The consequences of the Israeli invasion of Gaza are now clear to see. My colleague, Channel 4 News reporter Jonathan Miller, managed to drive the 24-mile length of the Gaza Strip yesterday, and his report makes necessary viewing for anyone who wishes to take a view on the Middle East conflict. For, in fact, Muslim and western worlds have seen two very different accounts of the invasion.
Ten days ago I travelled to the Israel-Gaza border to try to find out what was happening. My documentary, Unseen Gaza, airs tonight on Channel 4. Indeed, I write this on the way to the editing studios, where we have been assembling our findings. They are not pretty, and no-one emerges with much credit.
Although they provided journalists with a full-blown media centre in Sderot, the Israeli government allowed no foreign media into Gaza during the conflict. They told us this was to safeguard our own lives – despite the fact that we told them repeatedly that WE would make the judgement on what risks we would take to report their activity. It’s also true that until the last week of the conflict, no foreign journalists were allowed in from the Egyptian border with Gaza.
In Gaza itself, there were teams of Gazan journalists, including some who worked directly for Channel 4 News, and a handful of others, mainly from Egypt and other neighbouring Arab states. They too were unable to get about to see much, but pictures did make their way out, shown unexpurgated on Arab news channels. We in the west showed the material too, but our judgements on what to show of badly injured and mutilated victims forbade our showing much. So our two worlds saw two very different conflicts.
Did this skew the world’s response? Was the first casualty “truth”? Was the outcome of it all affected by our lack of emotional connection to what was going on? See what you think tonight, Channel 4, 11.05pm. Taste and decency rules forbid its earlier transmission.
Commentsoldest first
Jon,
Are you sure that it isn’t Big Brother and the Princess Diana Show – i.e. viewing figures that forbids earlier transmission?
What’s the difference between 9pm with a quick comment about what will be shown and 11.05pm??
What’s the point of the ‘truth’ (as you call it) if it doesn’t reach so many people?
Look forward to the show tonight. Seems as though with the emergence of new media and the ability to instananeously distribute news worldwide, so to gov’ts and organisations are developing better methods to control news. How can we overcome this??? Surely citizen journalism has to play its role here?
The fact that the news is censored for ‘taste and decency’ seems like madness to me: I mean, sure, not for the 6 o’clock news, but at 9 or 10 pm shouldn’t we presented with the reality? And if reality is tasteless and indecent, so be it.
Exactly the most graphic images SHOULD be shown at “tea-time”. I don’t care about some sniffling git getting upset by “images” as they’re having their dinner. Western munitions murdered these people thus the full horror of this should be shown.
You may recall that you self censured Sorriou’s report Cry Freetown on the war in Sierra Leone. When you showed the footage to the censor he replied that he was happy for it to be shown as it was in the public interest. Surely the events in Gaza are also in the public interest as it is important to show the consequences of the missiles rather than the distant fireworks display.
Leone
Where does international law stand on one country blocking entry to another? What makes this difficult – is it the fact that there is no direct international traffic to Gaza? Is Israel’s official line not that it is preventing traffic into Gaza, rather it is not allowing traffic into Israel? And why did Egypt go along with this ban on foreign journalism? How long can Israel make up it’s own rules as it goes along?
Look forward to your show tonight, tho I’m afraid I share Adam’s cynicism re: timings.
Jock out.
The only reason that Israel banned any journalists from entering Gaza is because that they knew very well what was happening inside Gaza. What happened there could be described simply as total annihilation, ethnic cleansing and a massacre. This is the reason why they banned journalists in Jenin in 2002 is because it knew exactly what was committed there and what massacres took place. Israel’s actions is a dangerous violation of press freedom that adds to ignorance, uncertainty and fear in the region. I fully praise both Al Jazeera and Channel4 news for the great work they have done in uncovering Israeli cold blooded transgression and crimes in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057874.html
Would be nice if you could give an impartial balanced view of things – you personally have been anti-israel in 99% of your tv reports – i used to respect you.
reporters were banned for their own safety – that would be stupid having you snoop around booby trapped areas, being held hostage or caught in crossfire..
banned for their own safety? Are they banned at Rwanda, the Congo, Darfur? IS it not the reporters choice as to what risks they wish to take to report the truth? Don’t be so ignorant. They are banned so that the outside world can’t see the war crimes Israel is committing on innocent civilians.
Congratulations on the way you coped with the aggression of the Israeli spokesman this evening with his extraordinary suggestion that the injuries in Gaze were caused by Hammas militants for political purposes. Rewason as well as compassion has gone out of the frame.
John is simply expressing the 99% impartiallity felt by most of us in the UK!.
So how come we let people report on Iraq and Afghanistan and such? Surely they are, or have been, just as dangerous. I have a good friend who was a war correspondent for 25 years. She told me that the danger wasn’t her main consideration, telling the story was. If the Israelis were so concerned with other people’s safety they’d do more to avoid conflict.
Truth conqours all. Some journalist have given their lives for the sake of the truth.
You so much want too preserve human lives! Especially those of journalists. Why not apply the same principle to Palestinians?
ask yousefl this john, on which side of the border would you feel safe? if you were lost in the desert who would you hope to run into a hamas fighter or an idf soldier?
you took the side of terrorists, that wont help gaza or gaza’s people – the truth will.
This is the issue. If you ran into either person in the desert, you’d run into a human being. Not a villain or a saint.
Perhaps a reporter would hope to run into both, so they could talk to them.
The word Terrorist is used very unthinkingly and without knowing what they are talking about.
Is anyone out there who knows how Israel came into existence?
Anyone in the media could focus on the historical causes of the latest atrocity commited in Gaza by Israel? Noone remember Deir Yassin or Sabra and Shatila? Gaza atrocity is a normal event in the life of a psychotic state the like of Israel.
We often hear the age old maxim that ‘everyman’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ yet some of us fail to realise the resonance and truth in this. We live in a world where things are not so black and white; things are not simple and clear. The world is a complicated place made up of complex human beings. Within each culture is a multitude of sub-cultures, each one with its own mixture of tradition, history and indeed beliefs.
Like the conflict in the Middle East, there is an abundance of ignorance here in the West with regard to the exact situation. How can one simply categorise the Palestinian/Israeli conflict into some sort of conflict where the parameters and the frontline of the conflict is clear cut? There is a tendency for one to view the recent conflict in Gaza and say that on the one hand is the Israelis, a democratic and peace loving people who constantly live in fear, and on the other hand there is Hammas, a terrorist organisation who will not be content until the destruction of Israel will come to pass. On the other hand there may be opinion to suggest that Hammas is indeed to blame, in that it rained down rockets on top of peace loving Israeli’s until they could take no more and had to defend themselves.
To categorise the conflict in such a manner is wrong. Indeed, it is ignorant to do so. For centuries now governments have fought against rebellion and rebels have attacked institutions of the state. Like all conflicts, rebellions, whatever you like to call them, the consequences are always the same-loss of innocent life. And the loss of innocent life has always been on both sides, whoever is right and wrong. It has been lost because of a lack of understanding and because of an abundance of misunderstanding between the sides.
To label someone a ‘terrorist’ is a dangerous thing to do. Not only does it serve to isolate and drive a wedge between opposing sides but it connotes a sense of self-righteousness on the party making the claim. But how can any party to a conflict claim to be self-righteous? What is it that makes them superior to the other side? Do we judge whether one side are terrorists based on whether or not they are democratically elected? If we do, then what if both parties to the conflict are democratically elected? Can we call someone a terrorist by claiming he doesn’t speak for the people, although he is democratically elected? Or indeed, does we judge whether or not a party to a conflict may be a terrorist organisation based on tactics they use?? If we do, then surely all parties to conflicts are worthy of the label ‘terrorist’. In times of war, whatever tactics are used there is one common denominator on both sides-loss of innocent life!
It’s a bit difficult to give a balanced view of events when you only get to see one side of the story.
Reporters were banned for the simple reason that the IDF’s actions could be covered up where neccessary, do you honestly think they’re concerned about the safety of journalists?
For me, blogs like Tales To Tell – http://talestotell.wordpress.com/ – have been an invaluable addition to the excellent (if restricted) news reporting from Channel 4 and elsewhere. People on the ground giving their firsthand experiences instantly (in this case including accounts of phosphorous bombings) is something we’ve never really had before, and as communications technology improves and becomes more widely available, will be the kind of thing no government or regime will be able to effectively suppress.
The truth? – The anti semites at channel four wouldn’t know the truth if it stood up and bit them. Read the following from Israel Today if you want something closer to the truth:
“Palestinians confirm Hamas war crimes, refute Gaza death toll
An Italian reporter who entered the Gaza Strip following the recent Israeli assault on Hamas there wrote in his newspaper on Thursday that the casualty figures announced by Hamas and so eagerly passed on by the UN, Red Cross and foreign media were grossly exaggerated.
At most, five or six hundred Palestinians died in Gaza over the past month, according to Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent for Italy’s Corriere della Sera. The foreign media has carried numerous sources citing Hamas and UN officials claiming in excess of 1,300 killed.
But Cremonesi explained, “It is sufficient to visit several hospitals [in the Gaza Strip] to understand that the numbers don’t add up.” He noted that in nearly all of Gaza’s major hospitals, and especially those in major conflict zones, he found most beds empty.
On top of that, Cremonesi reported that a doctor at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital who asked to remain anonymous for fear of Hamas acknowledged that the death toll had been inflated. He also told the reporter that many of the dead were “youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas and then sent them to the slaughter.”
Cremonesi also wrote that Gazans he interviewed confirmed Israeli accusations of Hamas war crimes, especially the deliberate use of the civilian population as human shields.
When local Gazans demanded that Hamas and its allies not take up positions near them, one interviewee said the terrorists responded:
“Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?”
Others recounted how Hamas gunmen had disguised themselves as paramedics and commandeered ambulances to avoid being targeted by the Israelis, and how UN facilities were in fact used as launch pads for rockets and mortar shells.”
Your comment about ‘the anti-semites at Channel 4′ is ludicrous, if not bordering on libellous.
Channel 4 has relied heavily on witnesses from the UN and International Red Cross for its reporting of Gaza. Are those organisations anti-Semitic too?
Or is anyone who criticises Israel an automatic anti-Semite?
What about those courageous Orthodox Jews and rabbis who have joined demonstrations against the current Israeli action in Gaza? How do they fit into this staggeringly simplistic view of the world?
Perhaps all Israelis’ incapable of doing wrong? I hope so because, if not, how are wrongdoings to be publicised without accusations of anti-Semitism?
As for quoting Israel Today, that would be a more objective voice than Channel 4 News (and the UN and ICR), would it?
Not sure which planet are you from. Isreal killed more than 1300 innocent civilians in Gaza, enough is enough.
Israel banned the press from Gaza so the REAL truth will never be known. Why do you trust this one report over all the others? – because it suits you. Mark Regev quoted this same report on Radio 4 this morning, there are dozens of others that he and you dismiss out of hand because they do your cause no good.
I have worked for 25 years in overseas development and have seen famine, flood & earthquake but these natural disasters do not upset me as much as this man made slaughter.
EU tax payers paid for much of the recent building and infrastructure in Gaza which Israel has destroyed. If they can afford to buy these disgusting weapons they can pay for rebuilding.
I cannot express the extent of my sadness and anger at the deaths of hundreds of women and children.
I am at a loss to know how to help which makes me feel totally impotent.
Things have got to change, now that Bush and his warmongers Cheney & Rumsfeld have thankfully been put out to pasture, how about a real novel idea – MAKE PEACE NOT WAR.
Your comment about ‘the anti-semites at Channel 4′ is ludicrous, if not bordering on libellous.
Channel 4 has relied heavily on witnesses from the UN and International Red Cross for its reporting of Gaza. Are those organisations anti-Semitic too?
Or is anyone who criticises Israel an automatic anti-Semite?
What about those courageous Orthodox Jews and rabbis who have joined demonstrations against the current Israeli action in Gaza? How do they fit into this staggeringly simplistic view of the world?
Perhaps all Israelis’ incapable of doing wrong? I hope so because, if not, how are wrongdoings to be publicised without accusations of anti-Semitism?
As for quoting Israel Today, that would be a more objective voice than Channel 4 News (and the UN and ICR), would it?
I agree, criticising somebody for unpunished war crimes cannot be construed as any form of racism- I am sure channel 4 would do the same if it were the British Marines doing this.
And as for your sources, I would be dubious. Israel has been known, on occasion, to spin its press, and I trust the UN, Reuters, and numerous other reliable news agencies. I would never trust the media of any involved party on a topic like a war.
When local Gazans demanded that Hamas and its allies not take up positions near them, one interviewee said the terrorists responded:
“Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?”
Now that, I must say, does fit with what hamas is known for- they are, in official terms, terrorists, and terrorists are known for violence. Israelis have been known to call people who criticise Israel’s right to the Palestinian territory holocaust deniers, so both parties are guilty.
The fact of the matter is that innocent civilians who are already under siege by the Israeli, who could not escape the Israeli bombing, were murdered in cold blood for no fault of their own, by israeli army in order to protect illegal israeli settlers from home-made rockets.
The real question, which no Israeli newspaper discusses, is the morality/Justifications of the Israeli actions, for example what type of society is Israel becoming?. Do Palestinians have human rights? and Do Israel believe in these rights? Remember that Palestinians live under the guns/siege/boycot of Israel since zionist created Israel by murdering and evicting Palestinian civilians. Under international law an occupying army has to provide medical assistance and safety to civilians
There is no justification for murdering civilians and blaming the actions of IDF on Hamas and Fatah. Its obvious that Israel accepts the murder of Palestinians because Israel being a Jewish theocracy who lives by the rules of the old testment and not the UN or international laws doesnt feel responsible for any non-Jewish human beings – remember the killing of European journalist and protestors such as Rachel Cornie by IDF.
Israeli army claims that all these civilians where used as human shields or rockets where hidden in their houses by Hamas yet they provided zero evidence of their claims, which beg the questions did they not have any intelligence that rockets where hidden in such and such place before bombing!!! then why doesnt the IDF display this intelligence as prove?!! Israelis claims sound very similar to the Weapons of Mass distructions claims, how soon do we forget and how easily do we believe propaganda!!
and this is based on ISRAELI reporters fulfilling their country’s ethnic cleansing agenda,and keeping up their based on lies propaganda to the world in order to justify their heinous crimes against innocent civilians
Respect for you John….. the only thing the Israeli minister could say on the news that Hamas is injusring its own citizens. How stupid can they be..
Keep up you good work. The world needs to see the truth.
Hamas hid weapons in schools and hospitals. Schools and hospitals.
What does that say.
I believeMark Regev really was good tonight on your 7pm News.He really handled your “interview”well.
How can you say Hamas was democratically elected without adding that they subsequently carried out a cruel coup throwng people off balconies ,executing people .
Why didnt Channel 4 investigate that coup .
Hitler also came into power democratically and subsequently carried out cruelties -like Hamas!
Gaza is a totalitarian mini state ,like North Korea and Syria as Regev says.And I add Nazi Germany
You are not the only one with “EViDENCE”–Many other correspondents are at this moment gathering evidence about the War Crimes those you champion ie HAMAS
Dear Arthur,
You should get your history right, Hitler didn’t got into power with a democratic majority, see for yourself:
Elections were scheduled for early March, but on 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire. Since a Dutch independent communist was found in the building, the fire was blamed on a communist plot. The government reacted with the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February which suspended basic rights, including habeas corpus. Under the provisions of this decree, the German Communist Party (KPD) and other groups were suppressed, and Communist functionaries and deputies were arrested, put to flight, or murdered.
Campaigning continued, with the Nazis making use of paramilitary violence, anti-communist hysteria, and the government’s resources for propaganda. On election day, 6 March, the NSDAP increased its result to 43.9% of the vote, remaining the largest party, but its victory was marred by its failure to secure an absolute majority, necessitating maintaining a coalition with the DNVP. Because of the Nazis’ failure to obtain a majority on their own, Hitler’s government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the cabinet with legislative powers for a period of four years. “
Arthur, what a load of rubbish!
Having failed to convince the world that Israelis do not target civilians, the propoganda has moved on to demonise Hamas as some sort of a latter day Nazi organisation, probably in a vain attempt to deflect attention of the world away from its own war crimes.
Here is an extract from John Pilger’s article “Holocaust Denied” that sets the record straight as to what really led to Hamas “coup”. Norman Filkinstein also confirmed this in one of his interviews with one of the US channels.
“In fact, Hamas’s real threat is its example as the Arab world’s only democratically elected government, drawing its popularity from its resistance to the Palestinians’ oppressor and tormentor. This was demonstrated when Hamas foiled a CIA coup in 2007, an event ordained in the western media as “Hamas’s seizure of power”. Likewise, Hamas is never described as a government, let alone democratic. Neither is its proposal of a ten-year truce as a historic recognition of the “reality” of Israel and support for a two-state solution with just one condition: that the Israelis obey international law and end their illegal occupation beyond the 1967 borders. As every annual vote in the UN General Assembly demonstrates, 99 per cent of humanity concurs.”
Well done John Snow on your interview of the Israeli spokesman Regev after Mr Millar’s report on the shocking tactics and munitions used by Israel in Gaza. Keep it up and make sure your evidence in given to the War Crimes authorities as Regev like all Israeli official spokesmen has again confirmed there is no morality or compassion among those in control in Israel. Regev himself is so bereft of human feeling and normal emotion, one wonders if he is human. LIfe is very cheap to the Israelis unless it is an Israeli life and in all human decency, how can any government condone the turkey shoot that took place in Gaza and how can western governments be so gutless and supine in the face of such evidence. It makes me sick and ashamed to be a westerner. I for one will boycott all Israeli goods or services.
I also say well done to Jon when dealing with this monster. Regev makes the mad Alistair Campbell look almost chummy and pleasant.
What do we do about our own government’s involvement in this piece of terror? According to the Foreign Office’s own admission we sold Israel almost 19 million pounds worth of weapons in the first 3 months of 2008. The figure for the previous full year was 7.5 million. We clearly are all culpable in this sordid episode and it easy to understand the moral vacuum that surround our government. Just how we can sell arms to such a state and then be outraged when they are used like this really angers me. Boycott Israeli produce and services and those of Israel supporters is important, but much stronger global action is needed to sort this lot out.
The world is sick to death of Mark Regevs spin- his arrogance is unbearable to watch. The camera doesnt lie. Thank God channel 4 is prepared to tell the world the truth-thats what 10 years of bush and blair have deprived us of.
yes, theres nothing to hide. if we wanted to flatten gaza and kill everyone we could have. given the reverse hamas would have.
support gazans by exposing hamas with the truth of their actions.
are illegally purchased grad rockets legal when fired directly at peaceful civilians?
is it ok for hamas to use kids to transport weapons during a war?
you dont need to be a zionist to want the truth from the news.
hamas will kill anyone who speaks against them regardless of which reporter is there, not infront of the camera but theyll be there when the cameras go home.
mr snow is channel 4’s finest comedian with his report tonight, answered nothing and showed how bad a reporter he is.
I have never felt so angry as watching your outrageous “interview” with Mark Regev. You showed your contempt not your journalistic skills. There is nothing skilfull in talking over a spokesman for the State of Israel. It is because of prejudices of people like you that the IDF were absolutely right to refuse your biased, rude, arrogant, self-righteous and pompous reporters from entering during the war. You show only your one sided self righteous and pompous point of view, and I most certainly want Channel 4 to distant themselves from individual presenters.
It is definitely difficult to give a balanced view of events whe on eonly hears the very biased views of the Bt newscasters, biased against Israel. It is disgusting and very frustrating. About time you became a bit more open to the Isarel situation
it depends on whether you support the illegal occupation of palestine or not. personally, given how many innocents the idf have just barbarically slaughtered, id rather meet hamas in the desert.
Jon,
You just made my day tonight,after coming infrom work and so tired,I kept asking myself where is the world so full of evil and everyone seems to look the other way when it comes to reporting the truth but tonight after listening to chennel 4 news at 7pm and the questions you asked the Isreali spokesman I felt so happy that atlast Jon has said the truth about Gaza ,I was so happy to here the kind of questons u asked the guy which was just a question of yes or no but instead the bloke decided to make it a personal issue with channel 4,I feel so good about the news tonight ,its like I had a pay rise and the credit cruch was over,ca’t wait for 11pm to watch the full story.
shut up or interview some hamas people the same way. i dare you.
I was just watching Channel 4 news, which included that interview with Mark Regev, and I must say that I am, quite frankly amazed. They cannot justifiably say that hamas were responsible for the numerous images coming out of gaza, mainly of white phosphorus.
Israel has clearly been breaking international law in their use of various weapons, under circumstances for which they may not be.
I am also disgusted at the inability of the UN to do anything. I wanted to be a UN ambassador when I grew up; now, I don’t know. I have become disillusioned- what does it take to get the UN out of their building. An enquiry here, a report there, they are tripping over their own red tape, and even the destruction of their Gazan HQ and several compounds has done nothing to motivate them. They are talk and no action, and even their talk has been woefully inadequate.
And who is supplying these weapons? US is my guess, companies like Lockheed Martin- big defence contractors, almost certainly from America.
I personally believe that Israel deserves anything it can get thrown at it under international law, and serious sanctions should be placed on the suppliers of the weapons, once it became apparent that their purposes were less than admirable (the suppliers, in this case being the almighty America).
As for what you say about Jon Snow’s reports being biased, is there any other way to go? You cannot reasonably justify Israel’s actions in Gaza, and if anyone can, I would like to see. I don’t care if Al Qaeda were in power in Gaza, and I don’t care how they got there, nothing justifies horror like that. We all saw the material in Jonathan Miller’s report, and for what? What did Hamas actually do to Israel? Suicide bombings, attacks, whatever. Yes. I know. I am well aware that Hamas is not the picture of goodness, but they were elected. They were elected for a reason, and that is because they have no methods left. No-one will listen to them. Gaza has been under siege for years now, and Israel’s actions have continued unhindered. This should go on no longer.
So while Jon’s reports may be biased, they are biased the right way, and one of too few voices for the people who deserve to have more voices.
Max — you tell me who is responsible — Surely not Iran who have been pouring money and weapons into Hamas or was it lollypops that Hamas have beeb firing into southern Israel for the last eight years. Where are the billions of Euros and dollars that have been poured into Gaza over the years? What happened to the thriving agricultural industry that Israel left behind when It withdrew from Gaza? the scrap industry had a beano with the aluminium from the wrecked greenhouses.You can be assured that if the boot would have been on the other foot,there would not have been one Israeli man,woman or child left alive today
Israel have been steadily expanding into Palestine for years now. their anger is perfectly justified, but please notice that that does not mean I condone the methods being employed. I abhor the killing of innocent civilians, on either side. The fact that hamas can be so soulless to kill their own people for what is effectively PR is very close to being beyond comprehension.
Anyone who supports hamas is clearly in the wrong, and I do not. However, I believe that what Israel has done in Gaza is totally out of proportion- too many people have been killed, and not enough of them have been fighters. It is the innocent who are killed in the endless battle between Israel and the arab nations, and not the fighters. People must realise that short of destroying hamas completely- every cell, all key members, minor members, fighters- all of them, hamas will never disappear- and even then they would reappear. this is what the Palestinians (a peaceful race before Israel appeared) translate their anger too- and Israel’s outsized actions will only ever exacerbate the situation.
Both hamas and Israel are guilty of gross war crimes, and the suppliers are to blame as well, but tell me this: how else do they stop Israel- if you track the size of Israel through the years, you will see it has grown, forcing Palestinians to disperse by the million- Palestine will disappear if nothing is done, and the UN have turned the other cheek. They have nothing else. This naturally peaceful race has turned to the rest of the Muslim world for help, as a last resort. They had no other option.
I am well aware that the explanation I have just given in no way justifies the actions, but nothing really can- murder is wrong. And as for what you say about the boot being on the other foot, I don’t know, and I cannot say. I have not been alive long enough to know the history of the situation, and so I will inform you of my opinion on the matter once I feel I have educated myself sufficiently.
Is Gaza a totallitarian State,
and if so why did you Jon Snow
not answer the question in your
interrogation of the Jewish Minister.
You know as well as i, Hammas
are more then capable of killing
Palastinians for political gain.
They were not afraid to use the
sick and children to protect their
weapons. Makes you wonder what
else they may do. Israel is not
innocent, they know it. The weapons used sound horific. Where do they come from. Who makes them ?
The missiles used by Hammas are Chinese, we know that.
Also the political gains for the Israelie PM in the wake of the up and coming elections.
I ask my friends, ‘how long would you
put up with your neighbour throwing
things into your back garden, until you
complained. I am not excusing
Isreal’s reaction in any way. But it is not rubbish Hammas is fireing into Israel.
Can you name another country in the
world where houses are build with a bomb shelter included. I do hope you find time to reply.
James Priest.
Jon, we watched Channel 4 News at noon today and were appalled at the decision by British broadcasters, including Channel 4, not to allow an appeal by the charities commission for the victims of Gaza to be aired because of perceived impartiality. Both my wife, a former journalist, and I found it such a disgrace we rang your newsroom to check that the interview would also be aired tonight. We were told it probably wouldn’t make it. Howeverit was repeated, though in a condensed form. Thank you for that. Furthermore, we were stunned by the arrogance of the Israeli Government’s spokesperson. Again, thank you for your unflinching pursuit of an honest answer. We are waiting with anticipation to watch Dispatches tonight and hope and believe that the same standard of integrity and honesty will be maintained. I don’t know if you have seen Taki’s column in The Spectator (Jan 17)? If not, please do. It sums up the situation accurately and forthrightly. As a 65 year old Palestinian grandfather I am, of course, for peace and co-existance with the Israelis but not for capitulation. Isn’t it about time that the myth of Israel being the humble little lamb in a sea of wolves was dispelled? Isn’t it about time it is shown for what it really is, an outpost of America’s expansionism and a murderous and land-grabbing regime?
Power to your elbow, Jon. Best Jafar Ramini
I totally agree with all that you have said.
Watching your interview with Mark Regev tonight, your anti Israel views became apparent when Mark Regev started giving replies to your questions that you did not want to hear — so you cut him short.In answer to your question ” was not Hamas democratically elected ” The answer is yes and the people of Gaza knew exactly who they were electing and those that were against have been eliminated. They knew that one of the cornerstones of Hamas’s doctrine was the destruction of Israel and given half the chance they would have carried this out. Therefore by implication there is no division between Hamas and civilians.. Therefore the catastrophe and their suffering is of their own making. Yes Jonathan Miller’s report is very tragic and sad but why does he not go and interview Hamas and ask the questions that should be asked of them and see what they reply.
Mark Regev would not answer the question put to him and instead digressing to total rubbish. The term anti-Israli is rolled out the minute anyone is seriously questioned about atrocities.
Perhaps you would be more comfortable watching Sky News.
How dare you write that “by implication there is no division between Hamas and civilians”. If this is the basis on which the IDF operated, then Israel will have collectively punished an entire population which, Malcolm, is contrary to international law and a war crime. The families of the 400 children murdered by the IDF in Gaza will no doubt take comfort from your assertion that their deaths were of their own making. Your position is as barbaric as it is deeply disturbing.
To Jon Snow,
I would like to thank you for the wonderful coverage of the Gaza massacre that you have maintained since this tragedy began. Your questioning of Mark Regev today had my family cheering at the TV screen.
We are disgusted at the perspective taken by the BBC, particularly their decision not to cover the appeal for Gaza. We are very much looking forward to your Dispatches episode tonight at 11PM. Please do continue acting with such bravery in the face of so much opposition, you have given my family in Khan Younis a moment of hope at such a terrible time.
God bless,
Noha
I see that members of Hamas are here in full force – thanking John Snow for doing such an impeccable cover up job for their vicious and cowardly Islamo facism
I have been watching both the Arabic reports on the Gaza conflict as well as the western side on it – and yes it’s true you get two different views on the conflict. But Channel 4 has always managed to show objectively the truth of what is happening on the ground without being biased. Unfortunatly Israel is hiding behind the delusion of being a “western democracy fighting terrorism” when in fact what they have done in Gaza over a 3 week period exceeds any type of terrorism … murdering over 1,000 civilian: woman, children … using weapons against armless civilians like phosphorous bombs, depleted uranium … and bombing UN schools and depots, destroying the whole of Gaza which is already a concentration camp ! It really is a disgrace that in the West the truth about Israel is still covered up … and when you dare say the truth that Israel proved to be a racist and terrorist state you are then framed as anti-jewish, supporting muslim extremists etc… SHAME ON ISRAEL for committing all those crimes against humanity, they should be prosecuted if there is any law and justice in this world !
Sadly the death of 1000 in gaza does not ‘exceed[s] any type of terrorism’.
The writer might like to ask the city of New York about an act of terrorism in 2001 that killed several thousand people in New York.
Or perhaps consider Halabja where thousands of Kurds were killed by the Iraqi regime in 1988 which used chemical weapons on its own population.
And as Yugoslavia broke apart there was the Srebrenica massacre of several thousand Bosnian men and boys.
Are you trying to tell me that killing over 1,000 civilians in Gaza does not fall under terrorism simply because “exceeding terrorism” was the killing of a larger number of civilians in September 11th or the Kurds in Iraq ??? That doesn’t make sense … killing civilians is an act of terrorism whether 100, 1000 or more …. Israel managed to kill over 1,000 in 3 weeks period, but the number of civilians and innocents that have been killed over the last 60 years of this conflict by the Israeli regime exceed a million if that meets your expectations of an act of terrorism !
Israel can no longer fool the international community by presenting itself as a “western democracy” …
all i ask is cover the full story and let people make up their own minds.
i dont think you have the guts to take on hamas, the ira were amateurs in comparison, even the irgun didnt use suicide or harm civilians in anywhere near the same way that hamas treats gazans. you hurt gazans by helping hamas.
i dare you to report the full story.
i dont think you have the guts to take on hamas, the ira were amateurs in comparison, even the irgun didnt use suicide or harm civilians in anywhere near the same way that hamas treats gazans. you hurt gazans by helping hamas.
i dare you to report the full story.
Perhaps you should have asked your masters to lift reporting restrictions in Gaza, instead of whining after the event.
Unfortunately simon, Western media were prevented from entering Gaza and instead were allowed guided tours of Sderot. You may also be aware that journalists in Israel are prevented from reporting on rockets that land in military facilities which are, surprise surprise, often near civilian populations (see Jonathan Cook’s reports).
Jon Snow, Channel 4 and the BBC, have truly disappointed me by their obvious lack of impartiality and objectivity. Why is there not the same critical and robust questioning of Hamas? I can’t help but think that it is out of craven fear of the possible consequences, viz. it is easy to be critical of those that you know are not going to kidnap and behead one. One often hears accusations of their being an Israel lobby in the USA; I fear that the real truth is that our media here in Britain, and elsewhere in Europe, fawn to powerful Muslim lobby groups – I truly fear for our children’s future!
Do look at the number of “friends of Israel” in our current government and compare it with friends of Palsatiens. or certainly Hammas. It might act as a balance to your assertion that Muslim groups are so pwerful in relation certainly to our governent. As to our media, I fear that you are also so wrong.Do read it more carefully and watch T.V more objectively!
Have to agree with Trevor. Whilst Israel should certainly be subject to scrutiny and where necessary robust criticism, this must be also be the case for Hamas who have it as their stated aim to destroy Israel.
Sadly Jon seems to have fallen short on the mark of objectivity.
The other responder Alan needs to observe his own words, “Do read it more carefully and watch T.V more objectively!”
Trevor Greig, I couldn’t agree with you more.
Israel government’s version of truth is simply shocking. Do they really think, if they repeat the word Hamas enough times for every crime and atrocities THEY committed against the civilians and children – the world would be sublimely convinced that Hamas did them?
Jon – it would be interesting to hear/see the response of British Jews, many of whom are friends of mine, to the Gaza outrage.
I am currently trying to have an ‘objective’ dialogue with one such friend, but repeatedly get told that all information from Gaza citizens can’t be believed.
Tim — your Jewish friend is right you cannot rely on the Arab spin. The so called Jenin massacre is an example
The interview by jon snow o the Israeli representative regarding illegal weaopons in Gaza was disgraceful. \The news item was ,on the face of it shocking, and the Israelis may well be guilty of war crimes, but if you invite someone to be onterviewed yoy should at least let him spea, and not shout him down all the time. He definitely came out on top and made jon Snow look foolish
Mr. Regev has a credibility problem. He first insisted that fire was directed from inside a UN school. When John Ging flatly contradicted this (along with eyewitness reports), the response was that a mortar accidentally hit the building as they only have a (claimed) 30m accuracy. Regev also initially insisted that Hamas broke the cease fire until confronted by More4.
Australian born Regev is used to getting an easy ride due to his non-Israeli accent and started shouting when the interview gpt uncomfortable for him.
Finally, regarding the Hamas ‘coup’, please look up the attempted Fatah coup by Mohammed Dahlan which was backed by Egypt, the US and Israel.
Jon. Thank you for your interview with the Israeli Government spokesman tonight. Without good solid journalism some would never be forced to question their unilateral actions and consequences. Thanks to Channel 4 News for bravely digging up the real cost of war and pushing the rhetoric aside.
Following last nights news on Gaza I was appalled at the desecration of the cemetery by Israel ’s tanks and then to see the sad state of the lady who lost her husband and five sons words are useless. Then to add insult to injury that spokesman for the Israel government is a bigot of the highest level. My views of the people of Israel have changed after this timely annihilation of such innocent people just before the presidential change in the USA , a cynic I have have become !! I have now also just joined Amnesty Int this world must be rid of such governments and as for our Mr Brown giving succor to that regime he might as well go and camp outside Mugabe’s house and applaud him as he drives by !!
I could not quite believe the lack of reporting on the Gaza crisis by mainstream British and American media. If it had not been for foreign media I would have genuinely believed that it was Hamas that broke the ceasefire and that Hamas is indeed a terror organisation.
Thanks to foreign media I have learned that Hamas is not actually a terrorist organisation according to those who do not support Zionism, and no, it does not mean that it’s only people and leaders from Iran and Syria who regard Hamas as being legitimate. Even our own British politicians have this same view but they certainly won’t be featured on our mainstream news channels. How mainstream media could have lied that Hamas broke the ceasefire, I do not know.
Maybe Israel, the USA, Britain, France and Germany thought that if nobody spoke about Gaza, then the problem would just go away. Maybe they thought that the world would be too occupied with the current financial crisis to bother. How wrong they have been! Fools!
Zionism is a stain on Palestinian history. It is a contrived idea stemming from Theodor Hertzl. It is a colonialism that uses genocide experienced in the past, to excuse and diminish the genocide of today.
I do not think that Israel, the USA or Europe will have the dignity, courage or morality to acknowledge Hamas who were elected according to Western democratic electoral means, or acknowledge the inhuman oppression of the Palestinians by Israel by reopening the checkpoints and ending the blockade, or actually embark on true dialogue with Hamas, or even stop arming Israel the terrorist state.
Maybe the people of the world can effect some small change for the Gazans, it is their only hope.
I am suprised that the TV media companies are not prepared to support the appeal for funds for Gaza: there seems to be a real fear of criticising the Isreali position. In the community that I work in in W London the unfairness of the conflict has radicalised normally peaceful muslim students. There are numerous emails pointing out the reporting blandness of the conflict. The young muslims see it as prima facie genocide which goes largely uncriticised in the media. They say that reporters can get into Zimbabwe despite the restrictions: could they not have got into Gaza should they have really wanted to.
Jon, do you think the majority of viewers are aware or unaware that C4News is very left wing, presented by a left winger and the bias against Israel is not mere bias, but verging on outright propaganda?
Jon, have you ever apologised for stating that Hamas rockets are ineffectual and they cause “no harm or damage” – a comment you made not long after two Israeli kids were killed by a rocket?
Jon, did you get the link I sent you documenting NATO’s bombing in Kosovo? did you see how many civilians they killed?
You sir, are a propagandist of the worst sort – and so are most of the ‘journalists’ that work for this left wing sham.
Mr John Snow’s challenge interviwew with that dumb Israeli Gov.spokesperson left him red in the face, you made us so proud of a world class newsman and an icon to channel 4… Bravo John and God bless…you really put him in his place and those murderous Zionists Israelis, (Im Jewish by the way.(
Well good on you. I agree with what you say wholeheartedly. But you like me, you will be now accused of being “Jew Haters”. They have so many names for those who disagree with Zionist policies. Frankly I don’t care anymore. They have stepped way over the line and not just on this occasion. My guess is that the Jewish Homeland Project, which was always built on religious sentimentality, is now passing its sell by date and without US support it is really deadf in the water.
I take it that the footage of the reporter caught on camera confirming that rockets were launched from the media building in Gaza in which Israel struck with return fire won’t be shown?
What happened after the event? all the reporters denied that Hamas had fired rockets.
Thankfully someone got the footage out which shows the reporters lied.
C4 reporters would never lies, would they?
Once again tonight we have to thank John Snow and Channel-4 for maintaining the integrity of the British media in the face of Israeli propaganda, which have now effectively silenced the BBC. We depend on you to continue to expose Isaeli crimes in Gaza and its war on the Palestinian people under cover of the infamous war on terror.
After that spokesperson’s behaviour on the news tonight, it is clear that they the politicians think they are so good at their jobs that they have time to lecture us on how to do ours. A respected journalist went and spoke directly to innocent victims of war crimes, and provided clear evidence which the viewers could interpret for themselves. Then some power-charged suit spouted propaganda for propaganda’s sake whilst being critical of a legitimate news report. Enough of the bureaucracy from the conservatives on both sides of the divide. It seems the only people determined to give power back to the people of Israel and Gaza are the journalists and human rights organisations.
John Snows interrogation of Israel’s Prime Ministerial spokesman Mark Regev was a delight to watch on Channel 4 news tonight! You really made him squirm and Mr Regev completely lost his cool when confronted with the facts – so articulately and calmly put to him. Well done John Snow!!
Calmly and articulately put to him, what a joke, it was rather a display of pompous, arrogant and biased interrogation. Oh for a return of truly objective and balanced journalism. What has happened to our British sense of fair play?
A very professional Israeli news management seems to have silenced ’several truths’ – that this is a hugely asymmetrical conflict – that with three Israeli civilians killed and over a 1000 Palestinians the attack requires renaming as a ‘reprisal’.- that the timing of the ceasefire was cynically choregraphed to coincide with Obama’s arrival in Washington – and how bizarre that Israel, of all nations, seems blind to its tolerance of atrocities against Palestinian unmenschen that merit the description ‘war crimes’.
My nearly 15 yr old son is permitted to stay up to watch the footage.
While not condoning hostile and inflammatory behaviour and actions from Hamas, Israel’s choices of weapons and methods of use as well as the compelling evidence of anti Arab sentiments (nigh imbedded one suspects) lead to a conclusion that is wholly sympathetic towards the Gazans at this particular juncture in time.
Great pullng the plug on Mark Regev earlier Mr Snow ( Sir John in our house) I was so utterly vexed and enraged at that interview I pulled rib muscles jumping and punching.
Im only interested in the truth and can criticise wither side If im talking to like minded people I would suggest that we both detest the use of the Palestinians being used as canon fodder. and the point is who is to blame.
What did Hamas expect in response to those rockets other than what they got.If so the succeeded in bringing the wrath of the world down on the Israelis which I assume was what they planned.
The Israels must have been aware of the consequences and I cant understand why they didnt let it be known what they would do if the UN or anyone else didnt stop Hamas.
Bit puzzled by Gavin Sharpes comment ‘The Jewish Lobby’. Is he suggesting that any pro Israeli voices are automatically invalidated on the grounds that they might just give a balancing Jewish view of events in Gaza!!?
In any other venue this would be named for what it most assuredly is – crude anti-semitism.
Jon,
Congratulations on tonight’s show and please pass on my commendation to Jonathan Miller doing such a sterling job in Gaza.
My comment was actually about your interview with Chris Patten last night. I was very disappointed you didn’t raise the issue of reparations. Shouldn’t the people who blew all that EU investment to pieces be the ones who pay for it?
The EU should cut off all trade with Israel until a) they recognise Palestine’s right to exist, b) withdraw their illegal settlements and all land won in wars since the 1948 partition plan – the ICJ declared all Israel’s settlements illegal and UNSC Res 242 declared “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and c) the payment of reparations by the Israeli government for wiping Gaza off the map.
I also wondered if you were aware, while you were in Israel covering the Gaza crisis of the visits by senior rabbinical figures to the Israeli troops about to enter the strip and who according to Prof Chomsky “are highly influential in the army and in the settler movement”. Chomsky asserts “Soldiers fighting in northern Gaza were afforded an “inspirational” visit from two leading rabbis, who explained to them that there are no “innocents” in Gaza, so everyone there is a legitimate target, quoting a famous passage from Psalms calling on the Lord to seize the infants of Israel’s oppressors and dash them against the rocks.”
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20316
I would urge everyone to read an article “Israel’s Lies” by Henry Siegman in the current issue of The London Review of Books. The article makes clear that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation but a religious nationalist movement which eliminated the corruption and gangsterism of Fatah’s rule; that it was Israel, not Hamas, that broke the ceasefire when the Israel Defence Force entered Gaza and killed six Hamas members in November; that Israel’s determination to destroy Hamas is because of the latter’s oppostion, unlike Fatah’s, to a cantonised Palestinian “state” under permanent Israeli control. The tragedy is that, for the most part, the Western media and Western governments have accepted uncritically the lies of Israel.
re: your interview on Ch 4 news tonight with Israeli spokesman which you terminated whilst your guest was speaking: You certainly threw the ‘dummy’ out of the pram at the end of this interview. If you believe that this bloke is not going to come back at you with a strong pro-Israeli argument for the necessary use of force, you are being a very naive presenter. I am all for presenters being ‘devil’s advocate’ but you must allow your interviewees to respond and not ‘pull the plug’ on an interviewee. Please don’t repeat your childish ploy of putting words into your guests’ mouths either. You should allow your audience to make their own decisions based on incisive but not always one-sided questioning. You are losing any credibility of being an unbiased reporter. You also messed up another interview during the same program when you cut short the lawyer who was representing Guntanamo prisoners. If the question is important enough to be put, then surely you should give the answer equal prominence. Peter Carroll
I thought Mark Regev made a very good point in tonight’s interview about what opinions and testemony you might expect to find on the streets of a dictatorial regime. Why couldn’t you debate that instead of cutting him off in such a petulant and unseemly manner?
The thing is, the reporting on this conflict has been balanced. It’s just that the truth isn’t what you want to hear. Channel 4 has no reason to be anti-Israeli, the UK has much more in common with them, than the Palestinians. They are just reporting what they see, and that is the abhorent and illegale use of White Phosphorous, DIME bombs and Flechettes on woman and children.
Well done Israel!!! You have managed to make sure that there will never be peace on earth as you have just given a whole new generation a good reason to seek revenge for the atrocities you have just committed.Sleep well Israel!! Maybe as well as Sharon is sleeping!
Jon,
I found your Israeli interviewee this evening evasive, argumentative and frankly offensive.
The Jews were once terrorists, fighting for their own homeland in the middle east, where they believe they have a god given right to be.
Europeans were happy to allow the new Jewish homeland there, as they didn’t want large populations of them in their own back yards.
What I find astounding and utterly unforgiveable is the fact that Jews, appear to have learn nothing from the Haulocaust.
Hamas was democratically elected so there is no dispute about it’s validity.
The Israelis behave like tyrants against the Muslims, dictating what they can and cannot do, blocking off Gaza.
America and it’s cronies could not bring themselves to castigate Israel and stop their actions; the powerful, rich Jewish lobby, no doubt having something to do with it.
Israel’s conduct can only be seen as bullying, irreverent of international laws of natural justice and downright cruel. They have shown a complete lack of humanity.
What this Israeli onslaught on defenceless civilians will do, will be to entrench Muslim hatred against the Isrealis for years to come.
I am neither Jew, nor Muslim. I have no allegiances to either side. After this, I will feel that Israel practices it’s military might without consideration of other options or any thought on the subject of common humanity.
Isn’t it funny that none of the “Arab” nations made any serious protests during this conflict? They don’t really care much for the Iranian backed Hamas any more than the rest of the world. And as to them being “democratically” elected, that’s a joke. If you vote for a terrorist organisation, then don’t expect anyone to care about the consequences. The Palestinians have been whingeing about their victimhood status after screwing up in 1967 and losing a war. The Jordanians threw them out and I don’t see the Egyptians opening the border to allow these poor “refugees” to escape. We’re all bored with this neverending conflict and if a few potential terrorists die, who cares. It’s like watching a bad version of the Life of Brian. They’re all “splitters”.
Superbly executed interaction with the Israeli spokesman. Decisively revealing his total indifference to suffering of inhabitants of Gaza. Determined only to shed all responsibility for the human carnage and with increasing hysteria suggesting Hamas could be the culprits for introduction of totally unacceptable weapons banned from use near residential areas, or was it the incompetence of Channel 4 investigators allowing themselves to be browbeaten into relaying a completely false picture. Well done Snowy, you are my hero for ever x x x
I’m pretty depressed right now. I’m a fan of C4 News and Jon you are undoubtedly a world class anchorman and reporter. Yet it is hard not to see the gleam in your eye or the excitement in your voice at the thought of the ratings you’ll get, not by presenting unbiased news in a detached and authoritative way, but by the close-ups of wounds and grieving family.
The unflinching way you drove into the Israeli spokesman tonight made me feel your mind had been made up, before all of the evidence is in.
You seemed to thrill over the C4 exclusive on the types of weapons used rather than humility at the human cost of these weapons – right or wrong. I would never be so unthinking as to suggest you were not moved by what you have seen – clearly you are and perhaps that has made you somewhat biased.
Where were C4 News when phosphorous weapons fired by Hamas were landing on Israeli towns? I wonder if maybe the lack of an exclusive on that story pushed the producers and editors away from the issue in favour of perhaps a ratings exclusive on a different issue?
I am sorry to sound despondent and cynical but that’s how tonight’s show has left me. Perhaps the documentary tonight will redress the balance, hmmm, perhaps I’ll rot my brain with Big Brother instead and then I’ll sleep more peacefully.
Congratulations, Jon for exposing the Israeli spokesman for the spin doctor that he is. He as good as admitted that the IDF fired on residential areas (most of GAza is in fact residential) and therefore that surely contravenes the Geneva Convention. But what can the UN do, when the biggest funder of it is the USA, where there is a massive Jewish lobby that would turn against the occupant of the White House (whoever it might be) if the screw was to be tightened against Israel?
Well done Jon Snow for C4News’ consistently penetrating reporting of the Gaza conflict. His interview with the odious Mark Regev this evening was particularly effective, as it shows how the Israeli’s will continually squirm to find justifications for their actions.
I was struck during Jonathan Miller’s report by the village of Najar, where 86 homes had been demolished. Presumably the Israeli’s would claim this had been as a result of their troops returning fire at Hamas militants in every building? Reducing this place – and numerous others – to scenes reminiscent of the aftermath of the battle of Stalingrad is a clear example of the real intention of Israel’s actions – collective punishment of the Gazans and the continuation of Israel’s policy of crushing any form of Palestinian resistance and their very abilty to have a normal civilian life.
It isn’t surprising that Hamas has called for the destruction of Israel – in case no-one has noticed, Israel has destroyed Palestine. Like the ancient Spartans, who gloried in their military prowess, they now seek to turn the remannts of the Palestinians into a serf population subservient to them, like the Helots were to the Spartans.
I have just been to see the film “Defiance” in which heroic Byelorussian jews are shown fighting against a cruel military power which has occupied their land, forced them into ghettoes and seeks to crush their resistance and extinguish their whole community. Sounds familiar?
What saddens me most is that Israel, instead of learning the lessons of history, has become the very thing it once sought to transcend. They don’t seen to realise that they are sowing the wind and will ultimately reap the whirlwind.
Keep up the good work, Mr Snow, and press the Israelis at every turn. Keep up the pressure of the US and UK govenments too – until we pull the plug on the supply of arms and money and allow them to flout UN resolutions with impunity, they won’t see sense.
I’m a deeply ashamed ex-israeli and I’d like to thank Jon Snow for tonight’s interview with the Israeli spokesman, the way you persistently confronted him and didn’t let him get away with his verbal tricks.
I also wanted to add that people should read up on Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak. They have murky pasts and in the case of Tzipi Livni, both her parents were in Irgun. Irgun, for those who don’t know, was a terrorist organisation. Livni’s father Eitan Livni was involved in the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946.Among the 91 dead, were 28 British citizens. Livni’s mother Sarah Rosenberg was also in the Irgun. Both her parents were terrorists. Both were imprisoned. Her parents were the first to get married in the new state of Israel. Livni herself worked for Mossad. Her terrorist father Eitan Livni served in the Knesset. Livni has learned that terrorism pays from her parents. It might go some way towards explaining why she is “at peace” with the civilian death toll in Gaza, thanks to the Israeli incursion.
It beggars belief that people with backgrounds like these are slating Hamas, Hezbollah or any other association for being “terrorists”.
Jon Snow:
The truth is always the first casuality in any war …Not only in the Conflict in Gaza…
~Dennis Junior~
Congratulations Jon. My family and I were encouraged by the on the way you stood up to Mark Regev in your interview this evening. The Zionists have forgotten history – Israel has become a Nazi State and their war criminals must be brought to the Hague to face justice. Thank you Jon for portraying the truth.
The reason that Israel feels that it is ok drop phosphorus bombs in Gaza is because the standard has already been set else where. Its hard for the western media to be taken seriously when they fail to tackle what their own armies are doing. Its easy to sit on your arm chair at 7pm, shake your head in indignation at what is happening in Gaza and then go to work the next day and have your tax pay for similar atrocities in Iraq.
Jon, I just want to say thank you for the fantastic work that you and other reporters are doing in showing the truth about what really happened in Gaza. It is unbelievable that Channel 4 news is the only western channel still covering Gaza.
It was fantastic to see you use your excellent journalistic skill and make that horrid Mark Regev squirm. That man is devoid of any human feelings….and I can’t believe that he was trying to blame Hamas for some of those horrific injuries!
Beware of the hate that will soon be coming your way from the Israeli lobby but thank you for being the voice for the voiceless.
We live in an era where the influence of ‘politics’ and professionalism of spin deprives us so many opportunities for politicians and governments to be held to account. Therefore we need investigative reports and robust questioning by reporters more than ever. So many times interviewees simply discuss someone else when pressed. Congratulations to Jon Snow and the channel 4 team. Issues of Human rights are so serious I want to hear reporters pursuing them with genuine engagement and vigour.
I wonder if Mr Snow recognised his arrogance regarding the interview with the Israeli government representative broadcast earlier today? I don’t doubt the intentions of Miller’s report yet surely it is incredibly naive to deny that residents of Gaza could never be under pressure from Hamas. Is it his opinion that they would never comprehend such a thing to mislead Channel 4 and Jon Snow?
Jon,
You showed true professionalism when handling Mark Regev tonight.
Many times now (not least during another excellent C4 News live interview – the one Alex Thomson did recently), this man (Regev – not Alex) has shown an incredible, almost infantile behaviour in the way he continues to deny and blame Hamas for just about everything.
Recently, when asked how come the death toll was so high in Gaza whilst it was a lot less in Israel, he replied it was because the Israeli were now so good at hiding and seeking shelter for the Hamas attacks – since they have had such a long experience of it.
He reminds me of a child being caught out – showing a remarkable skill in finding excuses like.. ‘the dog ate my Maths book’ or.. ‘he started – not me’. And – as when you get caught up and entangled in lies…it never works.
So – who is one to believe? Well, as I am sure the Dispatches tonight will show (just about to watch it) – we have not been shown the whole truth and nothing but the truth, here in the Western world. And it makes me so angry.
But – of what I actually HAVE seen, I put my trust in someone like Mr Ging (UNRWA) rather than Mr Regev. John Ging’s way of describing the death of those two Palestinian children, saying ‘ they are as innocent as they are dead..’ must have brought it home to the most hardened human being.
I feel like crying out: Why are we even discussing this?!! Everyone can see the people of Gaza are like deer kept fenced in, for people to hunt on a Sunday afternoon. Another image which springs to mind is the Nazi concentration camps, where people also had nowhere to escape. Different circumstances, same effect.
Thanks for being who you are and digging deep, Jon.
oh, only 5 or six hundred, phew.
i’m shoked and disgusted by the utter stupidity of some of the above comments.
there are plenty of pix of dead israeli kids about if thats what you want.
so self defence is wrong but blowing up busses and cafes is ok?
war is nasty, people get hurt, hamas asked for it thousands of times.
jihad seems to be thriving.
btw the uk used the same munitions in similar circumstances in iraq, afganistan, yugoslavia…
i havnt seen any facts just hamas propaganda, there were a few innocent kids but mostly hamas(you join hamas at 6) fighters. have the rockets stopped? what will happen if they start terrorism again?
can we get some hamas on tv news to explain their actions.
hamas asked for it? Have you considered the fact that the types of weapons being used by the IDF are aimed to cause a maximum amount of damage? Do you realise that entire villages have been bulldozed to the ground for no reason? Do you think that the children in those villages were terrorists who ‘asked for it thousands of times’?? I put it to you that in this situation, the IDF are those spreading terror amongst innocent people, and the spokesmen from Hamas would certainly have commented on the situation on international news if they had been allowed to…..but in case you hadn’t noticed the only spokespersons available because of the Israeli imposed news block were from Israel itself. Educate yourself in the history and the facts of this false state of Israel, how they came to exist and the damage they have caused, and then think yourself worthy to come online and spread your ignorant viewpoints……..have a look around this website, see how many people share your blinkered view of the world, and then have a rethink. Cheers.
After seeing the ‘Unseen Gaza’ footage I see Israel committing to a last ditch attack on Palestine before the inauguration of a less friendly US president. Could this genocide be the turning point in the ‘War on Terror’along with the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the end of the Bush administration?
At last, a true picture from a UK media company. Well done. I never expected for the truth to come out in the Western World.
Jon
Just watched your Dispatches special. Excellent work. Showed how it was diffcult for the media to get accurate reports because they weren’t allowed to do their jobs. Thus you had to rely on relative heresay and/or propaganda.
As soon as this conflict started I suggested to my colleagues that it would end, unilaterally or otherwise, on january the 20th. As others did, I reasoned that the Israeli government was going to shamelessly exploit the last days of a failed US presidency to gain some political manna from their electorate and would pull out before their US cover went became less solid and unquestioning.
This war has been unnecessary, unjust and has without doubt done a great deal of harm to Israel’s standing in the world. Their politicians may not care about that now, but they’ll care when it creates more true anti-semites in the world.
Jon,
great dispatch tonight, really interesting to get an insiders view on the difficulties the media have faced in reporting this ‘war’.
You realise, of course, that you’ll be accused of only presenting the ways of showing what happened in Gaza, and not giving enough air time to how the bombardment of Israel was displayed?
Just how much footage of broken, charred babies was there from Rahat?
Jock
It saddens me how so many of my fellow Brits appear to have lost their backbone and constantly cave in to the Muslim Lobby. If you think that by sacrificing Israel, it will end the threat of terror to us, then you are totally mistaken. It will rather be a case of in the words of one courageous German,
“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
The demographics in Britain, and Europe, are rapidly changing, with the Muslim community having the highest birth rate of all communities.
If you want to have an idea of what our future will possibly be like, then just look at Lebanon which not that long ago was a majority Christian country, it is now a majority Muslim country where the Christian community is becoming increasingly marginalised and treated with disdain, if not outright contempt. In such a society there will no longer be a voice for the likes of Jon Snow, George Galloway, Ken Livingstone etc.
Why do we not more vigorously champion the rights of other people that have legitimate grievances such as the peace loving Buddhist Tibetans?
It seems that in a perverse way that Jews, Hindus and Buddhists would gain more sympathy in our society if they also start planting bombs to blow up innocents in our towns.
I do feel a profound anger at how our future is being squandered by so called liberals who do not value the freedom of our society who fawn and pander to religious Islamic nutters whose only desire is to subjugate our society. My dream is for a future where all live in mutual respect and tolerance with absolute freedom to follow, or not follow, any faith of one’s choosing, which must include the absolute right of Muslims to change, or renounce their faith, without fear of persecution. However I fear, based on the evidence from the Islamic world, is that they will only tolerate us, if we are lucky, as second class citizens, subject to laws entirely in accord with their particular view of the world.
I am not Jewish, but would be proud if I were so, as I would be if I were Palestinian or any other race or nationality, instead I am half Scot and half Welsh and proud to be so, but can only express my shame in the craven and shameful behaviour of those of my fellow citizens and journalists who at every turn trash Israel regardless of whether they deserve criticism or not. There are no doubt times that Israel deserves to be criticised, as any other country, but let’s, if we truly desire peace, strive to be scrupulously fair to all sides.
The truly courageous individuals of Europe are the likes of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, John Rhys-Davies and the late Pim Fortuyn, who champion and value the fragility of the freedom that so much of us seem to take for granted.
Ultimately I would love nothing more than to see Christian, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, agnostics etc. living in absolute mutual tolerance and respect, but for that to be the case it has to be an absolute Quid Pro Quo – is that too much to ask?
Thank you Mr jon for showing the fresh air that peres promised gaza children .Almert also said he really cares about them (gaza children0.
your unseen gaza program was excellent.We are proud of you like all the time thank you a lot
The action of the Israeli army over the past period of conflict only serves to remind us that war serves no-one except the undertaker. Even in the event that some measure of culpability must be shared by Hamas and even with support for them by ordinary Gazan’s it is difficult to see why so many fatalities can be justified by the Israeli military machine. Perhaps it is the powerful jewish american lobby which has silenced any dissent in the U.S at least, perhaps it is the shared collective guilt of the international community in being unable or unwilling, ( for logistical reasons ) to have saved Jews from the genocide 60 years ago. Their former sufferance doesnt justify the co-ordinated barbarity by the Israeli military on such a scale as this. Whatever the past has to tell us it is this, the use of the gun is a seed bed for opposition. Even as the conflict reaches its bloody conclusion, a response will be being planned and thats a prospect which should concern everyone of us. Past failures of foreign policy by the U.S allied to a tempered response by them to the conflict, not to mention little more than platitudes from the incoming president, does not bode well for this new era, of equity and understanding. I hope I am wrong. My eyes welled with tears at the prospect of our entering a period of promise. Perhaps during the period of Obamas office we will come to deify him for the right reasons, a new model of good conduct for us to follow where not merely the omnipotent have the voice to make themselves heard. We all desperately need a new directive. The volume of that message needs to be heard in Jerusalem, amongst the hawks and the military men, amongst the militants of Hamas. I’ve never been one for prayer, maybe right now that might have to change.
The truth about the Gaza campaign is that 400+ children were killed by the IDF The Israeli Government spokespersons always state with straight faces that the civilian population is not the enemy of Israel No doubt the dead children will appreciate those weasel words
As expected, your Dispatches did not disappoint, it gave a balanced picture of what role media plays – if allowed – and how journalists have been hindered from showing the true picture of this horrendous war.
Another well worth watching documentary and well….running out of superlatives, here!!
I would like to thank you for your documentary today. I agree the images aren’t pretty and hurt me profoundly, not being moved by these images would mean being heartless, war is ugly if we don’t see it, it won’t make it less ugly it’s about time we stop it. I’ll quote Robert Fisk’s article “Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times’s resident philosopher-in-chief, to speak the unspeakable. “When does the mandate of victimhood expire?” he asked. “At what point does the Nazi genocide of Europe’s Jews cease to excuse the state of Israel from the demands of international law and of common humanity?”". . .”If we were reporting the 18th-century slave trade, I said, we wouldn’t give equal time to the slave ship captain in our dispatches. If we were reporting the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp, we wouldn’t give equal time to the SS spokesman. At which point a journalist from the Jewish Telegraph in Prague responded that “the IDF are not Hitler”. Of course not. But who said they were?”
The IDF are indeed not Hitler….but they do appear to have borrowed the SS training manuals and adopted their doctrines!! They have bought soldiering into disrepute and decent israelis should be ashamed of them!!
Thank you mr snow you show the truth
about those terrorist killers israeli zionest try to hide since 1948
Thank you to every one shows the truth
about what is happening to palestinians in their country palestine
This was a thought-provoking if not frustrating documentary – I think the conflict would not have gone on so long if international reporters had gained access. Its also disappointing that reporters from Gaza are perceived as being less “effective” or too unfamiliar to be considered good sources – a little implicit racism there I feel (not on Jon’s part I hasten to add).
The Israeli administration was clearly attempting a blackout of their planned dubious activities, as objective reporting of Hamas’ alleged heinous acts against their own people would clearly have been to Israel’s advantage. Israel’s pathetic attempts to blame everything they have done on evil Hamas really do churn the stomach. You will never hear me lending my support to Hamas, but to put things in perspective, since 2001, Hamas have killed 16 civilians. Between 1998 and 2005, approximately 130 Israelis died as a result of a fall. 790 people took their own lives (Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics).
It is unreasonable to accept the Israeli administration’s line on this terrible conflict. Its up to a responsible media to provide a real perspective. Thank you Jon Snow.
For my own part, I find personal stories of the immediate horror of war most informative. The Independent had a correspondent in Gaza whose father was killed, and pregnant wife gave birth during the conflict – heartbreaking. The BBC had a reporter live on the phone, hiding in the darkness of their basement when a bomb hit nearby – you could really appreciate the terror of the situation, not being able to see and know that your family were OK. No gore, just pure humanity. And no hollow political justification.
In the garden, growth has its seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
I think that the truth in Gaza was the first casualty in the current flare-up….
~Dennis Junior~
Thank you for exposing the Israeli lies and propaganda. In this day and age the Israeli behavior is despicable and you would do everyone a favour by sending a copy of Jonhatan Miller’s report to Gordon Brown and the asking him or one of his lieutenants to comment.
Dispatches – it was eye-opening.
I had not realised that all ‘famous’ reporters were outside Gaza.
It was censorship.
The images from inside were truly dreadful.
And yes, we should see (most of) them, so we can’t say “We did not know what was going on”.
For me the most relevant reports from this war were interviews with UN and International Red Cross officials.
They represented the sane humanitarian aspect.
The most hear-trenching clips from last night’s dispatches was that of three young people.
They obviously were disabled.
And they were screaming with fear. So you don’t need the blood to make us understand what is happening. But you need to be there.
I try to reserve my judgement on things I don’t fully understand. And with the level of propoganda on both sides it is difficult to know what the truth is in this conflict.
However I’m proud of Channel 4 for broadcasting the reports from Gaza for the world to see, whilst still pointing out the counter-claims of the Israelis and inviting them for live debate.
Watching Wednesday’s news I filled with anger at the UK banks and government for the mess they’ve made of our economy and the subsequent effect on normal people.
But this completely paled into insignificance compared to the outrage I felt seeing the pictures coming out of Gaza.
Us normal British citizens have no power or influence over the few banking kingpins, ministers and regulators that have wrecked the prospects of so many everyday people.
In the same way, normal Palestinian citizens have no power or influence over what the decision makers of Hamas or Israel do that leads to the wrecking of so many lives and families.
It puts it into perspective don’t you think? I might lose a lot of money this year, and possibly my job, but it’s unlikely that the Scottish are going to cross the border, bulldoze my house and murder my siblings.
Thank you for asking the right questions! For the comments about you not allowing Israeli minister to speak, well, the minister made no attempt to answer your questions (talking about North Korea…). Keep up the good work!
Is it possible to deliberate the relationship between the UK and US? After the annihilation of Gaza by Israel with the support of the US. Does the UK want a special relationship with the US?
Ah the mendacity of Mark Regev – or perhaps Jon was being fed misinfomation by a Hamas imposter?
Can we have some more?
Why are there no comments shown between 8.15pm and 12.58am? I know there was at least one because I sent it!
Mine was CENSORED too regarding a comparison I made with Irgun and the blowing up of the King David HQ, British forces HQ Palestine. This website filters words in much the same way as Jon Snow complains the media can’t report the truth. The Zionist lobby is clearly hard at work at Channel 4 News.
Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on the excellent Unseen Gaza. It is so important to hear both sides of the story, I’m only sorry both sides could not be told during the attacks. Please carry on making intelligent programmes like this otherwise the voices of the vulnerable will remain unheard.
Karen
If last nights dispatches broadcast results in the murder of ONE jewish child on british streets or anywhere else then both channel 4 and John Snow should be held responsible and accountable. someone should pay with their job.
Does Mr. Snows frustration and resentment at being denied the right to do his job justify the incitement of hatred for Jews in an already largly anti Jewish
society and the adding of extremist fuel to the fire of terrorism which can only
result in attacks on innocent people here in the uk and anywhere else?
The broadcasting of explicit scenes of the casualties of war, that are horrifying in any circumstance, can can only go towards encouraging radicalism in vulnerable young people and therefore acts as an aid to terrorism which in my book makes Mr. Snow a terrorist and sets channel 4 on a similar mission to that of al jezeera.
The broadcast on channel 4 of images likely to cause attacks on Jewish children in the uk and elsewhere was rash, irresponsible, thoughtless and without regard for the safety of innocent lives. Yes, the poor palestinian children
are also innocent, but they are pawns in the game of terror on Israel which incidentally is the sole sworne purpose of hamas like the P.L.O before them.
If Mr. Snow and channel 4 are not anti Israel and do not beleive that Jews, unlike every other people, do not have the right to defend their citizens, please let their alternative to fighting enemies who hide behind human shields, if they have one, be known. Perhaps they could prevent the loss of innocent lives.
I believe that the alternative they wish they could suggest is that Israel lay down to die, like much of the rest of the world. Well we’ve done that too many times before. But guess what. Never again; much to the dismay of most.
I find Snow to be naive beyond a level acceptable for a journalist of his calibre to be, if he believes that Israelis want to kill children and that hamas do not.
He has ZERO understanding of the mentality of palestinians, like most of the rest of the world and should look to widen his horizens of knowledge before planting ideas in the heads of vulnerable
people. He should now waite to be held accountable for events brought about by his careless actions and so should channel 4.
The Israeli response to attacks by Hamas rockets was disproportionate something stated by the EU within a short time of Israel’s attack on Gaza. I think that Channel 4 News’s coverage of events was impartial for that reason. Gaza itself is a pressure cooker environment to start with and living there must be very tough indeed.
The attack took place in the final days of the Bush presidency. President Obama will not offer Israel the level of support she had from America while President Bush was in power.
Thankyou Jon and the team for your work in uncovering the Gaza slaughter in a way that the BBC amongst others fails to do. The Israeli government terrorists deserve their day in court – but I doubt it will happen.
Reading the comments does seem to represent the views held in the world. The majority of the world is appalled at what has happened in Gaza- a minority still seek to justify it. Whatever the world tries to do the real answer lies with the americans and everyone knows that. However the American voice is always muted when it comes to criticising the Israelis choosing always to blame both sides equally. We have laws in this country that limit the amount of aggression you can use if someone enters your home. The law is tighter about how much aggression you can use to defend yourself outside your home. So there is a huge issue of proportionality here.
The Israeli’s used to kill Palestinians at the rate of 10:1. And the Americans did not consider this disproportionate. Recently they killed the Palestinians at a rate of 100:1 and we still have no comment on disproportionateness. My question then for the Americans is :What rate of killing would you consider disproportionate?
Until the Americans actively criticise the Israelis for their disproportionate actions and take active steps to stop them- they will continue leaving the Palestinians feeling abandoned, isolated
and cynical about the West’s willingness to sort out their problems- and therefore more likely to support the likes of Hammas who ‘appear’ to them to be the only strong voices willing to represent their views. So come on America- are you going to change this?
HAMMAS a stong voice with a gun pointed at your head. They dont care who they kill, how old, what sex.
Are they truelly representing the voice of the Palastinians. If so then something is wrong. Would conditions have improved in Gaza if Hammas were not there and not a threat to Israel ?
Treat others as you wish to be treated. The innocent always get caught in the middle, it is the portrayal of their suffering which fuels the fires of hatred.
If you condemn one without condemning the other then you are part of the hatred.
You talk of America careing and a 100 to 1 ratio.
Remember Viet Nam, well that shows the Yanks dont care. something like 58.000 dead America’s with how many million Vietnamese dead in that conflict.
More dead more bullets needed.
Who supports these conflicts.
Why do they support them so freely.
Is it a religious question ?
And what is the bigger picture and finally, why because of these events do we the population of the world have to live in fear and division of each other.
What is the main agenda ?
Are we as the human race not allowed to be free and live in peace.
Jon, one question that I would like to put to Mr. Regev:
“Israel was prepared to engage in a cease fire last year in which, in return for an end to rocket fire, Israel would ease its blockade. According to Israeli sources and confirmed by you, Hamas did not fire a single rocket and arrested those that did. If Israel was prepared to accept this cease fire in the first instance, why was the blockade strengthened, not eased?”
You ask about the control of western media “Did this skew the world’s response? Was the first casualty “truth”? Was the outcome of it all affected by our lack of emotional connection to what was going on?”
Well turn the situation around. How comfortable would you be showing pictures of the carnage immediate aftermath of the London bombings with the victims still in place?
The powerful image that stands for that day wasn’t one that contained mutilated corpses. It was that of a bus peeled open by the atrocity. Was the image any less truthful with injured and dead no longer present?
Now how would you feel presenting images of emotionally charged Londoners holding up the remains of their fellows. And would the more reasoned viewers in the UK feel any more or less revulsed than the images from Gaza? Would people hold a minutes silence or would we have demonstrations looking to accuse other parties and call for revenge? Would we be worried about youngsters being radicalised by the emotional connection to what had gone on?
The priority of the news media is surely to inform. Requiring some emotional connection is dangerous because that suggests you are trying to get a response from your audience rather than to inform.
Looking at the above comments, it’s clear that in this dispute and in conflicts of belief across the world there are no simple answers. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, and until the day comes when borders can be broken, shared values can be maintained and the land so cruelly devided redistributed among all religions and races, we cannot expect to ever find peace. It is important to remember that we must remain moderate and not talk of ‘jews’ or ‘muslims’, and to remember that until we ourselves have experienced the true horror of war first hand with the deaths of our own families we must not assume to have the right to judge the reactions of others. All we can do is attempt to give a voice to those who have no opportunity to speak for themselves, to push for what we hope can be a sustainable and true home for the people of gaza, and shout as loud as we can for the rights of all human beings in this world. Because we can. Freedom for Palestine!
I agree 100%
Gaza Doctor Says Death Toll Inflated
YNet News asks:
What really is behind the numbers reported on the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip? Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported Thursday that a doctor working in Gaza’s Shifa Hospital claimed that Hamas has intentionally inflated the number of casualties resulting from Israel’s Operation Cast Lead.
“The number of deceased stands at no more than 500 to 600. Most of them are youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas, who sent them to the slaughter,” according to the newspaper article….
A Tal al-Hawa resident told the newspaper’s reporter, “Armed Hamas men sought out a good position for provoking the Israelis. There were mostly teenagers, aged 16 or 17, and armed. They couldn’t do a thing against a tank or a jet. They knew they are much weaker, but they fired at our houses so that they could blame Israel for war crimes.”
The reporter for the Italian newspaper also quoted reporters in the Strip who told of Hamas’ exaggerated figures, “We have already said to Hamas commanders – why do you insist on inflating the number of victims?”
These same reporters mentioned that the truth that will come out is likely to be similar to what occurred in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin. “Then, there was first talk of 1,500 deaths. But then it turned out that there were only 54, 45 of which were armed men,” the Palestinian reporters told the Italian newspaper.
As more foreign journalists gain access to Gaza, different viewpoints from the default attacks on Israel are starting to emerge. Newsweek talked to gunmen who admitted using a hospital for firing at Israel:
One of the most notorious incidents during the war was the Jan. 15 shelling of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society buildings in the downtown Tal-al Hawa part of Gaza City, followed by a shell hitting their Al Quds Hospital next door; the subsequent fire forced all 500 patients to be evacuated . . . In the Tal-al Hawa neighborhood nearby, however, Talal Safadi, an official in the leftist Palestinian People’s Party, said that resistance fighters were firing from positions all around the hospital. He shrugged that off, having a bigger beef with Hamas. “They failed to win the battle.”
Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher returned to Gaza for the first time since the war:
I knew Gaza well before the attacks, so when Israel ended its ban on foreign journalists reaching Gaza on the day the ceasefire was announced, I was able to see for myself.
One thing was clear. Gaza City 2009 is not Stalingrad 1944. There had been no carpet bombing of large areas, no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions. Buildings nearby had been damaged and there had been some clear mistakes, like the firebombing of the UN aid headquarters. But, in most the cases, I saw the primary target had borne the brunt. …
But, for the most part, I was struck by how cosmetically unchanged Gaza appeared to be. It has been a tatty, poorly-maintained mess for decades and the presence of fresh bombsites on streets already lined with broken kerbstones and jerry-built buildings did not make any great difference.
JORDANIAN AID SEIZED BY GAZA GUNMEN
Will your local media be reporting this from Jordan’s Petra News Agency?
A number of armed men have seized on Tuesday a Jordanian aid convoy after entering the Gaza Strip via Karem Abu Salem Crossing Point, Petra was informed.
The aid convoy, which was sent by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO), was unloaded to non-Jordanian trucks driven by non-Jordanian drivers after crossing King Hussein Bridge.
The UNRWA was expected to receive the convoy and unload it into its warehouses in Gaza to be distributed later on civilians in the strip.
The armed men opened fire at drivers after crossing Karem Abu Salem crossing point and forced them to head to their own warehouses.
UNRWA has asked the transport company not to send the aid convoys scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday until the issue of the seized convoy is solved.
RESOURCE: INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE GAZA WAR
Now, since you been given a more objective reporting than the one by the joke Mr Snow, what are your response???
RE: Dispatches: Unseen Gaza”
I had missed the Dispatches broadcast of “Unseen Gaza” last night. But, from what I heard this morning, I had to see the programme for myself!
And what a revelation it was!!!
Jon Snow should be commended for a fairly balanced and unbiased “warts-and-all” report!!!!! And Channel 4 should be proud for being brave enough to air the programme.
“Unseen Gaza” was heartbreaking at times when I saw the true reality of the Israeli invasion which had been sanitised or censored from the TV news.
Most of all, it was the revelation about the slick PR campaign that had been pre-planned 6 months earlier and had been applied extensively throughout the Israeli invasion in order to portray only the Israeli version of events.
It was also very telling when we saw that Reuters also edited footage – self-censorship (propaganda-control?) of the worst kind!!
Seeing the real footage would definitely have swayed world opinion against Israel’s actions. This would have had affected the “power-brokers” in the United Nations which, in turn, might have been able to bring about a ceasefire which would have saved a lot of innocent civilians (especially children) from being killed or injured.
Shame on those people responsible for hiding the truth – I wonder if they have a conscience.
There MUST be an INDEPENDENT investigation of the numerous reported Israeli war crimes. After all, we have charged other people such as Milosevic for similar atrocities. In fact, we, the US and NATO bombed the Serbian army for the same actions.
Its a shame that the programme had not been sufficiently advertised in advance; I imagine quite a lot of people must have missed it like myself.
I would request that “Unseen Gaza” is broadcast again at a much earlier time (after the 9pm water-shed of course) so that I and a few million others can watch the programme comfortably on a proper screen.
Thank you once again for revealing the truth behind the Israeli invasion – perhaps they should have truthfully called it “Operation Cast Votes” or “Operation Re-Election” !!
Yes a great PR campaign by the Israelis.
What concerns me is the Pro-Israeli Lobby get’s behind EVERYTHING!
I am also greatly concerned that the BBC has led the field in not broadcasting the Disasters and Emergency Committee Gaza appeal.
Everyone knows how impartial the BBC is.
It can only be that the Pro-Israeli Lobby has applied pressure so much pressure (now or in the past) and suppressed this appeal.
Surely it’s time we had an unbiased debate so that we can get to know more about this Lobby and Zionism in general?
Speaking of the Israeli PR spin machine, the three main stage-hands being:
Tzippi Livni, daughter of a senior Irgun terrorist [the militant Zionist group which attacked and killed Palestinians and British soldiers between 1936-46, described as a terrorist organisation variously and by prominent world and even Jewish figures, such as Winston Churchill, Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, and many others.], Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli PM and Major Avital Leibovich, spokeswoman for the Israeli Defence Forces.
And its said that the Israelis spent many months practising their methods of spin.
I wonder who their teacher was because they, and particularly, Mark Regev seemed to be in an orbit of their own, similar to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Saddam Hussein’s Information Minister (”Invasion is a lie”, etc)!!!
Many of the Israeli claims are, of course, unverifiable or distortions.
Apparently, civilian houses or UN schools had a “KHamas terrorist” operating from there, human casualties were the victims of the “KHamas” who attacked their own civilians for propaganda purposes.
What about the innocent animals who lay dead in many news clips?? Had “KHamas” imported circus-trained performers? Oh, but the borders are sealed!!
The facts/truth, as always, were the first victims.
In the past, Mark Regev has explicitly, in English, characterized EVERY Palestinian as a terrorist.
IF the claim of self-defence is justification for attack, then Palestinians have had a justification for attack for 42 years – a justification renewed every time Israel has taken land, cut off water, cut off food, cut off medical supplies.
Palestinians have been under constant threat, constantly terrorised by Israel, ever since the 1967 occupation. (And, arguably, ever since the 1948 expulsions, attacks and massacres of Palestinians.) – Hugh Sansom
As for the rocket attacks, we still don’t know who is really behind them – it could be rival groups such as Fatah or like someone who kidnapped Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter [actually rescued by Hamas].
Also, we mustn’t forget that in the West Bank, which is also occupied by Israel, there aren’t any rocket attacks against Israel. Yet, despite this, the Palestinians have been imprisoned behind the Apartheid Wall, which was internationally declared ILLEGAL over 5 years ago. The West Bank Palestinians suffer similar, if not worse, restrictions – regular checkpoints, children attacked on the way to school, settlers shooting at Palestinians, prevention of going to their farms or harvesting crops, land confiscations, house demolitions, etc.
Bethlehem has been walled in too and surrounded by Israeli checkpoints – the Three Wise Men would find it impossible if they had to come now!!
Despite countless UN Resolutions, Israel not only hasn’t fulfilled them but even prevents any and every inspection.
Perhaps a “Unseen West Bank” should be in the offing, please?
Thank you Emma for all this information that I can research further.
We are so ill-informed and it is hard to know which point in history to choose to look at, which tale to believe and how to find truth in all this.
The vast majority of people here in these comments and in the world beyond, are all in the same situation – we don’t know from first hand experience who is the aggressor.
All we CAN know is that it is wrong for children to be the victims. It is wrong for them to be used as shields (no matter who is using them) and it is AS wrong, if not worse, the then knowingly fire on those innocent shield regardless.
Well done,
today we saw another truth.
the truth which is, not only
Israelies are killing Palastinians.
As usual this will come as a shock
to some people and called Jewish
propaganda by others.
It appears, Hammas do not care who
they kill and of what religion these people are, too achieve their aims.
And for every rocket fired into Israel
Hammas do not care who it kills as
it is not only Jews who live in Israel
but also a large population of Arabs
who live peacefully alongside the Jew’s, also living in Israel are populations off Indian’s, Chinese, Russian’s, the large amounts of refugee’s from Chard and Dafur as well as all other people’s from around the world who choose to live there.
Why can’t people see it is wrong for BOTH sides to fire indiscriminantly at civilian targets and to condemn Israel without condemning Hammas for these attacks is wrong. To praise one and to condemn the other can only be discribed as ignorance. Ignorance which is being passed down to younger generations, who inturn will continue to fight, rather then seek peace.
This language of hatred has too be addressed.
have not enough people died.
Mr Snow,
channel 4’s credibility as an impartial news channel striving to bring us the truth has been completely blown by the reporting on what has just happened in Gaza. The reason is the glaring inconsistency in your standards.
In the last year the UK news channels have bent over backwards to bring us endless reportage on Zimbabwe. During the balkan crisis we saw shocking exposes (no accent available) on war crimes in the balkans (complete with sensational concentration camp pictures). During the war in Chechnya, we saw daring incursions into the region to bring us the ‘truth’. All these were partisan pieces of reportage that clearly pointed a finger of blame.
Have we seen similar treatment of the use of phosphorous in Gaza? Is it a war crime? Are questions such as these fitting issues for channel 4? Your record would suggest they are. Except they clearly aren’t – what do we get instead? a late night program purporting to tell us about the news we didn’t see. Didn’t your highly attuned journalistic conscience prick you at all? Did Gaza happen so long ago that whatever you aired (i have little interest in seeing it – i no longer rely on C4 for news) didn’t deserve a slot on C4?
you just ran out of credit Mr Snow – happily, with the advent of the internet we can do our own collation of news now. C4 is no longer required viewing.
Thank you for pointing this important article. It is amazing how Hamaz is easily labeled terrorist organisation and is cut off from the world but Israel enjoys the support of the West, all the weapons they wish to purchase and are potrayed as an example of democracy despite all the crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians. The West need to realise this type of hypocracy not only adds insult to injury but also undermines international security and relations.
Unseen Gaza? Apart from my belief the title is misleading as there are hundreds of arab reporters in Gaza working for the BBC and every western news agency, and so “we saw all the images” possible that were not deemed too gruesome before 9pm but it was still possible to be critical of the images you were fed, especially in a culture of martyrdom, seemingly to feed the media the narrative Jews or Israelis are evil and deligitimise Israel in some way or force International intervention. This should mean the Western Media are evil more cautious, but I fear they are not.
I was sickened to see the unedited propaganda and use of dead babies broadcast all over the arab world. It is bad enough the BBC showed images they would never in a million years show as the consequences of a British attack in Afghanistan or Iraq, or any other war, only when Jews do it in my opinion. But in one scene a dead baby is taken to hospital, charred and burnt and the man holds it above his head and starts screaming Allah Akbar with a camera man present. Now as utterly sad as it is this baby died, babies do die in this world everyday in car accidents, in plane crashes in house fires and in Hamas explosives within Palestine itself, so you could have some man in Florida holding up a dead baby in a house fire and screaming allah akbar, but using a dead baby for propaganda in order to incite hate and this image being shown around the arab world over and over again tells me there is something VERY wrong no matter if Israel was responsible or Hamas. I think Western journalists need to question if images like this are intended to seek compassion or stir up hatred. How are they perceived in the Muslim world? And if the lattar have not Western journalists a responsiblity to caution against it? And question whether terrorists are engineering these media narratives (Hamas human shields etc) and as much victimising their own as Israel.
Reading this blog is scarey. The worlds gone mad. It applies one rule to Israel and forgets what we did in Kosova when NATO bombed Serb TV (a war crime), the Chinese embassy, Albanian refugee convoys you could see were tractors, civilian trains, dozens of hospitals, schools, killed 1500, and what of Fallujah and Afghanistan? We are hypocrites of the first order.
Two wrongs don’t make a right!!
The world has indeed gone mad. The events during the attacks on the Serbs and the Israeli attack on Gaza were both bred from the US military doctrine of ‘Overwhelming Firepower’ with little regard to the collateral damage.
Maybe one day we will rediscover our humanity and ensure that these State attrocities are stamped out by ensuring that those responsible are severely punished!
Re Dispatches Unseen Gaza.
I have just seen a video version of this programme. I have previously held Jon Snow in high regard but I have never seen a more gross one sided programme in all my life. Plenty of comment about Israel but not a word about Hamas minders that only allow filming in some areas when the press is allowed in to Gaza. What would the Muslim women who commented about the awful pictures of the dead baby say if we broadcast similar pictures of from Israel after each rocket attack. There was no comment about Arabic news organisation failing to screening such images when the casualties are in Israel. It was reported that Israel banned reports entering Gaza because of the risk and Jon Snow and others complained about this but when those reporters who were actually in Gaza were interviewed they stated that they only worked from hospitals because it was too dangerous to go anywhere else. Reportes running around Gaza would have put soldiers lives at risk. If Western reporters had been kidnapped Israel IDF soldiesr would have been asked to risk their lives to help achieve freedom. I am very disappointed in Jon Snow.
‘Plenty of comment about Israel but not a word about Hamas minders that only allow filming in some areas when the press is allowed in to Gaza’
Lets be clear about this.. the Israelis had invaded and were systematically destroying Gaza. That is surely worthy of comment.
As to ‘Reportes running around Gaza would have put soldiers lives at risk’ I can only say how can reporters going about their business of keeping us informed as to what is happening put the lives of soldiers at risk? The targeting of the Reuters offices by the Israelis surely shows that it was soldiers putting reporters lives at risk.
If Jon Snows’ report appeared to be one sided perhaps it was due to the one sided nature of this incident. A largely unarmed and innocent population attacked by the most heavily armed force in the Middle East. I despise bullying in any guise and this smacks of State bullying on a monumental scale!
Brian
Strange how if they were systematically destroying Gaza, they were at the same time allowing trucks with food to go in to feed the people that they were supposedly trying to destroy. I know of no other war where such a thing has happened, But I guess that you’ll say that it was all a cynical ploy, but did the food trucks go through or not?
And as for your rant against America, what ingratitude for those American soldiers that sacrificed their lives in WW2. It is very telling that our brave Jon Snow refused to wear a poppy to honour all those brave soldiers, American, British, African, Australian etc. who sacrificed their lives so that we can live in a free society.
The anti-Americanism and the rants against Jews amongst some here make me ashamed to know that these people are fellow British Citizens.
It can’t be right that Israel, or any other country, can get away with murdering so many people and using those horrible phosphorous and other weapons to inflict maximum pain and suffering. How disgusting is that!?
Also, it can’t be right that this is called a ‘conflict’, because it isn’t. This is a one sided and indiscriminate murder of Gazans.
If these are not war crimes what is?
Thank-you Jon Snow for exposing Mark Regev and for “Unseen Gaza’ which gave us a deeper insight into the Gaza Massacre. Shame on other broadcasters for their superficial and sanitised versions of this dreadful atrocity—we need to know the truth.
It is staggering how a so-called civilised,democratic state can be so manipulative and brutal to defenceless civilians.The conscious deployment of these vile (American) weapons on to innocent men, women and children—so many beautiful children.Can we even begin to imagine the depth of trauma in being a witness to our child ,our mother our father turned to a cinder by white-phospherous,lacerated by flachcette explosion , decapitated by a “dime bomb.” Of course they didn’t want reporters to witness these atrocities.How devious!!! Shame on you Israel!!!
In the context of Jewish history and the magnitude of what they have suffered I find it staggering that Israel can operate in this repugnant way.The persecuTED have become the persecuTORS.The Gaza Massacre is an atrocity of our time. It is indeed a crime against humanity and Israel must be brought to account to function within International Law.
Why are there so many gaps in the comments on this blog! So far 2 of my posts seem to have been lost in these ‘Gaps’! Is there some sort of selection going on here?
Responding to Russ Brown’s post above:
” babies do die in this world everyday in car accidents, in plane crashes in house fires and in Hamas explosives within Palestine itself, so you could have some man in Florida holding up a dead baby in a house fire and screaming allah akbar, but using a dead baby for propaganda in order to incite hate ”
Did that charred baby die as a result of an accident?
Does Israel not use its dead as propaganda?
There was no compulsion on Israel to begin this latest slaugther, and they, only they have incited hatred by their actions.
Taki in Spectator, 14 January:
“So what’s a few hundred dead Palestinian children when Tzipi and Ehud have gained eight to ten points in the polls? They were terrorist babies, anyway…………….
Uri Avnery, an Israeli so-called ‘peacenik’, calls his country a ‘blood-stained monster’. The dreadful self-publicist Alan Dershowitz uses that old canard of Hamas using Gazans as human shields ad nauseam, which is like saying that Churchill used Londoners as shields against the Blitz in order to rally the West and his people. Better yet, the grotesque Dershowitz invokes Article 51 of the United Nations charter to stop armed attacks against civilians. In Israel’s favour. What in God’s name has happened to decency? To truth?”
I think decency and truth have gone on holiday!! Presumably not to a Red Sea resort!! Decency and truth would appear to have no place in the policies of the Israeli Government or it’s Defence Force.
Whenever a child dies unneccesarily society should ask some serious questions as to why. Hundreds of questions need to be asked about the massacre that took place in Gaza!
I think this website gives a bit of an indication as to whats in store for the poor people of Gaza in tyhe not so distant future. I imagine there’ll be no journalists either!!
http://jewschool.com/2009/01/06/14707/israel-and-gaza-one-geographers-prediction/
I just wanted to say thank you for the Unseen Gaza documentary. It was eye opening to see how tightly controlled the reporting was during the Gaza conflict. I would love a similar show about the lack of reporting on Israeli apartheid, something I find people don’t know anything about.
I think everyone can agree from whatever side that there has been serious loss of life and widespread and wholesale destruction of infrastucture in Gaza and that it has been done by the IDF whatever the reason and provocation. Personally, I think much of the debate on here ultimately is not very constructive and I feel that the agenda needs to shift to a solution rather than get bogged down in the current round of the crisis, however horrific, because it can only lead to claim and counter claim.
The fact of the matter is that one cannot rely on Israel, the Palestinians or other Arab nations, nor Iran to solve this continuing conflict. Their various agendas cannot permit it. Only the UN can undo the wrong it began in 1948 – and this means of course that the responsibility has to be placed entirely back where it belongs; with the countries that carry a UN veto. Those powers created this post-WW2 mess by allowing the creation of a homeland for Jews on that land and in that way. It may have seemed a laudable idea but it was either designed to be provocative or was extremely naive. Now the UN must be strong, brave and united enough to impose a fair and just solution upon Israel who are expanding by “land creep” day by day at (at this rate) the permanent expense of Palestinian Arabs.
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