Israel Arrests Iranian 'Al-Alam' Network Journalist in Golan Heights

Israeli police announced on Wednesday, June 2, that they have arrested a journalist from the Iranian television network Al-Alam in the Golan Heights. The Arabic-language network identified the journalist as Bassam Al-Safadi. According to Reuters, Israeli police stated that the journalist was arrested "on suspicion of disseminating false reports, supporting a terrorist group, and inciting violent acts and terrorism." The police did not provide further details on the matter. According to police, a court in the city of Nazareth in northern Israel has extended the journalist's detention until Sunday. The Arabic-language Al-Alam network also stated that this journalist was arrested "without any reason" in the Druze village of "Masada." According to Al-Alam, Israeli police seized his computer and mobile phone. The police stated that the journalist is a 43-year-old Arab-Israeli man and is currently being held in Tzalmon prison in northern Israel. Many Druze residents of the Golan Heights consider themselves Syrian. Fares Sarafandi, who works for Al-Alam in the occupied Palestinian territories, told Reuters that Bassam Al-Safadi is the network's journalist in the Golan Heights. Hussein Mortada, the director of Al-Alam's office in Syria, said that the arrest of this journalist is part of a "systematic campaign" by the Israeli government against this media outlet. Israel captured about 1,200 kilometers of Syrian territory in the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War with the Arabs in 1967 and annexed it to its territory. The international community has never recognized the annexation of these areas to Israeli territory.