The Dangers and Difficulties of Reporting from Gaza: Two Journalists Recount Their Experiences

[Jefferson23]

* This is presented in two parts, see remainder at link.


Guests:

Mohammed Omer, award-winning Palestinian journalist from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English.




JUAN GONZALEZ: We end today’s show with a discussion of the dangers and difficulties of being a journalist in the occupied Gaza Strip. It’s where 1.4 million Palestinians live under the almost daily threat of Israeli attacks, while surviving a strict blockade imposed for the last four years. Nearly all exports and imports are banned, all entry points are closed, and only a tightly limited supply of food and medical aid is allowed in.


This week, Israeli authorities allowed in the first shipment of clothes and shoes since 2007, but Palestinian businessmen say most of the goods have been ruined and are unusable after remaining in storage for three years.


Meanwhile, even as Palestinians continue to seek accountability for the devastation and deaths caused by Israel’s twenty-two-day assault on Gaza in the winter of 2009, Israeli air raids over the Gaza Strip also continue into the present. Air strikes this past weekend wounded three Palestinian children and destroyed a dairy factory.


AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by two journalists who have covered Gaza extensively. Mohammed Omer is an award-winning Palestinian journalist from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. On his way back home to Gaza after receiving the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London in July of 2008, Omer was interrogated and beaten by armed Israeli security guards. He’s been living in the Netherlands ever since, receiving medical treatment. Omer is now on a US speaking tour; he’s joining us from Houston, Texas. And joining us here in New York is the Gaza correspondent for Al Jazeera English, Ayman Mohyeldin. He is one of the only international journalists reporting from inside Gaza during Operation Cast Lead last year.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/8/the_dangers_and_difficulties_of_reporting

[ConsAreLiars]

1. kick, because facts should matter even here (nt)

[shaayecanaan]

2. Indeed...

for those who cant be bothered reading the link, the journalist in question was detained after arriving in Israel and had the shit kicked out of him by Israeli security. He needed quite a bit of medical treatment to patch up the damage done to his ribs and so forth.

[Violet_Crumble]

20. I wish Mohammed Omer all the best for his recovery...

A few years ago he used to post every now and again on a forum run by a friend of mine. I doubt that those who can't be bothered reading the OP here aren't going to be bothered reading this link that leads to his website, but for other DUers, Rafah Today is worth bookmarking and reading

http://www.rafahtoday.org/news/todaymainmain.htm

[shira]

21. Of all of Omer's different stories, which one do you believe?

[Violet_Crumble]

24. What is it with you following me around asking me idiotic 'questions'? n/t

[Jefferson23]

3. Leaves one almost speechless, doesn't it? Thank goodness for Democracy Now for their persistence

too.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

4. Those fucking bastards were trying to steal Omer's cash prize.

Oh... if only it weren't for those textbooks that teach Palestinians to hate.

[ConsAreLiars]

5. Anyone who relies on US corporate media or other PowersThatBe media for information

is both ignorant and a fool. Those who have never watched FSTV and Link TV or AJE but rely on TV for their "information" are willfully ignorant. If they can get email, they can access those sources. The fact that they don't is simply because they don't want their faith in the corporatist mythology and value system challenged.

Anyone who doesn't yet see the one-sided pro-butchering bias of their media operations might want to compare the treatment of the Wikileaks video of the murders of a couple of journalists and those around them to the "unfortunate exception," "fog of war," justifications by the warmongers to the on the ground/at the time reporting provided by Democracy Now! in the same day at http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/8/exclusive_witnesse...

(edit to add a little)

[shira]

6. Omer’s Differing Accounts

The Contradictions

1) Omer lost consciousness

a. before being pinned to the ground because he was kicked and shoved (Khalid Amayreh)
b. before being pinned to the ground because he was punched in the face and chest (Reporters Without Borders)
c. before being pinned to the ground because he was deprived of toilet, food and water for 12 hours (John Pilger)
d. after he was pinned down and searched (IPS)

2) Omer was in a state of unconsciousness for

a. almost the entire time with little recall (IPS)
b. most of the time with recall of details (Amy Goodman)
c. 90 minutes – less than a third of the time (Khalid Amayreh)

3) Omer was forcibly stripped

a. by one Israeli agent who looks menacingly at him, places his hand on his revolver and pulls down Omer’s underwear (Amy Goodman)
b. by two Israeli agents, one of whom removes his underwear while the other points an M-16 rifle at his face (Khalid Amayreh)
c. by one Israeli agent who simultaneously presses a gun against his head, pins him to the side with his full body weight and removes his underwear (John Pilger)

4) The Israeli doctor he is taken to

a. administers an EKG (Khalid Amayreh)
b. probes his eyes and ears (IPS)
c. is really the same agent who was involved in his earlier torture. He now suddenly pinches and tortures him again (Amy Goodman)

5) Omer is taken to the doctor and/or ambulance

a. by being dragged on the floor (IPS)
b. in a wheelchair (Amy Goodman)

6) In his state of unconsciousness, Omer

a. does not remember being transferred by ambulance to the Jericho hospital (version told to IPS)
b. remembers being asked to sign a document in the ambulance but refusing because he is unconscious (Khalid Amayreh, Amy Goodman)
c. is not asked to sign a document; it is the ambulance driver who is asked to sign a document (John Pilger)
Additional questions raised:

1) How is Omer able to provide such detail – verbatim conversation and details of torture– if he was, by his own admission, "unconscious"?

2) The Palestinian doctors at the Jericho hospital do an examination on him after the alleged torture and find no physical problems. They do not rule out a nervous breakdown. Doctors at the Gaza hospital however report that, Omer has broken ribs. Why this discrepancy? Were the Gazan doctors lying and if not, when were Omer's ribs broken?




Sources
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43005
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2008/07/01/p26628
http://www.rsf.org/Anger-at-harassment-of-Palestinian.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/02/israelandthepalestinians.civilliberties
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/7/award_winning_palestinian_journalist_mohammed_omer

[Jefferson23]

7. When you pull horseshit from CAMERA, at least have the decency

to link to it. You didn't write any of that, give credit to who did.

The Contradictions

1) Omer lost consciousness

a. before being pinned to the ground because he was kicked and shoved (Khalid Amayreh)
b. before being pinned to the ground because he was punched in the face and chest (Reporters Without Borders)
c. before being pinned to the ground because he was deprived of toilet, food and water for 12 hours (John Pilger)
d. after he was pinned down and searched (IPS)
2) Omer was in a state of unconsciousness for

a. almost the entire time with little recall (IPS)
b. most of the time with recall of details (Amy Goodman)
c. 90 minutes – less than a third of the time (Khalid Amayreh)

3) Omer was forcibly stripped

a. by one Israeli agent who looks menacingly at him, places his hand on his revolver and pulls down Omer’s underwear (Amy Goodman)
b. by two Israeli agents, one of whom removes his underwear while the other points an M-16 rifle at his face (Khalid Amayreh)
c. by one Israeli agent who simultaneously presses a gun against his head, pins him to the side with his full body weight and removes his underwear (John Pilger)
4) The Israeli doctor he is taken to

a. administers an EKG (Khalid Amayreh)
b. probes his eyes and ears (IPS)
c. is really the same agent who was involved in his earlier torture. He now suddenly pinches and tortures him again (Amy Goodman)
5) Omer is taken to the doctor and/or ambulance

a. by being dragged on the floor (IPS)
b. in a wheelchair (Amy Goodman)
6) In his state of unconsciousness, Omer

a. does not remember being transferred by ambulance to the Jericho hospital (version told to IPS)
b. remembers being asked to sign a document in the ambulance but refusing because he is unconscious (Khalid Amayreh, Amy Goodman)
c. is not asked to sign a document; it is the ambulance driver who is asked to sign a document (John Pilger)

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=69&x_article=1512

[shira]

8. The contradictions in Omer's stories are in those links

CAMERA has little to do with the fact that Omer's story is complete bullshit.

What version of his story do you believe in? ;)

[Jefferson23]

13. You're too dishonest a person to even admit where you pulled this

from, enough said.

[shira]

14. Yes, shoot the messenger when logic and reason fail

I explained myself in post #12. Figured people like yourself would take it more seriously without the CAMERA reference.

Besides, you're missing the elephant in the room:

The OP is horseshit, not to mention dishonest.

[Violet_Crumble]

19. It's dishonest and deceptive to deliberately omit the source of yr copy and paste job...

It doesn't matter if that source is an extremely partisan one prone to omissions like CAMERA, or whether it's a reputable source. Trying to mislead people by not attributing a source to something that you've directly copied and pasted from is a very dishonest thing to do...

Yr making more of a fool of yrself than you already have by turning round and trying to deflect from yr own dishonesty by claiming something else is dishonest. Shame on you...

[shira]

22. What's dishonest and shameful is deflecting attention from Omer's stinky testimony and the false OP

Pretending his story has any merit is disgusting.

[Violet_Crumble]

23. What you did was dishonest and deceptive...

Why anyone would try to deny that it's dishonest to deliberately trying to pass off a copy and paste as not being from a highly partisan and biased source in order to 'convince' readers is beyond belief...

As, I've already said, yr making more of a fool of yrself than you already have by turning round and trying to deflect from yr own dishonesty by claiming something else is dishonest. Shame on you...

*on edit: I find it absolutely amazing that you appear to believe that there's anyone here at DU other than the usual suspects who all sing from the same HasbaraHymnBook as you who you could convince of anything.

[shira]

25. Enough of the personal attacks....you really believe Omer?

[Violet_Crumble]

26. It's not a personal attack to say what you did was dishonest and deceptive...

And why are you insisting on asking me stupid 'questions' after only a few threads back outright refusing to answer questions I asked you?

If you have something constructive and intelligent to say about the contents of the OP instead of trying to disrupt the thread with nasty attacks on Mohammed Omer the way yr doing, try and do so. I really doubt you've got it in you to do it, fwiw...

[Tripmann]

28. Its the usual crap violet

shira has nothing to add or say so she asks you dumb questions, then claims you're hiding something when you naturally don't answer. All of a sudden the thread is derailed and revolves around you not answering said dumb/irrelevant question, attempting to take the focus off the fact she can't defend her position.

Tries it on me all the time. It doesn't work.

[Violet_Crumble]

29. Yeah, I know. On the upside, at least she's kicking an OP that likely would have sunk...

I figure there's more chance of other DUers reading the OP when the thread keeps on getting kicked, but yeah, I totally agree with you about yr observations of the way that one operates...

Back onto the topic of the thread, I wasn't aware of this until I went googling a bit earlier, but there were major delays from the US when it came to issuing Mohammed Omer a visa.

http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2010/03/26/update-mohammad-omer-got-his-visa-to-come-to-us/

It's great to see that it finally came through and he was able to get to the US...

[shira]

30. The crap is in the OP, as the content from CAMERA in my post #6 proves conclusively

I'm not sure why you choose to believe there's nothing problematic in Omer's contradictory testimonies.

The man's a liar and in all likelihood just a shill for Hamas, spewing the party line and demonizing Israel.

[subsuelo]

9. One wonders what other comments and thoughtful posts are being "taken"

[Violet_Crumble]

10. LOL. Plagiarism is so lame, as is hiding that someone's posting from an extremely partisan site...

Thanks for pointing that one out, Jefferson....

[subsuelo]

11. Notice what is even more lame-

They posted a list of 'Sources' at the end, but completely dropped any mention of CAMERA where they ripped off the whole thing to pass off as their own.

Put in that perspective, calling it "lame" is being quite kind, I think.

[shira]

12. I know how CAMERA is seen by some here.....

....and that's the reason I kept it out of the sources, not that I wanted to take credit for anything.

If I had just linked to CAMERA, those here who have a problem with anything remotely pro-Israel wouldn't have even looked at the article, much less the links showing how lame Omer's testimony is.

[Jim Sagle]

15. A fat lot of good THAT did you. The usual suckspects STILL hate you.

Like two-year olds they whine, "I say Zionism is spinach and I say the hell with it!"

;)

PS - and BTW, CAMERA RRRRRRRAWWWWWWWXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!

[shira]

16. Damn straight. Omer drools. CAMERA roooooolz!

:)

[ConsAreLiars]

17. Admitting deceit is a quarter-step in the right direction, but admitting

the fact that your "sources" are always reich wing and your ideology and allegiances the same might be a bit harder. Give it a try. Go candid. Honesty is the best policy.

Either that or stay with your "When 'we' murder them, it is good, and when they scare 'us' or resist 'our' power or land grabs or oppression, slaughtering more of them is just and justified."

Your choice. Become human, humane, and honest. Or remain as deceitful, inhumane and dishonest and miserable as you have always shown yourself to be.

It is a real choice. You can be a friend and supporter both of those who've recently moved into that land and to those who were living there when they arrived. Many in both categories work to do that. Not enough, but one more voice would be one more.

Think about it. I think you can make this shift. All it really requires is to see the Palestinians as fully human.

[shira]

18. Looking back at your posts in #1 and #5 now....

What are you now willing to admit to?

[ConsAreLiars]

31. ???!!! nt

[shira]

33. Read your posts #1 and #5 and then compare to my post #6

What are the facts? Who's being fooled by the media?

*Sorry for the delay. Just saw this response by you.

[Violet_Crumble]

27. Journalist speaks on carnage in Gaza

International journalist and Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism award winner Mohammed Omer presented “Reflection on Life and War in Gaza,” at the University Center as part of his international speaking tour.

The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict affects the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, in many ways, but Omer said on this speaking tour he wants to talk about life more than war.

Omer emphasized that not all stereotypes put on this region are true. For example, Omer said unlike many religious clashes that occur in this area, the accusation that Palestinian Muslims and Christians don’t live together peacefully is false.

“My news editor in Norway told me that there is a lot of attention in the American media that the Christian community in Gaza are oppressed,” Omer said. “I asked them (Christian students in Palestinian schools) if they experience any problems … they didn’t mention any difficulties.”

Omer mentioned that Father Manuel Musallam, the senior Roman Catholic priest in Gaza, told him that is, “absolutely not the case here. We are all Palestinians.”

Omar shared his account of life in Gaza, saying its takes people — mainly children — quite a while to obtain basic necessities.

“Most of the children get in lines. It can take you four to five hours to get water and to get home,” Omer said. “Water doesn’t come often … because if you want water, you have to have electricity. If you don’t have electricity, you don’t have water. This is why it’s very difficult to have any sort of easy life (in Gaza).”

Because the availability of water is never a guarantee, people sometimes take an “any means necessary” approach to get what’s needed.

“Last night, I called my mother. It was around 2 a.m. Gaza time. … She was awake, waiting for the water to come,” Omer said. “There was no water coming into the Gaza Strip because the electricity is down. That’s just another example of living in this area.”

http://thedailycougar.com/2010/04/12/journalist-speaks-on-carnage-in-gaza/

[Jefferson23]

32. More information not covered by U.S. MSM: On The Border

* Video and transcript for each part at the link below.


On the border Pt.1

Report from the Middle East: M. Warschawski on growing up in Jerusalem. April 5, 2010


On the border Pt.2

Report from the Middle East: What happened to the Israeli peace movement? April 6, 2010


On the border Pt.3

Report from Middle East: Warschawski - Racist rhetoric and measures are now part of Israeli mainstream April 8, 2010


On the border Pt.4

M. Warschawski: The Wall is a symbol of a philosophy that seeks a state as ethnically pure as possible April 9, 10


On the border Pt5

Warschawski: In '67 army was told to carve out a Jerusalem with few Palestinians April 10, 2010



On the border Pt.6

Warschawski: Settlements around Jerusalem intended to make it a Jewish city April 12, 2010


On the border Pt7

Warschawski: Netanyahu allied with US neo-cons who believe in permanent war - conflict with Obama real April 13, 2010


http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=544