24/11/2019
Journalist Muath Amarneh was hit in the eye, apparently with a rubber bullet fired by Israeli forces last week.
Thousands of social media users have taken part in a campaign to support Palestinian freelance journalist Muath Amarneh, who lost his eye after being wounded while covering a protest in the occupied West Bank last week.
Journalists from across the Arab world launched the campaign of solidarity after Amarneh was hit in the eye, apparently with a rubber bullet fired by Israeli forces who had arrived to quell the demonstrations last Friday in Surif.
As a result of the incident Amarneh lost one eye, posing a significant challenge to his career.
Israel's border police said it did not target Amarneh at the protest near the city of Hebron and said it had used "nonlethal" means to disperse the crowd.
In a show of support, activists took photos of themselves covering an eye with one hand and posted them on social media, using the hashtags , or .
Social media users from a variety of backgrounds - including teachers, students and youth organisations from dozens of countries across the world, ranging from the US to Malaysia, have joined the online movement.
In their own way, students and teachers in the West Bank village of Ni'lin show solidarity with journalist Moath Amarneh, who lost his eye on Friday after he was wounded with a gunshot in his eye by Israeli soldiers.
