A female reporter for the Qatar-based news channel was reportedly asked to remove articles of clothing, including her bra, while entering a Foreign Press Association event. The Foreign Press Association in Israel is threatening to boycott briefings held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if security procedures are not changed immediately.
"In a democratic country, security services are not permitted to do as they please," the association said in a open statement. "For a government trying to usher in a new era of relations with the foreign media, this is a peculiar way to begin."
The statement followed a complaint filed yesterday by Al Jazeera with the Government Press Office and the Foreign Press Association, over what the channel said was a humiliating and lengthy security check at the invitation-only foreign press briefing with Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
At the entrance to the briefing, which took place Tuesday night at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, a number of journalists, including the Al Jazeera representatives, were stopped. According to the complaint, filed by Walid al-Umari, Al Jazeera's bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the technical and news team had presented themselves for the security check long before the start of the event and had provided the names, identity numbers and GPO cards of their team to the Government Press Office three days beforehand.
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