The BBC's Gaza correspondent Ian Jonhston was finally released after 114 days in captivity. For a couple of days his live had seemed to be seriously in danger, as his kidnappers, the “Army of Islam”, belonging to Gaza's Dogmush clan threatened to kill him if their demands were not met. At one point they showed Ian in a video wearing a suicide belt. Calls from all over the world went unheeded. But in Gaza itself, something fundamental had changed.
Hamas had driven out the corrupt and treacherous Fatah elements and gained total control of the strip. Hamas wanted Ian Johnston to be free, because he had been the only foreign correspondent reporting from Gaza. Hamas began to heighten the pressure on the Dogmush, surrounding their stronghold and arresting its members. If the Dogmush had killed Johnston, Hamas would probably have eliminated the whole clan. Hamas showed that it had total power in Gaza and could wield this power to achieve its ends. Ian Jonhston was freed and warmly received by prime minister Ismail Haniyah. Hamas, the movement accused by the E.U. and the U.S. of terrorism, had freed a Western hostage. Foreign minister Mahmoud Zahhar (of the only legitimate Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyah) said security would be extended, so that foreign journalists would be free to work objectively.
Hamas surely scored a major propaganda victory, showing itself to be a responsible movement, capable to provide security and defending the rights of its people.
While Ian Johnston should never have been kidnapped in the first place and deserved to be set free a long time ago, let's not forget the tens of thousands of Palestinians kidnapped by the Israeli state and still languishing in its prisons. They are also held illegally, but the demand to set them free is a mere whisper compared to the worldwide outcry to secure Ian's freedom. (CNN: Freed BBC reporter: 'It felt like I was buried alive')
No comments:
Post a Comment