BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

A Palestinian group calling itself the Al Tawhid Al Jihad brigade has issued a claim that it has killed BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6557779.stm

------------------------

The middle-east is full of sick people....

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Way to go, Thats going to help your side get across.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Well they only claiming they've killed him. So if they haven't then you know...

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Well not many news companys have people based in Gaza giving the side of the people there, if they go around killing the people who do then they wont have any world attention.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

SKY news have just mentioned it, if it's true it will be a sad day for all concerned.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Will this mean we'll get more impartial reporting from the BBC with regards to the region?

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Bit of a "low blow" there Xaccers.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

It's been noted on several occasions that the BBC's reporting from the area is not impartial or objective.
It will be interesting to see if they continue on the same track or re-evaluate the situation in a more balanced light after this tragedy.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Right enough, now that you mention it, I wouldn't put it past the Israelis to have kidnapped him, just for fairness mind you.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

And of course pretended to be a Palestinian terrorist group claiming to have killed him.
In fact, I bet Arafat was really a mosad agent undercover, there is no palestinian issue, it's all a Jewish conspiracy.
It must be true, I heard it on the BBC...

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

I don't believe it would be beyond them - nor other states - to do so.

There's no need for attempts at sarcasm - though your lack of use of capitalization in certain regards is telling.

I'm disappointed. You obviously haven't heard of Tamara Lalli - one of many journalists lucky enough only to have been detained / kidnapped (as opposed to killed) by Israel in their unending quest for impartial journalism.

I find it rather surprising, whatever the fate / circumstance of Mr Johnston and who has detained him, that you seem to think only of what you refer to as "more balanced" reporting of events in the region as a possible result of his current predicament.

Somewhat at odds with your last public expressions on kidnap. I should point out that Mr Johnston, like any of the 15 kidnapped by Iran, is a British national doing his job, whether you agree with it or not.

Do you endorse the kidnap of journalists as a justifiable means to address a perceived imbalance in reporting?

That's how your initial post reads.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

This is a terrible tragedy...

Sorry, I was taking a leaf out of so many other's books, pretty sure yourself included, in not typeing something along the lines of "this is a terrible tragedy" at the start of every post.
I notice your first post made no mention of this terrible tragedy either, and instead took a dig at my post through misunderstanding.
Actually, your second post doesn't mention it either, instead you chose to suggest that Israel may have been behind the kidnapping.
It took you 3 posts to mention the tragedy, so I find it rather suprising that rather than reflect on the circumstances or fate of Mr Johnston, you chose rather to take the oppertunity to make minor digs at Israel.
As for lack of capitalization, thanks for pointing that out, it of course should have been Mossad.

Lets just hope that he's still alive and will be released soon.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

I'm not getting into the semantics of "sympathy point" scoring - nor am I in the habit of restating the obvious.

See above - If it was a misunderstanding I note that thus far you've made no attempt to explain that.

Again, I'm not playing sympathy point scoring and again I'd say it is a fact that it is not beyond Israel to kidnap individuals (journalists or otherwise).

There you go again with this persecution complex. I wasn't having a go at Israel (since when did the kidnap / murder of journalists become "minor") and I haven't stated anything that isn't fact. According to you I was having a "misunderstanding" of your post and its intent.

Not quite what I was referring to - but at least you got the spelling right second time around.

Yes, irrespective of who kidnapped him or what effect, if any, it has on future reporting.

I am, of course, assuming that you don't support the kidnapping of journalists.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

There's been a video of him released....

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Interesting point of view....... What if Israelis had abducted BBC man?

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

You'll notice at the moment the Lebanese army are killing civilians in refugee camps trying to get to Islamic militants (which as far as I know are just attacking the Lebanese army, not sending hundreds of rockets a day into Lebanese civilian areas), but there is no thread condemning this, very little reporting on it, and it does make one wonder what if Israel were killing Lebanese civilians to get a militants who were actually attacking Israeli civilians with hundreds of steel ball bearing filled exploding rockets a day, how people would react? Oh wait, we already know.
Don't you just love double standards?
Makes me wonder what's the cause of it?
Is it the numbers? Are the Lebanese army not killing enough civilians to make it condemnable? If Israel had killed fewer, would people have not condemned them? I seem to recall condemnation from the start though, so it doesn't seem to be numbers.
It can't be out of concern for Lebanese civilians, after all, the Lebanese army are killing a few right now.
Maybe it's fashionable to be anti-Israeli but not anti-Lebanese?
Does seem a bit shallow, if you're going to condemn nation A for killing people of nation B, then surely you should also condemn nation B killing people of nation B?

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

The thing is people prefer to criticise countries "that should know better" (not my words) like the UK or US over minor rights violations, whilst completely ignoring countries with a consistently appallingly poor record of human rights violations like Iran, China or Syria. So there is a double standard to it.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

he's been freed! :)

---------- Post added at 03:07 ---------- Previous post was at 03:06 ----------

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/6267928.stm

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Fantastic news!

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

glad to hear it :)

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

:tu::tu:

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

What a relief! :)

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

:tu:

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Big up the Hamas massive! Respec', innit.

Or was no one supposed to mention that?

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Ha ha ha ...... Im sure someone would have said something about them by the end of the day, I had a spread bet on how long it would take.;)

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Well David Miliband mentioned how big a part they had played in his release when he was being interviewed on the BBC this morning.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Daft response, but I found myself crying when I heard he'd been set free. Everyone who played a part in his release needs to be acknowledged and thanked.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Yeah, they're right up there with Adolf's youth club network in the social responsibility stakes.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Just shows how little you know about Gaza.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Or how little you know about the Hitler's youth organisation.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

So what?

Tell me you think an organisation that uses force of arms to expel its rivals and holds the abolition of a neighbouring sovreign state as a serious political goal is firing on all cylinders. Go on, I could do with a laugh.

Hamas is aware that it needs credibility and a firm control over its territory. The hostage situation was challenge to their authority so long as it continued and a gilt-edged PR opportunity if they could resolve it.

I'm glad Alan Johnson has been freed but I don't doubt this has happened because it served Hamas' needs.

They may well be devastatingly popular in Gaza right now. But in 1938, Germany was very happy to follow Adolf Hitler, and look where it got them.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Interesting - neither Virgin Radio news nor Radio 4 mentioned it. BBC News website does. It's clearly a propaganda coup for Hamas, of course, which is why the soft-pedalling of their influence is to be expected. Miliband's openness is to be welcomed - I'm still hedging my bets over whether we're actually going to see a sane foreign policy now, but it's a good start.

I think you may be mistaking them for someone else. Hamas are a) a political party b) enjoying popular support c) have just beaten Fatah d) are clearly keen on imposing some form of order in Gaza*, which is more than Israel ever have or Fatah are capable of currently (the reason Hamas won is that Fatah were/are corrupt and incompetent, and the current policy of ignoring the free and fair election result and hailing the losers Fatah as Tel Aviv and Washington's best mates, supplying them with guns and pushing them over the border to fight is really not going to make them any more liked. It may have escaped people's notice that the average Gazan isn't a big fan of Israel or the USA, possibly as a result of picking bits of shrapnel with 'Made in USA' out of their relatives for years.

Obtaining Alan Johnston's release is a calculated act to demonstrate that Hamas are in charge now - he's on the radio now saying that when Hamas took over the whole attitude changed and the jihadis started getting very worried - this should be hammered home to everyone who fancies having an opinion on this - if you get rid of Hamas from Gaza, the crazies who kidnapped Johnston will be *happier* - beware of creating power vacuums just at the moment.

There's the small matter of being an elected political party, too (with a heavily armed wing, but there aren't many Middle Eastern political parties without armed wings, least of all Fatah or indeed most of the Iraqi government coalition).

* My favourite story from http://conflictblotter.com/2007/06/1...ts-and-pieces/ has to be this one

Suddenly London's parking goons seem almost benign. What's interesting is that they're disciplined enough to get the traffic moving right away. These guys aren't gun-wielding madman or thugs any more than Hizbollah are, they're a great deal more sophisticated and thus deserve respect, although probably not actual approval. Forget that and you'll come to bad conclusions.

More on the release here:
http://conflictblotter.com/2007/07/0...stons-release/

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Apparently it's a smart career move.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Funny, the "palestinians" and Israeli arabs I met were more interested in living in peace than worrying about Israel existing or not.

Talking of Hamas, I seem to recal many in the Gaza strip were rather upset at Hamas' actions, due to the obvious repercussions and extended harship, I mean, you may think it's great that a totalitarian group has seized power and evicted/beaten/murdered elected members of Fatah, but from what I've heard people on the ground aren't too happy about it.
Problem is with a group like Hamas running things, much like with Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy, oh and lets not forget your pal Saddam when he was running Iraq, speaking out in protest normally results in censorship with extreme prejudice.

Re: BBC's concern at Gaza man's fate
 

Some neat parallels there, thanks. Exactly as I said, more than a few worrying parallels with our old nemesis Adolf and his rise to power in 1933. Thankfully Hamas is coralled in the Gaza strip rather than being in charge of a major European power, or else the Middle East really would be in a pickle.

I agree. However I'm still glad they're penned into Gaza rather than running the whole show right now (i.e. the West Bank, where they could cause some real trouble). And I don't think the fact that they are for the time being acting as a restraint on those more bloodthirsty even than they should prevent us from bearing in mind that they are a dangerous organisation whose avowed aim is the destruction of a sovreign neighbour.

Are they useful? In a way, yes.
Does Alan Johnson, or Israel, or anyone else, owe them any favours? Absolutely not.

So were the Nazis. Again, different scale, but it goes to show that in the grand scheme of things, the fact that you're democratically elected does not give you absolute right to do whatever you want.