RAMALLAH
The West Bank-based Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on Monday called on members to boycott a visit to Ramallah by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to protest an assault by the latter's guards on local photojournalists.
The syndicate "urges all media personnel to shun Harper's visit to protest the assault [by Harpers' guards] on journalists and preventing them from covering his [Harper's] visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem," syndicate secretariat member Nasser Abu Bakr told Anadolu Agency.
Earlier Friday, local journalists said Harpers' guards had assaulted them as they tried to cover the visiting official's visit to the church.
"Harper's guards mistreated the cameramen and one photographer was beaten," Moussa al-Shaer, a photographer who witnessed the incident, told AA.
Cameramen were also kicked out of the church despite having obtained prior permission to cover the visit from the Palestinian authorities, added al-Shaer.
The syndicate's Abu Bakr described the incident as "unacceptable and unjustified."
Harper met later Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with whom he held a press conference before departing for Jerusalem.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
