was the World Silent?

Jeremy Loffredo remains trapped in Israel.

by Rivkah Brown

11 October 2024

Photo: The Grayzone/YouTube

​​On Tuesday, Israel detained an American journalist for allegedly publishing sensitive information about the location of Israeli national security facilities. On Friday, it released Jeremy Loffredo – who is Jewish – pending investigation, prohibiting him from leaving Israel until further notice.

On Sunday, US-based independent media outlet the Grayzone published a video on its YouTube channel in which Loffredo visited the Israeli military and intelligence bases struck by Iranian missiles. Among these was the Israel Defence Forces’ Nevatim air base, which Loffredo reported housed the jet used by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. By this point, several other US outlets, including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Washington Post, had named Nevatim as one of the targets of the Iranian bombardment. The Grayzone has said it stands by Loffredo’s reporting.

Three days after his video report was published, Loffredo was among four journalists and a driver arrested by Israeli police at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank. The group was charged with crimes including aiding the enemy during wartime and providing information to the enemy. In a tweet posted on Thursday, The Grayzone said Loffredo was being held “on suspicion of serious security offenses [sic] for publicly publishing … the locations of missile drops near or inside sensitive security facilities, with the aim of bringing this to the notice of the enemy and thereby assisting them in their future attacks.”

Loffredo’s fellow detainee, the Russian journalist and human rights activist Andrey X, claims to have been held for 11 hours without charge, during which time he was “beaten, kidnapped, blindfolded and taken to a military base”. He also claimed to have had his phone confiscated – a claim repeated by Loffredo’s employers.

The detention formed the latest episode of Israel’s years-long assault on journalists, which has escalated significantly during the genocide in Gaza. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), over 140 journalists and media workers have been killed since 7 October, more than in any other conflict on record. At least 69 more are currently detained in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel: the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claims “Israeli authorities now hold the global record for arresting the most journalists per capita”.

The international community was audibly silent throughout Loffredo’s detention. By Friday morning, no mainstream media outlets had reported on the story.

The US state department commented to the Grayzone during Loffredo’s detention, and offered an amended version of its statement to Novara Media following his release: “We have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad. We are aware of reports that a US citizen was arrested and has been released in Israel.”

Some have speculated that the US’s inaction on Loffredo’s detention may bespeak its hostility towards The Grayzone, which describes itself as anti-imperialist and much of whose reporting focuses on US influence abroad. In June, it emerged that the platform was among a number of organisations listed by a US state-backed list of “enemies of Ukraine”.

This silence surrounding Loffredo contrasts markedly with the campaign to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who in March last year was detained by the Russian government while reporting in the country. After being sentenced to 16 years in prison, Gershkovich was abruptly released in August following a sustained campaign by his employer as well as outlets across the US. By that point, the Free Evan Gerskovich campaign had attracted support from US president Joe Biden, his secretary of state Anthony Blinken, French president Emmanuel Macron and UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the IFJ, wrote in a statement to Novara Media: “Journalists being arrested without good reason always undermines their ability to report and thereby threatens media freedom.

“We await more detailed information about this case, but have previously expressed the deepest concerns about the way that the IDF treats journalists.”

Rebecca Vincent, director of campaigns at human rights organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said: “RSF is aware of reports of a number of arrests of journalists by Israeli forces yesterday, whom we understand have been released without charge.

“We remain deeply concerned by the continued detentions of dozens of journalists who remain in custody in the West Bank, alongside other measures taken by Israeli forces to restrict reporting on the war in Gaza over the past year.

“We call again for such practices to be immediately ceased. Journalists must be able to do their jobs reporting from the West Bank, from Gaza, and in the surrounding areas.”

The Grayzone did not respond to Novara Media’s request for comment.

Rivkah Brown is a commissioning editor and reporter at Novara Media.

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