Johnston of BBC freed! Credits Hamas
Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 06:26:53 AM PDT
After 16 weeks in captivity, BBC reporter Alan Johnston was freed by his kidnappers, the Army of Islam, this morning.
As an insomniac who listens to the BBC throughout te night, one of the most moving stories I've heard has been the way the BBC foregrounded Johnston's kidnapping night after night, never letting the story die. They started a global online petition which almost 200,000 people signed. They interviewed Palestinian journalists and politicans who protested Johnston's kidnapping. They interviewed British government officials as to what they were doing to try to obtain his release.
Story after story kept his kidnapping alive. It was almost as if the disappearance of a courageous, fair-minded reporter was as impostant as--well, as Anna Nicole Smith.
Alan attributed his release to our bete noir, Hamas: "Thanking the BBC, British Government, Palestinian journalists, and the more than 180,000 people who signed a petition for his release, he also attributed his freedom to the efforts of Hamas."
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Hamas had demanded Johnston's freedom since it won control of Gaza last month.
"Though knowing where to find him, Hamas had not raided the hideout for fear he would be harmed. But on Tuesday, members of Hamas' 6,000-strong militia moved on to rooftops of high-rise buildings and deployed gunmen in streets in the Gaza City neighbourhood inhabited by the Doghmush clan which leads the Army of Islam.
"Within hours, he was free."
The partitioning of Palestinian-held lands into two, led by Fatah and Hamas, has been a sad development. It is just the thing the enemies of Palestinian justice rejoice in. Now there are two sons, the good and the bad. The US stops its blackade of aid to the West Bank. Israel releases millions to the good son. The bad son, though originally the democratically elected goverment of the Palestinian people, freedom fighters to some, terrorists to others, will be a convenient scapegoat to explain sticking with the status quo.
The British government also recognized Hamas's efforts officially this morning. Let's hope that these developments result in a more measured approach to Hamas. That all sides can look past yesterday's rhetoric about there beiong no such thing as the Palestinian people or that Israel must die, and look toward compromise and resolution.
Congratulations to Johnston and those who worked so hard in Britain and Palestine for his release. Hooray for an attention spans that can last 16 weeks.
