DayofPal– American journalist and podcaster Eric Maddox was violently beaten and arrested by Israeli forces today while documenting a settlers’ violent march in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.
Maddox, the host and creator of the Latitude Adjustment Podcast, was reportedly filming settler aggression against Palestinian residents in the Old City when he was assaulted and detained by Israeli soldiers.
Eyewitness video circulating online shows Maddox being tackled and repeatedly struck by uniformed forces as he attempted to continue his reporting.
The incident unfolded during a tense and highly controversial settler procession, widely viewed by Palestinians and rights observers as a deliberate provocation.
Human rights monitors have accused Israeli settlers of escalating violence in Hebron, where the Israeli military maintains a heavy presence to protect a small enclave of ultra-nationalist settlers amid a Palestinian majority.
Maddox is no stranger to war zones. He holds a graduate degree in Conflict Transformation and has spent years amplifying grassroots voices across Gaza, the West Bank, and occupied Jerusalem through the Palestine Podcast Academy, a project he founded to train Palestinians in storytelling and media production.
His work has brought him to refugee camps, including Dheisheh near Bethlehem, where he has documented oral histories from survivors of the 1948 Nakba.
His arrest has sparked an outcry from press freedom organizations, who fear a growing crackdown on foreign and local journalists working in the occupied territories.
The incident comes on the heels of a controversial BBC documentary by Louis Theroux that spotlighted the aggressive behavior of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, a program Israeli officials denounced as antisemitic, despite human rights groups defending it as an accurate portrayal of the occupation’s realities.
No official comment has been issued by Israeli authorities regarding Maddox’s arrest or current condition. Meanwhile, advocacy groups are calling for his immediate release and for an independent investigation into the assault.
For many, Maddox’s detention is not just a threat to journalistic freedom, but a stark reminder of the escalating dangers faced by those who dare to document life under military occupation.
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