A video of the BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been released by the group (army of Islam) who claim to be holding him (he was abducted on March 12th on his way home in Gaza). It's a classic Jihadist video, the captive forced into bleating out the groups rants and demands. Now i find this to be counter productive for the Palestinians. As Alan Johnston was the only reporter to live in Gaza and give an account of the Palestinians every day life. It seems the Army of Islam is a shadowy group in Gaza that is slowly gaining a hold.
If this Army of Islam had any morals they would Alan Johnston without delay, but i fear he will end up being killed (if he hasn't been already, the Army of Islam follows the idiology of Osama Bin Laden if reports i saw on the rolling news channels were accurate, i shall do some checking up later. Though i don't think there is much to go on).
Which ever view point you take on the Israel vs Palestinian issues, you cannot deny that you need journalists to report the reality's of the conflict on the ground (even if those journalists are biased in you view - don't bite my head off Tulips, i know you dislike the BBC's reporting of Israel).
I hope i'm wrong and that Alan Johnston is still alive and will be freed shortly. It will be fascinating to hear his account of the experience. Frank Gardner another BBC journalist gave a very frank (pardon the pun) account of his shooting in Saudi Arabia by millitants and his battle to regain his mobility to a certain a degree.
Journalism is our window into the various conflicts around the world. Be they political or religious conflicts. Without Journalists risking their lives we would have very little idea of whats going on. Though these days you have to check up facts like never before (due to the various agenda's the news channels have, Murdoch being the worst example of pushing an agenda through his media outlets).
