RAMALLAH, Palestine   

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has condemned Israel’s arrest of Anadolu Agency photographer Mustafa Kharouf in Jerusalem and its efforts to have him expelled from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

In a Wednesday statement, the PJS described Kharouf’s continued detention as a “blatant assault on his right to live and work in the city of Jerusalem, where he has been living and working for 20 years”. 

Kharouf’s arrest last month, it added, represents “an attack on the freedom of the press and the freedom of movement”. 

The PJS goes on to urge the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) -- along with international human rights groups -- to exert “serious pressure on the occupying state [i.e., Israel] to prevent the implementation of this crime [Kharouf’s deportation], which violates international laws and covenants”. 

On Jan. 22, Kharouf was arrested by the Israeli police. Since then, he has been held at a deportation center for illegal foreign migrants. 

Since Kharouf was born in Algeria, Israeli prosecutors are calling for his expulsion from the West Bank to neighboring Jordan, despite the fact that his family hails from Jerusalem. 

Kharouf has worked for Anadolu Agency as a photographer since August of last year.