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Palestinian infighting goes under-reported

Posted: Monday, January 29, 2007 2:42 PM
Filed Under:

By Martin Fletcher, NBC News Tel Aviv Bureau Chief

A few weeks ago I wrote here that after covering all the tabloid stories in London, I was looking forward to getting back to Gaza. Forget it, not anymore.

And here’s why: It’s got too dangerous. Nobody is filming the daily fighting between Hamas and Fatah militias, as well as all the other family and revenge-driven shootings among Palestinians in Gaza because the gunmen threaten to kill the cameramen and other journalists.

And this raises a question about the limits of television news. If there are no pictures of the fighting, do we report the story?

The first question of the television news editors is usually: "What are the pictures like?" If we answer, "Well, there are 25 dead but we don't have any pictures," then the response will often be, "OK, well we'll pass."

So the Palestinian gunmen's threats work. They don't want to be seen shooting at each other because it's bad for their image. They threaten the journalists, and they mean it.

A couple of weeks ago they blew up the offices of Arab television agency al-Arabiya because they didn't heed the warnings. Luckily nobody was there and there were no injuries. 

And because the press doesn’t want to get killed, the Palestinian gunmen get their way - nobody sees them killing each other. We see the funerals, but not the fighting. The Palestinians protect their image. Broadcasters don't tell the story. And the public gets short-changed.

Too dangerous
It’s not because the cameramen lack courage. I’ve seen Palestinian cameramen -- among the bravest, even most reckless, I've come across anywhere -- try to film through windows or from rooftops, while gunmen fire home-made shoulder-launched rocket propelled grenades and automatic rifles in all directions.

But now it has risen to a point where even recklessness would be foolish. In Somalia they used to call the rockets "weapons of no fixed address" because of their haphazard targeting. Now it's similar in Gaza.

A friend in Khan Younis, a city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, says it's crazy there. Streets are empty, everyone is shooting guns for no reason, and bullets are slamming into houses and through windows randomly. He says he can't go shopping and nobody is working or going to school.

And my friend predicts that the situation will get a lot worse, very soon. It's like Somalia, Iraq, Lebanon, he said. Wherever the Islamic militants are fighting, it will always get worse, because they don't just want power, they want an Islamic state, and have begun the fight to get it.

An Israeli friend with contacts among the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a Palestinian militant group aligned with Fatah, told me what one of their fighters, who fights constantly against Hamas had to say about the violence.

"He told me, 'Listen, the Shiites, they are not like us Sunnis.’" (He was referring to Hamas, which, even though most of its members are actually Sunnis, has begun to be called Shiite by its rivals because they have come so strongly under the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran.)

"The Shiites will come here and slaughter me, and when he will come to slaughter me and the knife will be on my neck, I will tell him, why you kill me I'm a Muslim? I do all the Salichat, which is the good things according to the Koran: I fast and I pray. And the Shiite man would tell me, if you do all of that, then you will go to heaven, because I'm going to slaughter you." That's the al-Aksa fighter talking, no peacenik himself.

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Comments

All I can say is the UN has got to change. It's unthinkable that no international police force exists that can go in and separate warring factions before it becomes out of hand. I suppose the US would veto actions in Gaza much like they held up actions in Lebanon so deliberately. No nation should have veto power and everyone should have a number of votes representative of their population and economy: sort of like a congress. We then need to better equip forces for peacekeeping duties. Light trucks and jeeps are meant for secured behind-the-lines actions - not policing such dangerous civil wars. The British have Armored Internal Security vehicles much like other countries. They are not tanks or IFVs but are far better than a hummer. Some country or neutral world body needs to step up to the plate and say they are committed to world peace through the intervention of police forces! Ultimately each society most stop pretending that ethnic and sectarian violence could never happen to them. Our communities and municipal services should be structured for such sever situations so that when they arise all is not lost. Even our homes could be much more secure than they are. If we lived communally with several other families, at least there’d be other people around all the time.

Chris Eldridge, Harrisburg PA USA (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 3:17 PM)

UN/US or any other nation can help only those who are hungry for peace; not those who are hungry to kill and to be killed with the false/stupid notion that they will have virgins in after life! Give me a break!

sue smart, columbus, oh (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 4:38 PM)

Chris Eldridge needs to realize that communism doesn't work. 'If we lived communally' like they did in Stalin's Russia? And what about this idea of representative votes for the UN? So you want China with being the largest single vote holder? Do you realize that China is protecting Sudan from UN action? China is Sudans largest oil buyer which means China is actually providing the funds for the genodice in Sudan right now and you want to make China the most powerful member of the UN? By the way the reason the US didn't stop Lebanon in the beginning was because Lebanon committed an unwarranted act of war against Isreal. While neither side acted in accordance with international law you can't simply hold Isreal to a higher standard b/c there the larger country. Lebanon started the hostilities and it isn't unreasonable to allow Isreal to finish them. Sadly innocent life was lost but then again the people by and large did vote for Hezbolla so there fate is partly there own making. Your vote count. Palestinians who voted in a terrist government don't have a right to complain when the US decides to stop GIVING them aid. Giving aid is not an obligation but there are obligations for those who recieve it and one of your obligations is that you not be a terrorist.

matt gray, mt. pleasant, sc (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 4:49 PM)

What is happening in Gaza is just another battle front for the war between secular islam and fundamentalist ISLAM just like in Afghanistan.The best chance to end the war on terror is for the Muslim community to stand up to the fundamentalists.It has to be done by relatively non-dictatorial regimes like Palestine and Afghanistan becuase the other regimes like Egypt and Syria make the man in the street have to choose between dictators and the fundmentalists and that is being between a rock and hard place.US policy has contributed mightily to this dilemna by supporting dictators in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.No wonder the people hate us.Our high falutin democratic mantras are seen for exactly what they are...a way to establish a foothold in those oil rich regimes that have not been friendly to us.Why havent we thrown out the royal family in SAUDI Arabia? Are they any more democratic then Saddam Hussein was?No but we are on good terms with them....we want their oil and they want us to prop them up. It is a base canard that the palestine -ISRAEL problem is the key to a peaceful Mideast.What you are seeing in Iraq and Palestine and LEBANON is only the tip of the iceberg of the conflagration that will consume the Muslim countries in th ecoming decades.In fact the ONLY thing upon which the Muslims can agree is their hatred of Israel.I have no doubt that contrary to their rhetoric the governments of Saudi Arabia ,Egypt,Jordan,United Arab Emirates,and Syria would be quaking in their boots if there was ever a solution becuase then their people would turn inward and start asking uncomfortable questions about how they are governed. The true Arab concern for the palestinians is reflected in the fact that beore 1967,Gaza was part of Egypt and the West Bank was part of JORDAN.Where was all of the talk of a palestinian state then?

davi,Baltimore (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 5:09 PM)

How is it that a mere 60 years later, the world has already forgotten. today's palestinians, lebanese, iranians and syrians are yesterday's nazis. those that want to wipe israel off the face off the earth are the same as those who came up with the final solution. the world cowared at hitler and let his cancerous ideology grow into a movement that brought the entire planet into battle. by allowing the palestinians, lebanese, and their supporters in iran and syria to continue to verbally and physically attack the jewish state because it is the jewish state is shocking a mere 60 years after the world's most painfully learned lesson. we are told about moderate palestinians and yet none have stood up. abbas's own al aqsa terror group that has been fighting against hamas for him, today blew up an israeli bakery. where are the real moderates? were are all those palestinians that should represent the friendly, peaceful side of palestinian politics? in israel moods change and as a result governemnts are reshuffled; often to represent right wing, left wing and all those in between. there is no such spectrum in palestinian culture. there are the those that want to destroy the jews today and those that want to do it yesterday. i am sickened to see the reactions of the palestinian family of this bomber that murdered three israelis today. they are proud, they are willing to sacrifice more of their family to kill more jews. distgusting. in israel, if a soldier or civilian deliberately kills innocent palestinians like todays bomber deliberately killed jews, the israeli populace is outraged and the perpitrator is held fully accountable. could any mother out there really say what this palestinian terrorists mother said - that she wishes that all of her kids die this way? what is unfathomable to anyone else in the western world is instinctual to the palestinians and their friends. i pray that we dont let history repeat itself - its almost too late.

jay, dc (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 5:54 PM)

go Davi, The UN is horribly corrupt and it couldn't have been clearer than when Kofi Annan tried to get the Arab nations to stop condemning Israel so much, and he was repudiated by them. Secondly, the palestinian arab factions have been warring and yet no one has been claiming the pity of the loss of life,now. The fact that Iran has been getting away with nuclear fuel refining, and horribly derogatory staements towards Israel and the Jews. The fact that a leader from a sovereign state wishes that another sovereign state were off the map. Mahmoud Achmenedjad is literally talking genocide and the world is blowing him off as a lunatic, he is serious, we should treat him as the criminal that he is.

Jesse Breitbart Newtown, PA (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 6:37 PM)

If people in Palestine set and think about what their doing to each other and stop being led blindly to the slaughter Palestinians would actually have a country they can call their own. But having a country for the Palestinians is not in the best interest for the Iranians. But like the old saying goes "Money talks and BS walks" and guess who wins? Yes the Iranians because they got more than money they got brutality called "insiders" or "executioners" in short "punishers". Iranians is the one power United States has been unable to defeat and now with the Saddam out of the way they are going to do what they always wanted to do and that is to make Israel a parking lot. And yes who cares about Palestinians after all they are Sunnis and they are expendable!!!

Eric Oregon (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:58 AM)

Eric from Oregon. Wake up. DO you believe the "death squads" in Iraq are actually tied to IRAN?? You would be shocked if you new the truth, (Israel, U.S. British origins). The Western Powers are orchastrating the chaos you see in Palestine, and nafariously so.

Aron Johnson (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 3:18 PM)

The media needs to take a good long look at itself. Many people are distrustful of what is written or talked about by the media - because they see the media as having agendas. As far as photographs - even those can be staged - what good is a photograph if the audience does not believe its authenticity?

Victor, Oklahoma City (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:53 PM)

The media needs to take a good long look at itself. Many people are distrustful of what is written or talked about by the media - because they see the media as having agendas. As far as photographs - even those can be staged - what good is a photograph if the audience does not believe its authenticity?

Victor, Oklahoma City (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:54 PM)

Chris-there is an international force under UN control. Funded mainly by the US (just like the UN). Armed mainly by the US. Staffed mainly by the US. Please explain to me why : #1 Why we would want to give any more power to historically the most corrupt and ineffective political communities on the planet, and #2 Why we would want to commit any more troops to combat than are necessary due to the current war. The US is lucky that way. Condemned if we do try to help, condemned if we don't.

Tyler D. Walnut Creek, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 6:10 PM)

It boils down to education. Looking at these situations in the Middle East and Africa and I see what we see in urban America. If you wake up everyday hungry and dirty what do you have to live for? Schools are a joke and for some reason we can't hold teachers accountable. So our youth, with their little or no vision decide what they can get their hands on is real. No matter how they do it. In the case of Iraq the country must be federalized and the borders need to include oild for all three groups. In the case of the palestinians they must be given the tools to try and make their own state. Whether it be more land from Israel or money from the US. We need to show the world that if there is an attempt to alleviate the problem will new ones crop up? Or will we see extremism at its core? No real direction just as long as violence can be had. At the rate it is going there will be no direction at all. There must be a concerted effort to supress the Muslim theological leadership without causing matrydom. One more thing, please do not paint Israel as this poor defensless nation that everyone picks on. They are as bruttal as their enemies and are willing to take it to a lot further limits in the name of self preservation and retaliation.

Brian (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 8:11 PM)

Blessed are we who do not fear being killed on our way to work by a teenage bomber seeking to find a way to overcome his frustrations of powerlessness. Can you imagine, in your own city, waking up each day to the news that 50-100 people were found murdered or beheaded? Such an event here would generate an overwhelming military response and no citizen would question it's authority. But what is it like to grow up where war is the norm and martyrdom is the only action that gets everyone's attention? What is the effect on that young person's perspective of reality? Regarding the escalation debate, I believe there are two unstated purposes here:1-position security forces so that new elections can be ordered to oust the impotent government and 2-Get more forces closer to IRAN.

Scott Nashville, TN (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:24 PM)

Jay - Take your head out of the sand. While I am appalled at how cheaply Muslims hold human life, your statement that Israeli's committing war crimes are held accountable has been proven wrong time and time again. The death of American Rachel Corrie by the IDF comes mind first. Then you have the actions of the Israeli's in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, etc. Can you say cluster bombs against civilian targets in violation of the Geneva Conventions. I knew you could. While I think that a country has a right to defend it self from an attack from another country, many of Israel's actions in Lebanon, (like flattening a apartment building of civilians because a missile launcher was in the area area) were blatantly against civilian targets and Israel has not been held accountable, not even by the Israel population. In the case of the apartment building, why not use a US made missile to perform a targeted destruction of the launcher and it's crew ?

John (Sent Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10:32 PM)

Lets not forget the common goal among the extreme and fundamental musmlim movement "Control of the worlds oil supply". If and when the Al Queda types spread their ideoligy to those countries with rich and plentyful oil supplies, we (international community) will be at the mercy of radical leaders like Chavez, Kim Jong-Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar al-ASAD, etc. I believe we should immediately move to illiminate our dependancy on oil from those countries which wish to threaten our seciruty and way of life. We can do this by the use of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to imediately disrupt the financial gain to those countries currently benefiting from our business. While at the sametime develop alternate sources of energy and by reducing our consumption. If we can take a man to the moon, we can surely get 300 mpg in our vehicles.

Dwight Torres, Surf City, NC (Sent Wednesday, January 31, 2007 12:26 PM)

The tragic thing here is that like the blog says, the media are not covering or reporting what is really going on in Gaza. But it is not just because there is no video. It is also because of political bias. The media wants to show Islamic violence if it serves into liberal/democratic purposes, such as hurting the President and Republicans, or making Israel look bad, i.e. Iraqi violence, Lebanon war violence last summer. But if it makes Muslims look bad, and supports the view that the Islamic extremists are violent and facist when it comes to free speech, press, human rights, racism, etc., then they don't want to cover it.

John Doe, Chicago, IL (Sent Wednesday, January 31, 2007 2:42 PM)

John Doe, Another Ill-informed human buying into the western propoganda machine. Are we all so thick we actually don't see the forest because of the tree's? Israel and America and Britian are the most inhuman, empirical organizations on the face of the planet today, these other countries are poor and without, while we (The west), continually use and abuse them for their natural resources. Israel is destroying Palestinians (genocide), and nobody seems to have a heart to care anymore. So sad. So pathetic. Where has our humanity gone?

Aaron Johnson Indiana (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 10:57 AM)

Let's face it, all these are fine points to take in, but the fact of matter is that these "people" we're up against, breed, live, strive for and admire death, not just for themselves but their children as well as their enemy, but the main problem is they have no idea even who their enemy is, if you listen what you hear is that everyone is their enemy even their own brothers and sisters. All they know is to kill for wht they want, not earning it, like a little child, they are throwing a temper tantrum that can and will have serious consiquenses for the rest of the world.

elliott, wa. (Sent Friday, February 02, 2007 7:15 PM)



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