well here's a thought, how bout you stop kidnapping journalists?
quote:
GAZA (Reuters) -- Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in Gaza since March 12, was handed over by his Islamist captors to ruling Hamas officials on Wednesday, a Palestinian source close to negotiations for his release said.
The source and another Palestinian involved in the talks both said they saw the 45-year-old Briton being taken into the care of officials from the Hamas movement, which seized full control of Gaza three weeks ago.
"He is sitting with his colleagues from the BBC office in Gaza," one of the witnesses said. "He is talking to them and he looks fine and well."
Johnston, the only Western correspondent working full-time in the troubled coastal enclave, was the longest held of a number of foreign correspondents who have been abducted in Gaza in the past several years.
His captors called themselves the Army of Islam, an al Qaeda-inspired group with links to one of Gaza's powerful clans.
They issued Web videos showing Johnston and seeking the release of Islamists held prisoner by Britain and other states.
Most recently, after Hamas officials threatened to free him by force from the clan's stronghold, Johnston was shown wearing a suicide belt with the warning he would die if that happened.
Hamas forces earlier Tuesday surrounded an area in Gaza City inhabited by the clan where Army of Islam has the bulk of its supporters and where Hamas believed Johnston was being held.
Hamas' police called the Executive Force said it would "continue to besiege the area until British journalist Alan Johnston, who was abducted a few months ago, is freed."
Abu Mujahed of the Popular Resistance Committees told Reuters: "Efforts are under way to conclude all the remaining issues."
Originally posted by bubble
you know, sometimes i get filled with hope that the world is just, that humans are compassionate, that the wrong will do what's right,and that tomorrow will be better than today, and that everything (and i mean everything) will turn out alright. i feel like that right now.
Are we inherently good or evil?
I tend to stick to the notion we're inherently evil. No one has to teach a toddler how to misbehave correct? We lie, cheat, and steal from the time we are capable of doing it.
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Jul-04-2007 05:36
George Smiley
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2004
Location: 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, London
Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
well here's a thought, how bout you stop kidnapping journalists?
nice to see hamas might have finally concluded that too.
Did Hamas kidnap him?
Jul-04-2007 12:36
Yoepus
Neo-condimist
Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Ketchup fields, Texas
Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by George Smiley
Did Hamas kidnap him?
Not officially and as far as we know, but who really knows who is who there?
I think his point is Hamas could have done what it just did anytime in the past since the journalist was kidnapped (being in defacto control of the Gaza strip) but it chose not to. Its timing seems obvious. But always better late than never.
___________________
SAVE ZIONIST MUSTARD: BUY ZIONIST KETCHUP!
Originally posted by George Smiley
Did Hamas kidnap him?
It was Army of Islam. They have released the journalist to Hamas as of yesterday.
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Jul-04-2007 17:24
George Smiley
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2004
Location: 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, London
Re: Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by Yoepus
Not officially and as far as we know, but who really knows who is who there?
I think his point is Hamas could have done what it just did anytime in the past since the journalist was kidnapped (being in defacto control of the Gaza strip) but it chose not to. Its timing seems obvious. But always better late than never.
I'm not going to dismiss the suggestion that Hamas and the Army of Islam may have links or work together because I just don't know (altho I would say that if there were links it'd be all over the media by now)
However, Hamas were not in "de facto control" over Gaza - they have a large support base there and should have been in charge of security for the whole of Palestine but the West and Israel encouraged the Presidency (ie Fatah) to keep hold of security following their election defeat last year. Fatah remained in control of security and the clashes a few weeks ago were against one hugely unpopular Fatah commander named Mohammad Dahlan. He and his militia were the ones in control of security in Gaza, and now Hamas have taken over the job they were elected to do.
Jul-04-2007 20:00
George Smiley
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2004
Location: 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, London
Re: Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by Krypton
It was Army of Islam. They have released the journalist to Hamas as of yesterday.
Yea I know, I was questioning pkcRAISTLIN's assertion that it was actually Hamas...
Jul-04-2007 20:09
Krypton
83.798 g/6.022x10^23
Registered: Nov 2003
Location: Texas
Re: Re: Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by George Smiley
Yea I know, I was questioning pkcRAISTLIN's assertion that it was actually Hamas...
Perhaps...
Army of Islam = CIA of Hamas
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Jul-04-2007 20:20
Yoepus
Neo-condimist
Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Ketchup fields, Texas
Re: Re: Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by George Smiley
I'm not going to dismiss the suggestion that Hamas and the Army of Islam may have links or work together because I just don't know (altho I would say that if there were links it'd be all over the media by now)
However, Hamas were not in "de facto control" over Gaza - they have a large support base there and should have been in charge of security for the whole of Palestine but the West and Israel encouraged the Presidency (ie Fatah) to keep hold of security following their election defeat last year. Fatah remained in control of security and the clashes a few weeks ago were against one hugely unpopular Fatah commander named Mohammad Dahlan. He and his militia were the ones in control of security in Gaza, and now Hamas have taken over the job they were elected to do.
Wow.
___________________
SAVE ZIONIST MUSTARD: BUY ZIONIST KETCHUP!
Registered: Jan 2004
Location: 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, London
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: sick and tired of pro-israeli media?
quote:
Originally posted by Yoepus
Wow.
Cheers!
Jul-04-2007 21:30
venomX
ISO salty whenches
Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Vancouver, Canada
quote:
Originally posted by Krypton
Are we inherently good or evil?
I tend to stick to the notion we're inherently evil. No one has to teach a toddler how to misbehave correct? We lie, cheat, and steal from the time we are capable of doing it.
The reason why toddlers misbehave is a completely different one. Can you say a lion is inherently evil because it kills to eat? You can't because the lion is not a moral agent, hence it can not be good/evil. Children in general, until a certain age, have not yet fully developed morality. You can't say they are inherently evil because they have yet to grasp the concept of right and wrong. People are not inherently evil or good. We are the children of circumstance. Being good or being evil will depend on many factors, the least of which is internal predispositions. If the pope gets pissed he could get into a fight. If the most ruthless of dictators is in a good mood he may be infinitely generous.
