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Monday 25 June 2007

Alan Johnston

You may have noticed a recent addition to my sidebar - the Alan Johnston button. Mr. Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent, was abducted on his way home from work on 12 March 2006. His captors today released a film of him wearing an explosives belt.

Mr Johnston's abduction is all the more senseless when one considers that he was the only resident Western journalist in Gaza, deciding to stay on in spite of heightened security risks and when all other correspondents left the territory. He believed that the people of Gaza deserved an impartial media presence to report on stories as they happened and from the region. And because of his integrity he's now being used by an extremist group to attempt to achieve its own dubious ends.

If you too want to express your indignation and your support for Mr Johnston and his family, find out how here.

2 comments:

StormRider said...

Hi Lis. I was just chanting and praying for his safety and victory this morning when I read about him last night.

And here you've added him to your blog! Our frequencies must be pretty close. :)

While chanting, the face and image of slained journalist Daniel Pearl appeared in my mind. They both met an identical predicament, and certainly displayed superhuman strengths in those trying times.

As Mariane Pearl put it, "journalism can be worthwhile and that on occasion, it can be worth dying for."

Lis of the North said...

Hi Stormrider,
Indeed, "great minds think alike"!
I certainly hope that Mr Johnston's story does not end the same way as that of Daniel Pearl. It disappoints me so much to think that his selfless choice to remain in Gaza was his weakness and led to his capture.
In Europe, journalists are very often spoken of with some measure of scorn (many of them aren't worthy of any better), but people like Alan Johnston and Daniel Pearl are truly courageous people. Thanks to them, we are less ignorant.
Best wishes to you!
Lis