Israel’s War on the Foreign Press (w/ Jeremy Loffredo) | The Chris Hedges Report

Summary

Summary of "Israel’s War on the Foreign Press (w/ Jeremy Loffredo)" | The Chris Hedges Report

Release Date: November 13, 2024

In this compelling episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges engages in a profound conversation with Jeremy Loffredo, a dedicated reporter for the Gray Zone. The discussion delves into the escalating tensions in Israel, particularly focusing on the treatment of foreign journalists amidst the ongoing conflict following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

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1. Introduction to Jeremy Loffredo’s Reporting

[00:10] Chris Hedges opens the episode by introducing Jeremy Loffredo, highlighting his courageous reporting from within Israel, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Loffredo's work has shed light on the harsh realities faced by both Palestinians and journalists operating in these volatile regions.

[00:10] Hedges emphasizes: "Jeremy Loffredo... was detained in Israel... his detention and deportation highlight the cases of Palestinian journalists..."

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2. Early Reporting on Zionist Protests

[02:40] Jeremy Loffredo recounts one of his earliest reports, covering Zionist counter-protests in New York City shortly after the October 7th attacks. Instead of focusing on the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, Loffredo chose to interview the pro-Israel protesters, unveiling alarming sentiments among them.

[03:53] A notable and disturbing quote from Chris Hedges during the interview captures the intense animosity expressed by the counter-protesters:

Chris Hedges: "Kill all Palestinians. Not one left. From the river to the sea. Palestine will be deceased."

This interaction underscores the deep-seated tensions and the extreme rhetoric that fuels the ongoing conflict.

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3. Escalation of Violence in the West Bank

[07:31] Loffredo draws parallels between the current situation in Israel and the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia, referring to the fervent nationalism that escalates violence. He discusses the shift in tactics in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers, bolstered by military support, have intensified their efforts to displace Palestinian residents.

[08:45] He reports on the unprecedented land seizures:

"They were turning settlers into military reservists, arming them, and granting them the authority to expel Palestinians from their lands."

This militarization of settlers has led to widespread fear and displacement among Palestinian communities.

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4. Suppression of Palestinian Journalists and Activists

[16:02] The conversation shifts to the plight of Palestinian journalists and activists. Loffredo details the arbitrary detentions and harsh treatment faced by those who speak against Israeli policies.

[18:39] A segment features Rauda Abu Ajamiya, a Palestinian woman who was detained without charge and held under Israel's Administrative Detention Law. This law permits indefinite detention without trial, contributing to a climate of fear and repression.

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5. Collaboration Between Military and Settlers to Block Aid

[22:23] Loffredo describes his experience infiltrating Israeli settlements to uncover the collaboration between settlers and the military in blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. He reveals how settlers are instrumental in justifying the closure of aid crossings, thereby shifting responsibility from the government to the settlers themselves.

[25:31] A poignant interaction highlights the settlers' disdain and rejection of Palestinian aid:

Chris Hedges: "No, they don't deserve it. What I care... Kill them. I don't care."

This stark portrayal underscores the dehumanizing rhetoric that exacerbates the conflict.

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6. Repression of Israeli Voices Opposing the War

[30:15] The episode also sheds light on the silencing of Israeli citizens who dissent against the government's actions. Loffredo shares the story of Mayor Brueken, an Israeli high school teacher who was arrested for attempting to humanize Palestinian children through his social media posts.

[34:28] An elderly Yom Kippur War veteran expresses his frustration:

Veteran: "By shouting or saying different things that are not, you know, on in the national consensus, you reveal yourself as a... traitor."

This segment illustrates the internal suppression within Israeli society against voices advocating for peace and understanding.

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7. Jeremy Loffredo’s Arrest and Detention

[35:49] The conversation intensifies as Loffredo discusses his own arrest. While reporting on Iranian airstrikes in Israel, he was detained by Israeli authorities, marking a significant crackdown on foreign journalists.

[38:00] Loffredo narrates the sequence of his detention:

"They interviewed me in Hebrew, blindfolded me, shackled me, and placed me in solitary confinement for three days with little food or water."

[35:49] He highlights the inconsistencies in enforcement, noting that while other media outlets reported similar incidents, he was uniquely targeted.

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8. Experiences Within Detention

[41:06] Loffredo provides a harrowing account of his interrogation and solitary confinement:

"They slammed the door shut. I was in solitary confinement... charged with giving information to the enemy during wartime."

[46:09] He describes the psychological torment, including being forced to interact with a Zionist social worker who berated him for his reporting.

[55:27] Loffredo recounts the inhumane conditions:

"I heard, you know, like, really, really... harsh, like, crying and yelling... It's torturous just to hear that."

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9. Legal Proceedings and Release

[57:19] After enduring prolonged interrogation without adequate legal support, Loffredo was released under precarious conditions:

"They allowed me to leave... but left my case open, which essentially means... they can grab you again."

This open case leaves Loffredo vulnerable to future detentions, casting a shadow over press freedom in the region.

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10. Conclusion and Reflections

Throughout the episode, Chris Hedges and Jeremy Loffredo shed light on the systemic repression of both Palestinian and foreign journalists in Israel. The conversation underscores the transformation of Israeli state mechanisms into tools of despotism, systematically silencing dissent and perpetuating violence. Loffredo’s personal ordeal exemplifies the broader challenges faced by journalists striving to report truthfully in conflict zones.

Notable Quotes:

• Chris Hedges [03:53]: "Kill all Palestinians. Not one left."
• Veteran [34:28]: "By shouting or saying different things... you reveal yourself as a... traitor."
• Loffredo [35:49]: "They slammed the door shut. I was in solitary confinement..."

Through meticulous reporting and personal testimony, this episode serves as a poignant reminder of the fragile state of press freedom and human rights in regions plagued by enduring conflict.

Transcript

[Chris Hedges]

Foreign.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

Jeremy Lofredo, a reporter for the Gray Zone, did some of the best reporting from inside Israel in the occupied west bank, including East Jerusalem, on what is happening in Israel since the attacks by Hamas and other resistance groups on October 7, 2023. His reporting saw him detained in Israel on October 8, 2024, at a checkpoint in the West Bank. The allegations against him stemmed from a report apparently about exposing the locations of strikes launched at missile targets inside Israel by Iran, although other media outlets did the same thing. He was blindfolded, shackled, thrown in a military truck, placed in solitary confinement for three days with little food or water, and eventually unofficially deported. His detention and deportation highlight the cases of Palestinian journalists, over 130 of whom have been killed in Gaza, many after being targeted by Israel. Israel has also arrested dozens of Palestinian journalists since October 7. At least 43 Palestinian journalists remain imprisoned by Israel, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Many are held under Israel's Administrative Detention Law, which allows for indefinite detention without charge or trial. Even a detainee's location is often unknown. Human rights organizations have reported evidence of Palestinian journalists being tortured in Israeli prisons. Today we are going to look at several of Lofredo's reports for the Gray Zone, examine the heavy censorship in Israel, the suppression of all speech that raises concerns about the genocide in Gaza by Palestinians and Israelis, the heavy handed repression against Palestinians that has been turbocharged since October 7th in the west bank, and how this internal repression is reconfiguring the Israeli state into despotism. Joining me to discuss his reporting and detention is the journalist Jeremy Lofredo. I want to look at several of your reports before we go into detail about your arrest and what happened so people can get a look at the kind of reporting you did. You begin. One of your earliest reports before you even go to Israel in the occupied territories is a story about Zionists at protests in New York City from last year. Just set that up for us and tell us what it is we're going to see.

Sure. So this was a few days after October 7th, and this wasn't really, this wasn't a protest, this was a counter protest. So a few days later, Israel was well into launching their attack into Gaza and there was an anti war rally, a pro Palestine rally in New York City outside of the Israeli Embassy. And there was these counter protesters, these counter Zionist protesters, pro Israel protesters, cheering in opposition to the pro Palestine people. And I, instead of covering the Palestinian protesters, which, like I was very familiar with their language and what they were saying, what they were Arguing free Palestine and the occupation. And then I was like, I thought it would be more interesting instead to speak to the other side. And I interviewed them and allowed them to be extremely candid with me. And I interviewed many of them. They called for genocide. They called for a second nakba. You'll see it right here.

[Chris Hedges]

Fuck Palestine. Palestine to my dick.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

What do you think the response should be from Netanyahu and the military to Gaza?

[Chris Hedges]

Kill all Palestinians.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

All of them.

[Chris Hedges]

Not one left. From the river to the sea. Palestine will be deceased. And Israel need to do like this, you see Now Gaza like this. Gaza need to do like this. Oh, oh. Like this. But all this Jewish. Two options.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

What do you think the response should be? We gotta wipe them off. The walking about every. Flattening them like a parking lot.

[Chris Hedges]

Yeah. There's nothing else you can do. They proved to us that there's nothing else you can do.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

We tried and we tried everything.

[Chris Hedges]

It doesn't work.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

We have to wipe them flat off.

The fucking map like a fucking parking lot.

[Chris Hedges]

I'm not stopping till all Arabs are wiped out. I think now it's the time that we need to erase Gaza. There is people inside, our people inside that kidnapped. And now we need to kill all of them and free Israel. All of their belief is killing Jewish and killing and murder our people. Flatten it. Flatten Gaza. That will be the last war in Gaza.

[Unknown]

This will be.

[Chris Hedges]

Yes, it will be.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

So, Jeremy, how reflective were those statements to the kinds of statements you heard from Israelis once you got to Israel?

Well, when I interviewed those people, I had never been to Israel before I interviewed them and I. It was the first time I heard anyone be so candidly racist and genocidal. And I, I didn't know, truly, I didn't know the face of, like, fanatical Zionism. Like, I. I didn't know that, you know, people spoke like that. So I was surprised. And I was surprised that it wasn't just one person said something crazy. It was a group of 100 people all saying the same thing, all saying things like that. And obviously, you know, this is everyone. I, when I went to Israel, you know, a few weeks after that, you know, everyone has war fever. There's flags everywhere that weren't there a few weeks before. Together we will win signs, Bring them home signs. You know, there. It's like, you know, post 9, 11, almost like it's. It's very like the war propaganda is. Is everywhere. And it was also reflective, like, in what people were saying. Like, even, you know, maybe I was at a pub talking to someone who went to a, you know, a liberal arts school, likes to paint, you know, every. Everything you hear them say, you know, they're left leaning. They, you know, want free health care, they want, you know, affordable housing. And then they speak about the Palestinian question. And then they like, you know, the Arabs are smelly. We need to take over Gaza. And so even the people that I would expect to hear, you know, more progressive language from sounded exactly like, you know, the far right, fanatical Zionist that I interviewed, you know, weeks before New York City. So it was kind of a shock to me.

Yeah, we had the same thing during the war in Yugoslavia. We used to interview Serbs who were artists and well educated, and we called it the Linda Blair effect. Because as soon as they started talking about Muslims, their heads started to spin around and around and around like, of course, fanatical Zionists. Let's talk about the West Bank. I was in the west bank this summer. The genocidal tactics that are commonplace in Gaza are increasingly being used in the West Bank. And you have a very good report called on the silent war in the west bank. And perhaps you can, because we're not showing the whole clip, just explain what it is we're going to see.

Sure. So shortly after October 7, no journalists are allowed in Gaza. And so I went to the West Bank. I wanted to be with the Palestinians after this war began, see what they were dealing with in the occupied west bank, see what life was like. And after the war began, the hundreds of thousands of settlers in the west bank who are illegally there, they were all turned in to military reservists. All of them, all of the military aged ones. So they were given.

Just to be clear, Jeremy, that's over 700. There are 700,000 colonists in the West Bank. We're talking about a pretty large number.

Yeah, a giant number. They were all given military uniforms. Some settlements were given Humvees. They were given guns, even though they already had guns. They were given guns. And they were kind of given carte blanche to do what they already wanted to do and were already doing at a very. In a smaller frequency. They wanted to cleanse the Palestinians of the West Bank. They wanted to get rid of them. They wanted to get rid of villages and then put in paperwork and build more Jewish settlements, more apartment buildings. And so no one was there. No one's there. Post October 7th, the military, the police were not there to kind of break up the fighting or stop the settlers from doing things that are illegal. I mean, their Entire existence there is legal, but from being extra violent. So the military and the settlers were working together after October 7th to get rid of the Palestinians in the west bank while all eyes were in Gaza.

Yeah, they created rogue militias. It's been the largest land seizure in the west bank since the Israeli occupation. I think 30% of the Jordan Valley have that right. And they have create created reigns of terror by going into these Palestinian villages. And that's. You're in one of these villages.

Yeah. Of course.

[Unknown]

The thousands of Palestinians from villages that have already been cleansed and displaced from their rural lands have had to find land away from settlers and pitch tents. Residents of this village were told by settlers accompanied by the Israeli military that if they did not vacate their land in 24 hours, they would all be killed. Entire bedrooms remain, children's toys, school books, food. Dressers full of clothing. Before fleeing, the Palestinians spray painted one of their shacks. We will return one day.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

It says.

[Unknown]

The settlers have destroyed many of these structures in order to ensure that no one returns before they begin building a new illegal Jewish development. This Palestinian along with his children lived in this village. They are now living on a small plot of land alongside other displaced residents. I spoke to him in a gas station parking lot because he was terrified of what settlers would do do if they spotted him being interviewed by a foreign journalist.

[Chris Hedges]

Command Fiat Lagna Alganamu and he Fatra.

[Unknown]

Another West Bank Palestinian who has been forcefully displaced from his village is Muhammad. He now lives with his entire extended.

[Chris Hedges]

Family in a tent on someone else's property. Gatao Animal Maya company Surya Rob.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

Let'S talk about Palestinians who are arrested for their activism. You interview a woman who was detained in an Israeli prison and then she's released as part of the November hostage exchange. So maybe you can talk a little bit about that report. Sure.

So this is now, I guess two years ago, her house was raided just like her neighbors houses have been dozens of times, just like her house has been dozens of times. And they made some vague accusations against her, as they do all Palestinians living in the west bank saying that you said something wrong, you talked to someone wrong, you posted something on social media that we didn't like. I don't know exactly what they told her. And they took her away and they put her in prison. And she was in prison under this administrative detention. And so she is not charged. She's a woman, she's not charged, she's in prison for however long the Israelis say. And she can be kept wherever the Israelis say she's in a prison where her family doesn't know where she is. She has no rights. And this is a woman, you know, probably the age of my mother. And this is. Yeah, this is in. Outside of Bethlehem in a refugee camp. And after interviewing her, I will say she reached me back out to me explaining that they just came and took her neighbor. This is just like that. They took her. So this is not happening to one person. This is. I didn't find the one person who this has happened to. This happens to all Palestinians. They get put in administrative detention for things that they. For political speech. And this is just one of the women.

[Unknown]

While over 100 Israelis are being held captive in Gaza, Israel is holding over 10,000 Palestinians in its own jails. More than 3,000 of these Palestinians were arrested and detained without charge, trial, or the ability to appeal. The State of Israel calls this type of procedure administrative detention. It's reserved for Palestinians who engage in any type of political activity or speech against Israeli occupation and their family members. What it amounts to is official kidnapping. Radu Abu ajamiya is a 47 year old Palestinian woman who's lived her entire life in the Dahesha refugee camp outside Bethlehem in the West Bank. She was taken from her home by military police last year and kept in one of the Israeli prisons. In November, Hamas used 50 Israelis they took prisoner on October 7th as political leverage to free 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails. Rauda is one of the Palestinian prisoners who was released. She served seven months in Ofra prison and Damon prison. I traveled through dozens of military checkpoints.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

In order to sit down with Raudha.

[Unknown]

In her living room as she recounted her arrest, Israeli prison and coming home without any hearing, without any trial, any.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

No ability to appeal.

[Unknown]

Rata was sent to prison. They also arrested her teenage nephew.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

Let's move on to the Israeli settlers.

Can I just say one thing about that video real quick? Yeah. Just how I found that woman. We had a list given to us by Adamir, which is like a prisoner rights NGO in Ramallah. And it was a list of 50 people, people who were recently released from administrative detention. And out of the 50 people, only one, that woman, she's so courageous. Only one was willing to speak to us. Everyone was so afraid that if they spoke to a journalist, they would get thrown right back in prison. So that's how arbitrary, that's how strict, that's how scared these people are. Out of 50 people, almost everyone is too scared to just speak about their experience to a journalist except her.

Well, and they're told when they're released not to speak out.

Yeah, yeah, Truly, it makes even more brave.

So you go down to one of the crossings and it's a great report. And you spend time with the Israeli settlers. I think you're there for a week, who are with the collaboration of the army, of course, and the police blocking the aid trucks coming from Egypt into Gaza. So talk about this first and then. And then we'll watch the clip from that report.

Sure. So I was there, I was in Jerusalem at the time, and I knew this was happening. And I didn't really know how exactly to, you know, ingratiate myself or, you know, kind of embed myself with these people. I at first drove down to these aid blocks, these direct action aid blocks with a fellow journalist, like an anti Zionist, like leftist journalist inside of Israel. And we walked around, I was interviewing people and I noticed that this person was almost getting a little too emotional. This person was kind of arguing with the settlers and like, you know, you're not going to change these people's minds, arguing about how many women and children are in Gaza, et cetera, et cetera. And they were looking at me as if to say, like, we're not going to speak to these people. So I changed my strategy and I instead, I began taking a bus that left from Jerusalem with them through the occupied West Bank. It would stop at settlements, pick up fathers and young children and mothers, and go through the west bank, all the way down south to the Cream Shalom or the Netsana border crossings. And they would take these buses through the west bank, pick up the protesters and bring them to the crossing. And once they would get to the crossing, I mean, this is a closed military zone. So, like, no one is allowed here, supposed to be allowed here, but as soon as these settlers show up, the military uses their presence as justification to shut down the aid crossing. So the military knows, the state of Israel knows that if they actually shut down the aid crossing, the there will be international political outcry. So the settlers do it instead. And they use the settlers to justify shutting down aid to Gaza. So they work hand in hand. The settlers kind of rid the Israeli government of actual political responsibility for not allowing aid into Gaza. And they were sharing sandwiches. The army. And listen, they're not supposed to. It's illegal that they're there, but the military is giving them sandwiches, watermelon, you know, ice pops. They're palling around, they're hanging out. And day after day, as soon as the settlers show up, and I'm with them, the blocking gets closed, no aid gets into Gaza day after day after day. And they consider that a giant, giant success. And after I filed this report, I was told, oh, these are fanatics. This isn't really the government line. These people are fringe. Even though the military is working with them, you could see that it's the government line. But now you have people in the Knesset, people in the Likud Party, arguing that they should stop aid, that they shouldn't send aid, something that just a few months ago we were told is fringe. And no one was saying that. So it very quickly became reality. And so that, That's a good intro. We could watch the video.

[Chris Hedges]

The policeman, the head commander came to us and said, okay, you guys came and blocked. We don't want to fight. And he said to us, I'll just lock the gate. You guys don't need to stand in the sun. We got lollipops. We. We got watermelon from the police. Yeah, watermelons. And was great, Was great with them.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

So no food, no nothing?

[Chris Hedges]

No, they don't deserve it. What I care. Kill them. I don't care.

[Unknown]

Do you trust Palestinians?

[Chris Hedges]

No.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

I know all about them.

[Chris Hedges]

I don't trust them. I want them out of here.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

What do you think should happen to Gaza?

[Chris Hedges]

I want to be civilized with Jews from Israel. My unit was in charge of explosions. We blew up houses of terrorists, mosque, UN offices. I remember we got into some UN office that was in charge of helping families in Gaza that was affected by the war and we destroyed it. We give vestige for the people, for the soldiers, for. For the cops, for everybody. This is what we give to our people. This is really humanitarian. Okay? They need to block the aid to Gaza, they need to block the gas to Gaza, everything to block. And this is what we do every week, two, three, four times a week. And as the Bible says, this place is, is for us. It's promised for us so they can starve to death to pay on the things that they've done to us. On the 7th of October, Bibi is a puppet of Biden because we cleaned all Gaza except in Afia. Why aren't we going in there? Because Biden asked us not to. That's the only reason. There's no reason not to.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

That last segment, Jeremy, we actually see settlers walking on into God, towards Gaza.

Yeah, they, they, they went into Gaza. They. These are the same people that were blocking the aid. Sometimes they would go to the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Ariz crossing, and they would have A caravan of people. And they would get to as close as they could to the Erez border crossing, and they would bring vinyl and plywood and drills and hammers, and the military would allow them into Gaza. Again, this is a closed military zone. Not supposed to be any civilians here, let alone civilians crossing into Gaza. And they were building what they called symbolic outposts. And these are little sheds or houses that they would build on the Gaza side of the Aras border crossing. You know, in a way to tell the government, like, we are ready to move to Gaza when you tell us that we're allowed to. And a lot of them are from Gush Katif, the last settlement that was in Gaza before the disengagement. And they're calling for the resettlement and the Judaization of Gaza. And they say settlements, equal security. So they believe if they were to settle in Gaza, then the military would have to protect them. And that means the military would be permanently occupying Gaza, and a permanent occupation of Gaza would lead to no more October 7th, as they would argue.

If you speak out, even if you're Israeli, of course, against the genocide in Gaza, you are targeted. And you have a report speaking to Israelis protesting the war. We're going to see just three clips from it. I'll let you set it up. One is from a Yom Kippur veteran.

[Chris Hedges]

One.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

One is from a high school teacher, Mayor Baruchin, and the other is from the principal of a school, Yael Aylan. Just explain that report, and then we'll watch those clips.

Sure. So shortly after October 7, there is a high school teacher named Mayor Brueken, and he would post things on Facebook that would, you know, to the effect of, Mohammed was 13 years old. Muhammad wanted to be a professional soccer player. But Muhammad will never be a professional soccer player because he was killed by our wonderful men and women in the Gaza Strip. And so he was trying to humanize children in Gaza through these Facebook posts. And his house was raided, his computers and his cell phones were seized, and he was put in solitary confinement for eight or nine days. And he was. They tried to charge him with incitement, which carries, you know, 25 years to 50 years in prison. And he eventually he was let out of prison, but I was there when he was originally getting arrested. And at the courthouse, there was maybe a 10 or 15 person, you know, older Israeli Jews there, you know, showing their support for this Mayor Baruch. And they were brutally beaten by a special police force inside of Jerusalem. And so the first interview that we're Going to see right now is one of the older men who was there voicing his support for Mayor Brukin, who was getting charged with, you know, incitement for simple, you know, Facebook posts. And he was beaten by the police.

[Unknown]

To say it in one sentence, they came in order to beat us. I didn't see such cruelty, such violence from the side of Jerusalem police in terms of, you know, chasing, eating, not hesitating to beat adults. I would say even old ladies and people were cursed. I mean, the policemen didn't hesitate to curse people in sentences like, go to Gaza, go to East Jerusalem, go to Sheikh Jarrah. You are we don't you want you, you are lousy leftists. This kind of stuff. They didn't hesitate as people of Delaw, to curse Citize and we did nothing. For me, it was a fascist event, really, coming and doing these horrible things to law, to people who respect the law, who did nothing. I was attacked in Jerusalem, and my son Nadav serves in the army very near the northern border. I mean, to treat me as a Yom Kippur war veteran and first Lebanese war veteran, as a traitor, as a person whom you have to attack, whom you have to curse or mock is impossible. By shouting or saying different things that are not, you know, on in the national consensus, you reveal yourself as a, as a traitor.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

And we should be clear that that older man that you interviewed, he's a veteran from the Yom Kippur war and his son is in the military.

Yeah, he's, he's. He used to be. I mean, he's not, he's not a. He's not like an anti Zionist by any means. He lives in Israel. He's Jewish. He served in the army. His son is in the army. He just didn't believe that this high school teacher, Mayor Brukin, should be in prison for 50 years for trying to humanize Gazan children on his Facebook. And that's the level where they're at in terms of repressing freedom of speech inside of Israel against Israeli Jews, not even Palestinians.

So this last clip we're going to look at is probably the one that got you in, you know, really serious trouble. And this is your reporting on the Iranian airstrikes in Israel, though. I want to, before we talk about it, be clear that you, you weren't the only one who showed footage from strikes. They, they came very close to hitting the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, but you weren't the only one who did it. But of course they went after you and I think, you know, having shown clips from all of these reports, we can understand why. So talk about this last report and then after that we're going to talk about what happened to you.

Sure. So my original plan was to go to the northern west bank on this most recent trip to spend time in the refugee camps in Jenin, around Nablus, Tokaram, where there's been, you know, regular raids and sieges. And, you know, they shut off the water. There's, it's one of the few places, you know, in the west bank where there is, you know, there's resistance. And so, like, these people don't want them entering the refugee camp. The Palestinians don't want the military to come in. And so I wanted to go there and document the destruction caused by these raids and speak to people who have to deal with these raids. And, you know, for the first time in a long time, there's been, you know, a handful of airstrikes in the northern West Bank. You know, things are, people are saying, you know, it's another front opening up in this war. So that was my plan. But the day I got to Israel, we had, it was October 1st, and that was the day of the Iranian ballistic missile retaliatory attack. And I spoke to, you know, my editor and friend Max Blumenthal. He said, you know, you are there, maybe you should file a report about this missile strike. I thought, you know, I don't really know what to say about, everyone's talking about it. How about if I just try to find where the missiles landed? Maybe like that's just, that could be the report. I do that. I go to the Nevatim air base in the south. I don't really see much. I go to the Mossad headquarters around there. There's a, there's a filled in crater. I document it, I look at the news. And because I'm, you know, only one person, I'm not a news crew, you know, my turnaround was a few days. So my report came out after, you know, the mainstream media, PBS NewsHour, Jeanette, you know, mainstream Israeli media and American media situated inside of Israel published very similar information that I did. And only I was, you know, acted on and arrested. So we could watch a part of that video and talk about it.

Great.

[Unknown]

I'm Jeremy Lofredo for the Gray Zone in Israel, where last night Iran fired over 200 ballistic missiles in retaliation for the assassinations of Lebanese and Iranian political and military leadership. Since the missile strikes Iran, Israeli authorities have attempted to downplay the significance of the attacks, censored the locations of missile impacts from media publication and claimed that Iran was targeting Israeli civilians. What I saw today here in Israel is clear evidence that Iran was targeting the same Israeli intelligence and military infrastructure.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

That'S been used over the past year.

[Unknown]

To carry out brutal assassinations and attacks. The military took away most of the missile, but there was still a piece left. The missile fell a quarter mile west of Neva Team air base and about a quarter mile from the Bedouin village which is unrecognized by Israel. So it isn't supplied with any type of state of the art bomb shelters like Jewish communities. Where were people in the communities around here hiding yesterday during the sounds?

[Jeremy Lofredo]

Many people sheltered here last night with.

[Chris Hedges]

The sounds of the rockets.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

They came and hide here.

[Unknown]

Using visual clues from footage circulating online, I set out to locate where the missile may have landed. Driving down a street I believe to be in one of the missile videos, I saw a heavily damaged suv, its windshield shattered, debris and concrete caked into the vehicle. Further down, the scene unfolded. Destroyed vehicles, torn up asphalt and a massive crater roughly 30ft wide, recently filled in with dirt.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

That's the Mossad headquarters.

[Unknown]

The missile had hit less than 1,000ft from Mossad headquarters. This information is missing from all Israeli media reports due to the fact it been officially censored. Right, here are the censored coordinates. Given the proximity to what is considered one of the world's most advanced intelligence agencies, it seemed clear that Israel was taking extra precautions to conceal the exact impact location. As we left the area, an unsettling incident occurred. Our cell phones lost GPS functionality, maps went blank, and then both devices, mine and my taxi drivers suddenly showed we were at Amman's airport in Jordan, over 120 miles west.

[Jeremy Lofredo]

So now explain what happened. I think you were at a checkpoint. Were you in Kalandia? In Ramallah. But explain what happened.

I was finally. It was the first day where I finally was getting to do what I went there to do, which was reporting the northern West Bank. I was at a checkpoint maybe 15 minutes outside of Nablus. And the military asked everyone in the car with me. There was five of us to hand over our passports, which isn't super strange, asking for ID at a checkpoint. Hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank. I wasn't nervous at all. I gave the passport to him and then they came back and they asked for us all to hand over our cell phones. And my phone was locked. And I knew all the information. My phone, you know, maybe I was, you know, communicating with people who were in the northern west bank who maybe knew people, you know, who would be considered by them as resistance fighters, as the military, as terrorists. But it's, you know, valid journalistic inquiry for me to, you know, be communicating with these people for interviews. So, yeah, I handed over my cell phone. Everyone did, except one journalist. He refused to. And he had a gun pointed at his face. He was dragged out of the car. He was punched a few times. And then they took his phone as well, and then told all of us to get out of the car and stand on the street, sit on the street beside the military checkpoint. And then maybe after an hour of us sitting on the dirt, one of the army officers pointed at me and said, Mr. Lofredo, will you come here? And so I crossed the street towards the checkpoint, and I said, what's happening? And they said, you're being arrested. And they pulled out maybe 20 or 30ft of blindfold cloth, and they wrapped it tightly around my head, you know, maybe 10 or 15 times around my ears, my eyes and part of my nose. They shackled my legs, and they. They zip tied my hands. And then I was put in a military Humvee and kind of arbitrarily driven around. And then it stopped. I was then transferred into a police car or what seemed to be a police car. I was blindfolded still. And then the police car drove about an hour south towards. Towards Jerusalem. It took me to the biggest police headquarters in the west bank, and I was put in a holding cell. My blindfold was finally taken off my head. I was in the holding cell. And they actually. They arrested all of us who were in the car. So we were all here at this kind of west bank military compound. The other journalists that I was with were allowed to go home. And that's kind of when I thought to myself, maybe this is something more serious for me, because everyone's allowed to go home except me. And I heard them playing this report, my voice. I heard my own voice when I was sitting in my holding cell. I heard them listening to my report. So I knew it was something. Not that I was at a checkpoint, not that I was with. Maybe some people that I was with have Israeli citizenship, and they're not allowed into Nablus. But it was not about any of that. It was about my video report. Before I was able to speak to a lawyer or anything like that. They called me out of my cell and they told me to stand in front of a big flag that said, together we will win, which is like the Nationalist wartime slogan for the war. And it wasn't a. They didn't take, like, official photos. They all took out their phones. They were yelling at me in Hebrew. They were just snapping photos for, like, maybe they have a group chat or something. Just kind of taunting me, telling me to stand here, telling me to smile, telling me to stop smiling. And then they would send me back to my holding cell. They're really just trying to, you know, confuse me and scare me. And then finally, after a few hours in the holding cell, they said, your lawyer's on the phone. I said, I don't know why I even need a lawyer. Like what? I still don't really know what's happening. I answer the phone and the lawyer says, Mr. Lofredo, I want you to think very hard. What have you done? You're being charged with giving information to the enemy during wartime. It's a very grave offense. And can you think of anything? I said, I filed a report, and I'm trying to speak to this woman, and she barely speaks any English, and I have, like, 45 seconds to speak to my lawyer. So she doesn't really understand what I'm saying. I don't really understand what she's saying. The phone call ends. She says, listen, they're going to interrogate you. You're going to be brought to a prison, and I'll see you in court tomorrow. And so that's. That was the first day, and that's how I originally got arrested.

And then what happened?

First, I was interrogated. They asked me if I was familiar with Israel's military censorship. I said, yes. And they said, then why did you publish your video? Et cetera, et cetera. I said, I, you know, I published my video. I'm familiar with your censor, of course, but because your entire mainstream media was publishing information similar to mine, I didn't know I was breaking any censorship laws. They asked me if I have any, you know, connections or friends or family in foreign militaries. I said no. They asked me why I included the coordinates in the video. I said, because, you know, as a journalist, you know, giving as much information and context is important. And, you know, many journalists would say the same thing. And this entire interrogation, it was in Hebrew. There was only. It was only translated from a person on a cell phone who spoke Russian, very little English. So I'm trying to tell this person on the cell phone why I think what I did is right and why I'm innocent. And she doesn't really understand me and is trying to tell the Hebrew guy who also doesn't understand me. Like it's. We are all upset. I'm getting frustrated and I'm scared. The intelligence officer doesn't understand what I'm saying and is under. Is upset with a person on the phone who's supposed to be translating. So it's a horrible way to hold an interrogation, to communicate with someone. And then I'm putting an unmarked, you know, police vehicle and I'm taken to the Russian compound in Jerusalem, which is about a 15 minute drive west. And so I get to the military, I get to the Russian compound. They open a solitary confinement cell. It's about 10ft by 8ft. There's a concrete cell slab with a bed or blanket, depending on how you want to use it. It's so thin it could be used as both. And I get put in there. They slam the door shut. I don't know at that point what time my court hearing is the next day. I'm just kind of in solitary confinement now. And eight hours before, I was in a car driving to meet someone in Ablos and do my job. And now I'm being charged with, you know, as an enemy of the state. And so I had my first night in prison and then the next morning. And keep in mind, at this point, they did not give me any water or any food. I had my court appearance and the intelligence, the prosecutors, they wanted to keep me in solitary confinement for seven days. And the judge said, why? Why seven days? And they said, because he's dangerous. And they said, why do you think he's dangerous? And they said it's top secret. And I. And this is all being translated to me. Entire, entire court hearing is in Hebrew. I don't understand what's happening. And the judge doesn't believe them really, when they say it's top secret, thankfully. And she says, you can have him for one day, you can interrogate him for one day. You can interrogate him. You can go through his cell phone, you can go through his computer. You have one day to. To continue on this, on this, with these charges. And so they bring me back to solitary confinement. They don't feed me that night either. And they also don't interrogate me. The police don't interrogate me, even though the judge told them that they were allowed to. And so the next day in court, a unette journalist came and testified on my behalf and said, I am a journalist for Yannet. I have a GPO card, I have a government press office card. I am mandated to go through the military Censor whenever I publish something, and I published something very similar to Mr. Lofredo. And not only that, I published information relating to why Jeremy Lofredo was detained. And the military censor allowed me to. To explain what was in his video and even allowed me to embed his video in my article. And they said, there's nothing secret in it. And so he showed his conversation with a military censor to the judge. The judge read all of it and said, okay, if Mr. Lofredo can publish this, and I mean, if the journalist can publish this, why can't Mr. Lofredo? And the police said, well, it's because Mr. Lofredo doesn't like Israel. And so that's. That's like, it's not even an opinion. It's like this was very political, and this had very little to do with that actual video. This had much more to do with my prior reporting and maybe with the Gray Zone publishes and what I have published in the past in Israel, in the West Bank. But thankfully, like, that is the opinion, and that is the view, and that is how the police and the military conduct themselves. But this judge didn't really accept that and said he needs to be let out of detention. I was brought out of the prison. I was brought back to. I mean, brought out of the court, brought back to prison. I was signing the paperwork to leave prison, and a few guards said something in Hebrew to me, and they grabbed me, they pulled me away from the paper, they took the pen out of my hands, and they threw me back in solitary confinement. I did not know what was happening. They didn't tell me anything. And a few hours later, this is probably 8pm Intelligence officers, plainclothes come to my cell and take me out. They shackle me, they handcuff me, they load me into a car and they take me back into the West Bank. And I'm frightened. I'm wondering if I'm going to get tortured now. I really don't know what's happening. The people driving the car aren't really telling me anything. The police officers. And I just asked them what's happening? And they said, interrogation. I said, but I was just about to leave prison. What happened? And the court allowed the police to appeal the court's decision. Hours after the window for appealing the decision had closed already. They just. They were allowed. They were allowed to retroactively appeal it and throw me back in prison and take me to the West Bank. And so I was interrogated, you know, at night in the west bank at this military compound. And they asked me. Now I know they have my phone, so I'm wondering, are they going to ask me now about what's on my cell phone? You know, if you have someone's cell phone, you're kind of. You're kind of in their brain. Like, these are now different questions than just why or why not? Is your video legal or illegal? So, but thankfully, the. All the questions still pertained to my video. And then they brought me back to the prison. And so I, at that point, I was kind of getting a little. I was thinking a little more positively about the situation that they really don't have anything. They're trying to charge me as an enemy of the state, you know, as a spy. But, like, they just keep going back to this video, and I keep answering why I think this video is legal, other people reporting on it. And, you know, like, I'm saying it very confidently, and they say, you know, if everyone committed murder, does that mean you could commit murder? Like saying, making the analogy that everybody had reported on it, that means, can I report on it? You know, they know. They know very well that everyone else is reporting on it. So, like, they're making it clear in court transcripts, to my face, in secret. They know that I already reported on it. I get brought back to prison, still have not gotten any food or water. I spend the night in. That morning, they finally give me a cup of chocolate pudding, and someone comes to my cell, and they introduce themselves as. As, like a social worker doing a wellness check on me, sent to my cell because the American Embassy told the prison to send me a social worker. I said, this is great. Maybe I'll get more food. Maybe I'll get some water. Maybe I'm going to get some help. And she said, why did you hurt Israel? You know, you hurt Israel. Do you love Israel? And I was, you know, taken aback. I thought I was about to get some help. She's berating me for my reporting. She's berating me because I don't agree with her when it comes to the occupation. And she tells me that I'm probably going to spend a long time in prison. And then she closes the steel window to my solitary confinement cell and she walks away. So just to clarify, that is the only help that the American Embassy afforded me was giving me this, you know, Zionist social worker to berate me because of my reporting and give me no help at all. But that's beside the point. I went to court a few hours later, and finally I was allowed out, and I had to spend the next 10 days in the country without my passport, my phone, or my laptop and allow the authorities to continue to continue interrogating me.

And while you were in the prison, I believe you heard screams or cries from Palestinians. Is that correct?

Yeah, I. I was. I was in solitary confinement. But, you know, maybe there was 100, 150 other prisoners in there, all Palestinian. I was the only white person, from what I can tell. I didn't see any Israelis, but I can't see anything for myself, but I can hear everything. And I heard, you know, like, really, really, you know, harsh, like, crying and yelling only to be interrupted by, you know, quick demands and questions. In Hebrew from. I would assume, obviously, is. Is a guard or a police officer crying and yelling for maybe four hours straight. And, like, I'm hearing this and I'm sitting in my cell, and it's, you know, it's. It's. For lack of a better word, it's torturous just to hear that. And I can't, you know, obviously, I can't imagine what these people are going through. I mean, this is. There's torture happening in this prison, and this is prison that is notorious for they bring Palestinians to this prison and they torture them in order to, like, manufacture false confessions. And this prison is also, like, notably criticized by human rights groups because it's not in the west bank, it's not in Palestine. So they're bringing Palestinians from the west bank into, you know, Israel and interrogating them there. So that's where they brought me. So that's where they bring an American journalist. They're not treating me as American. They're not treating me as a journalist. They're treating me as an enemy of the state. And clearly, for them, there's no difference.

And you're allowed to leave. Your. Your lawyer calls it an informal deportation. And they've left your case open, which essentially means if you can't go back, because if your case is open, they can grab you again. Is that correct?

Yes. My lawyer. My lawyer called this. So I'll just back up. I'll tell you exactly what happened. So I was interrogated for probably a combined time of 15 hours during that 10 days. One interrogation was six hours long, and then other interrogations were, you know, an hour or two hours where they're just continuously asking me the same questions different ways, you know, trying to see if I. If I'm lying or if I slip up on an answer, just like, playing semantics. And one interesting question they asked me was, you know, they said, you Expect me to believe that you went to school for journalism. You went to school for journalism, you took all these classes, you had all these professors, but you never learned about the importance of a military censor. I said, I explained that we have the First Amendment, and that's not exactly how it works in America. And I would assume he understands this. And it was as if he was, you know, learning about America from me. You know, he couldn't wrap his head around, you know, the military not censoring journalists. And as, of course, that happens here. But, you know, there's. It's much more, you know, self censorship. But that was one question they asked me. And, you know, they're asking me about other. Other reports that I've seen that I knew had happened in Israel that had the same information as me. So I had to tell them these reports. And I was kept in these interrogations for hours and hours and hours without water, still shackled, still handcuffed. And then finally, after 10 days, the 20th of October came. And that was the day that the court said, I find out if I'm getting rearrested or if I get my passport, my phone, and my laptop back. And they called my lawyer and they said, can Mr. Lofredo book a sooner flight? Because my flight was for the 23rd, you know, two days later. And she said, of course. So I went to my lawyer's office, I used their computers, I booked a flight. We sent them the flight information, and they went entirely, like. Entirely incommunicado. They had not answered us since. So we booked a flight, and we thought, you know, they told us to book a flight, maybe we should try to get my passport, my phone, and my laptop back. So we gave one of my friends there in Jerusalem, you know, power of attorney, sent him to the west bank military compound, and they gave him all my stuff back, including my passport. And so that. That was like the final. That was the moment where I. I found out that, like, I. I think I am able to leave. And I got on a plane, and they interrogated me at the airport a couple times. But I did leave the country, and they left my case open still, like, have a case open there right now. I spoke to my lawyer yesterday. Giving information to the enemy during wartime. It's open. And they. But they allowed me to leave. And if I come back, back through Ben Gurion Airport, you know, the most securitized airport probably in the world, and I will be, you know, immediately detained, my lawyer says, for the same charges that they were trying to get me on before, so I'm. I'm dissuaded from going back until the case is closed. I don't know if I really ever want to go back.

Great. Thank you. That was journalist Jeremy Lofredo. I want to thank Max, Diego, Sophia and Thomas who produced the show. You can find me at chrishedges.substack.com.