I have been filming and documenting news for about 15 years. I have been at all the big events -- riots, evacuations, and more. A film crew is often a target for attack. I remember a funeral of the son of a famous rabbi, for example, where we were in real danger of harm by the masses just because we came to document the event. Fortunately, we managed to make it out without injury. But the demonstration at Rabin Square on Sunday ended differently. I went to the site of the demonstration, organized by Ethiopian-Israelis to protest police brutality and racism, in the afternoon to provide a live feed to the Israel Hayom website. I never dreamed that I would end up in the hospital that night. Toward the evening, the demonstrators began moving toward the square, and some of them tried to break into the adjacent City Hall. That was the breaking point: Suddenly I saw a mass of people charge up the stairs from the Rabin monument toward a group of police officers trying to block the entrance to the building. The police used tear gas to fend off the angry mob. Then, masses of people arrived at the square and clashed with police. I felt as if I was filming a battlefield: shouting, rock throwing, police horses going wild, stun grenades being detonated, bottles flying in the air. In all my years, I have never filmed a demonstration like this one. Suddenly, a bottle filled with water hit my face. I began to bleed. I fell to the ground, and the camera crashed down with me. I felt that I was losing consciousness. Then a man jumped forward and told me, "Hold your nose and don't let go until we get to the hospital." Thank you, dear stranger, you saved my nose. The doctor at the hospital told me that it was sound medical advice. After having covered dozens of major news events, for better or for worse, I feel that the fracture in my nose and my two black eyes are, beyond the physical pain, a symbol of the social pain that was clearly expressed on Sunday night.
Symbolism of a broken nose
מערכת היום
מערכת "היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
