Journalist Sharri Markson detained on Israeli visit

A prominent Australian journalist was detained by Israeli security officials in tense scenes last week during a visit to a hospital treating victims of the Syrian civil war.

Sharri Markson, a senior writer at The Australian, was detained for questioning by security officials at the Ziv Medical Centre in northern Israel on Thursday.

Markson was travelling with other Australian journalists on a week-long study tour organised by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

Sources said Markson became "aggravated" during the "tense" incident in which security officials demanded she hand over her passport, mobile phone and notes.

"It was very intense and dramatic," a source said. "There was a major commotion and suddenly there was security everywhere."

Over 500 Syrians – including wounded fighters battling the Assad regime – have been treated at the Ziv Medical Centre in Safed, near the Syrian border.

In a briefing before the tour began, hospital staff told the journalists that the patients could be at risk upon their return to Syria if it became known they had sought treatment in Israel. The hospital uses elaborate methods to secretly transfer the patients in and out of Syria.

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Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/journalist-sharri-markson-detained-on-israeli-visit-20151122-gl4xtf.html#ixzz3sFjCJtG9 
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