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2.  Where are the Foreign Journalists?

John, Nablus, Occupied West Bank

Are the Palestinian territories the only war torn place in the world
not covered by journalists? How can accurate reporting of the
conflict take place if reporters never leave Jerusalem or Ramallah -
cities that are generally safe from the harassment and violence of
every day life in the Palestinian territories?

Since I have arrived a few weeks ago, I have seen only two foreign
journalists in the West Bank. One was an independent freelance
journalist; the other, who I saw only this morning, was an elderly
Welsh woman who works with the BBC. Following their passion for
justice, they have traveled here alone and without a news crew - and
generally without institutional support. Thus in Nablus, a city of
300,000 people constantly under siege from Israeli military
incursions and violence, the occasional journalist or international
activist immediately stands out.

Last week in Jenin, for example, five internationals with the ISM
were the only foreigners in the city. There was not a single foreign
journalist to be found. In comparison to Iraq, the West Bank is
generally a safe place for both travel and work. Palestinians are
extraordinarily generous and hospitable and I, along with most
people who have spent time here, feel safer walking around here than
around many American cities.

Are the absent journalists too lazy, has the occupation gone on so
long that it is no longer eye-catching, or are they intimidated by
the Israeli government? Israel does demand the right to censor
pictures and news stories from foreign journalists, but there are
ways of reporting stories truthfully if one is willing to invest the
effort.  The BBC reporter that I met in Nablus this morning was one
such case. She has changed her name four times in the past two years
in order to be able to get into the country to work. Doing so has
allowed her to report truthfully, and escape the censorship and
strict media guidelines that Israel imposes on its reporters.

Both of the reporters that I have met are unique in that they had to
go to great lengths to even get into Nablus. Over the past month,
the city has been closed to all foreigners. This includes both human
rights activists, like ISM volunteers, as well as journalists. To
get into the city, one has to sneak in, which requires that you find
someone to show you a route that Israeli soldiers are unaware of.
These secret pathways require both car travel on some very bad
roads, as well as some challenging walking, but the trip can be
accomplished in the space of a few hours.  However, the need to use
secret pathways to get into and out of a city whose perimeter is
controlled by Israeli soldiers criminalizes the people who need or
want to travel in and out without censorship or harassment.

Two years ago in Nablus (during a period when the city was
officially "open" to foreigners and others), I stood one day next to
a BBC photographer who was reporting on an Israeli invasion
occurring that day. As they tried to walk to school, children were
being tear gassed, arrested, and beaten by Israeli soldiers. We were
both documenting the events when a soldier approached us and
demanded our film. We both refused but eventually the BBC reporter
gave up the film to the solider. I asked him why he gave in. He
responded, "If I didn't give them the film, I wouldn't be able to
work here again and it would be bad for my career". Being the only
foreign reporter in the city at that time - whose film was later
confiscated - the world was never able to witness the unbelievable
violence of Israeli soldiers towards those particular
schoolchildren.

Israel believes that its war with the Palestinians is, at least in
part, a public relations war. Government officials speak openly
about their need to control the way the conflict is represented in
the United States and Europe. People who get all of their news about
the conflict from Euro-American mainstream media will never be able
to understand this conflict. Without searching the many alternative
and independent news sites that cover the conflict here, most people
in "the West" misunderstand the conflict as either a "war between
two peoples" of ethnic, primordial, and religious hatred or,
alternatively, as an Israeli response to Palestinian violence. They
fail to understand the most elementary fact of life for people in
the occupied territories, which is that Palestinian people live
under a harsh and brutal military occupation by a foreign army. The
occupation, which today is the longest running in the world, is
rarely mentioned. As long as journalists are not willing to take a
risk and report contrary to Israeli interests or travel to areas
forbidden by the Israeli government, the world will never gain the
objectivity and knowledge which it needs in order to truly
understand this conflict, and the social injustice which it
perpetuates.
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The Launching of a New International Campaign of Sanctions Against Israel
Summary of Press conference with Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi
October 20, 2004

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/new_web/October_update_archive.htm#sanctions

 As Set Forth by Solidarity Movements in the EU Social Forum in order to
 End the Illegal Occupation of the Palestinian Territories And Enforce
 International Humanitarian Law and Relevant ICJ Resolutions
December 11 is already set aside by the UN to honor international human
 rights, and this year it will also be a day to call in a unified voice
 for sanctions against the Israeli government in order to enforce
 implementation of the ICJ decisions and other Human Rights laws adopted
 by the General Assembly of the UN.  It will be a day to show solidarity
 with the Palestinian people in Europe and throughout the world.
 In the wake of the ICJ decisions, the international community has a
 tremendous opportunity to put the Palestinian issue at the center of the
 humanitarian movement for freedom, equality, and justice.  If
 Palestinians have strong international support, they will have reason to
 believe in the effectiveness of non-violent resistance.  Such a campaign
 can show Israelis and Palestinians, and the world at large, that
 non-violent peaceful popular struggle is a viable option and a better
 option than violence.  By using moral force to level the balance of
 power between Israel and Palestine, a strong statement can be made that
 a globalized, enlightened world will no longer tolerate the abuses of
 raw power politics.

1. Suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which Israel signed to on condition that it respected human rights and international law. Because Israel is in grave breach of human rights and international law, the Agreement must be suspended.
2. Ending of all military cooperation with Israel, especially the import and export of weapons.
3. Divestment from Israeli companies and sanctions against purchasing and selling Israeli products.
4. Governmental academic non-cooperation with Israel.
The campaign also calls for Palestinian non-cooperation with the Israeli government, especially regarding the ‘Gaza Disengagement Plan,’ which only serves to turn Gaza into a giant prison while settlements are expanded in the West Bank, until there is a true and real peace process.