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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Alan Johnston gets to see how accurate his story was |
| 2007-03-20 |
| Wonder if he thinks it's harmless fun now? Palestinian security services are still searching for the BBC correspondent Alan Johnston who, it is thought, was abducted in Gaza on Monday. Alan has reported from conflict zones including Afghanistan as well as Gaza as these extracts from his previous reports show. Jan, 2006: ABDUCTIONS IN GAZA In Iraq an abduction can end in the most brutal murder. But fortunately Gaza is not Iraq, nothing like it. So far, all the foreigners kidnapped here have been freed quite quickly and unharmed. Often they have been used as bargaining chips, a way for a group of gunmen to get attention. Gaza is awash with bands of militants: the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the Jenin Brigade, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigade and so on. They used to attack the occupying Israeli troops and settlers. But the settlements were abandoned in the autumn when the army pulled out, and now the boys from the Brigades find themselves with time on their hands. They want proper jobs in this poverty-stricken place, and usually they want to be allowed to join the security services. It is ironic really. Gaza is the only place in the world where your kidnapper's one demand is that he should be allowed to become a policeman. And the kidnap craze has thrown up moments of black humour. The gunmen are not always crack division militants, more Keystone Kidnappers. While an Italian journalist was being led off to a hideout he had to climb a fence. And when one of his abductors started the climb he absentmindedly handed the Italian his gun. Surely it is the first thing they teach you at kidnapper's school, never give the hostage your machinegun. And the whole business of kidnapping goes very much against the local social grain. Palestinians are extremely hospitable people, and one of the dangers of being abducted here must be that you could get fed to death. And the other day I heard that a foreign journalist wrongly thought he was about to be lifted, and being Japanese, he went into martial arts mode. Just part of the madness of Gaza, a Japanese journo mistakenly Kung Fu fighting in a refugee camp. I wonder how long he went at it before they could persuade him that it was not necessary. What you fear most is a bungled rescue attempt. Winkling out a hostage safely is not easy - even for the world's best trained police - and Gaza's finest could not really be described in that way. Oh, for crissakes, give them their big bags of money so I can come home and sign my book deal! |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #10 They're not strapped with explosives -- they're overfed. MR. CREOSOTE: [groaning] MAÎTRE D: And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint. MR. CREOSOTE: Nah. MAÎTRE D: Oh, sir, it's only a tiny, little, thin one. MR. CREOSOTE: No. Fuck off. I'm full. MAÎTRE D: Oh, sir. Hmm? MR. CREOSOTE: [groan] MAÎTRE D: It's only wafer thin. MR. CREOSOTE: Look. I couldn't eat another thing. I'm absolutely stuffed. Bugger off. MAÎTRE D: Oh, sir, just-- just one. MR. CREOSOTE: [groaning] All right. Just one. MAÎTRE D: Just the one, monsieur. Voilà . MR. CREOSOTE: [groaning] MAÎTRE D: Bon appétit. MR. CREOSOTE: [groaning] [suspenseful music] [music stops] [crash] [BOOM] [goosh] [goosh] [mayhem] MAÎTRE D: Thank you, sir, and now, here's ze check. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-20 19:32 |
| #9 Palestinians are extremely hospitable people, and one of the dangers of being abducted here must be that you could get fed to death. That explains the people exploding at cafes, restaurants, and holiday feasts. They're not strapped with explosives -- they're overfed. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-03-20 19:02 |
| #8 But fortunately Gaza is not Iraq, nothing like it. He may soon find out otherwise. Let's all hope that this maroon had the extremely poor judgement to boast about how he's such a well-respected journalist and well-known to the hoity toity and blah, blah, blah ... Maybe that will result in his captors holding him for an extended period of time as they seek an even larger ransom. Perhaps then Johnston will have a golden opportunity to get up close and personal with the thugs and savages he glorifies so constantly. The BBC has been in the enemy's camp for so long that they seem to have gained a deep sense of familiarity. For those of us with any brains, Muslims long ago proved exactly what familiarity breeds ... |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-20 17:51 |
| #7 The Beeb is our enemy and has openly admitted as much. They KNOW their corporate culture and perceived message is anti-American, anti-Western, and pro-Muslim terrorist. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-03-20 17:38 |
| #6 While America is making every effort to win the hearts & minds of the Iraqi people..and Israel struggles to get it's message of survival out to the world.. The Islamo terrorists and paleos have won the hearts & minds of the Main Stream Media Orgs effortlessly. The BBC has a hard on for Israel and America, it's one of the worst, they are as anti-American and anti-Israeli as the USSR and Saddam were. As far as I'm concerned the BBC is our enemy, and the incredibly stupid retards, the paleos can go about cutting both of Alan Johnston's duplicitous heads off. a win, win, win if you follow. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-20 14:48 |
| #5 The mills of the Gods... |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-03-20 12:26 |
| #4 Kung Fu? Kung Fu is a Chinese martial art. Pretty typical for a liberal Western reporter to make mistakes of fact like this, and then (probably) laugh it off afterwards, even though it comes darn close to being a racist joke. Heck, if I said a Japanese went into Kung Fu mode, I'd be up to my eyeballs in liberals laughing at me for being a parochial ignoramus from flyover territory. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-03-20 11:22 |
| #3 Someday, Atomic, someday... |
| Posted by: Destro in Panama 2007-03-20 11:17 |
| #2 Fantasy alternative: Johnston was abducted by American or Israeli vigilantes and has been spirited away to a safe house in............ London. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-03-20 11:09 |
| #1 "Oh, for Allah's There. Fixed it for you - he will have to convert to Islam, and then he should be freed. Or not. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-03-20 11:07 |