absolutely alex’s adventures & times

It is tragic every time senseless killings make the news.

It is even sadder when it involves the long-running blood feud between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

After a lull in suicide attacks by Palestinians on Israel for almost two years, the peace was shattered today by the killing of eight Jewish seminary students in Jerusalem by a gunman believed to be Palestinian or Israeli Arab.

BBC photo

The shooting also left nine others injured, three gravely. The attacker, who was reportedly working alone, was killed on the spot by an Israeli army officer. Apparently, a little-known group calling themselves the Jalil Freedom Battalions – the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza was behind the killing.

What a horrible waste of young lives this incident is. The worst thing is that it will not end here.

While families of those affected grieve, others are already demanding retaliation on the Palestinians.

The anger among the Israelis is understandable. They have already been going through a nerve-wreaking week, with the recent firing of more powerful rockets by Palestinians extremists from Gaza into Israeli towns. The Israeli army had been busy answering that by launching a raid into Gaza, resulting in over a hundred Palestinian deaths and a dangerous increase in tension.

Today’s massacre will only toughen Israeli resolve to retaliate and crush further attempts. What will follow, to the detriment of all sides, is another cycle of violence, where more deaths and sadness will result.

It is risible that the Hamas government, which is in charge of the Gaza Strip, called the shooting “heroic”.

“This is a normal response to all the Israel occupation, commission and aggression, and they [have] committed massacres inside the Gaza and West Bank – about 128 [people were] killed, 30 of them children and infants, people and elderly and [women]. So I find this is a normal response to all Israel’s occupational crimes, and waging a war against the Palestinians,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told the world unrepentantly.

And while the rest of the world sent condolences to the victims’ families and condemned the violence, Palestinians were out celebrating on the streets at the news of shooting.

When will they ever learn that their problems would not be solved by blowing themselves up or taking others’ lives?

When will they realize that violence only begets more violence and lives lost would be in vain?

With attitudes like this, there seems to be little hope in the continuation of peace talks between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Just yesterday, after talks with US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, the two had agreed to restart peace talks that had stalled in the wake of the recent violence. Though they did not say when that might happen, that now seems extremely unlikely to be anytime soon, in the wake of today’s shooting.

After constantly tightening the screw, Hamas, which now runs Gaza, has managed to get a Palestinian militant group holding BBC reporter Alan Johnston to set him free.

The Army of God had held the reporter hostage since March 12, or for nearly four months.

He was reported to be back in the BBC’s Gaza office, in good health.

Television footage showed Johnston exiting a building and entering a white car while accompanied by armed men. Johnston was handed over to the Hamas authorities.

Hamas, which beat its Palestinian rival Fatah to gain control of Gaza in June, had made freeing Johnston a top priority, vowing to “use all means to secure his life and to free him”. Two weeks ago, hopes had been running high that Johnston would be immediately released, thanks to Hamas’ insistence.

But the members of the Army of God had said they were not complying and even threatened to kill Johnston if their demand for the release of several Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are held in the UK. The Army of God even heightened fears for Johnston’s life when they showed a video of the reporter with an explosives belt strapped onto him. They had also released other videos of Johnston.

The BBC reports that on Monday, Hamas security forces had detained members of the Army of God in Gaza.

“The arrests were carried out after all negotiation attempts… failed to free the abducted journalist,” the Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement. “The arrests are targeting figures who were involved in the abduction of the journalist.”

The BBC has put an online petition on its website, urging people to sign it for Johnston’s freedom.

In what is perhaps a setback for the release of kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston, his kidnappers have gone to the media, not with news of his freedom, but with threats to kill him if their demands were not met.

Gaza-based extremist group, the Army of Islam, which had said it has held Johnston since March, denied the Hamas’ line last Friday that Johnston’s release was imminent.

Hopes had earlier been raised that Johnston might see freedom soon after Hamas took control of Gaza late last week after a week of bloody fighting with its rival Palestinian faction, Fatah.

“Freeing this detainee has not been part of any deal with any faction or organisation. What appears on television screens and through the media here and there are untrue,” an Army of Islam spokesman said on al-Jazeera television channel. “If they do not meet our demands there will be no release for that detainee and if things become more difficult … then we would seek God’s satisfaction by slaughtering this journalist.”

The Army of Islam wants the release of Islamist prisoners, in particular Palestinian-born cleric Abu Qatada, who is detained in the UK.

Hamas has been anxious to secure Johnston’s release as it tries to show the world that it is battling the lawlessness in Gaza which its says is due to the lack of good governance by Fatah. It was also a sign to the international community that Hamas had no intention of threatening or holding foreign journalists.

In many ways, this would be a test for Hamas. It is anxious to prove that it has control over Gaza and has the ability to bring a semblance of stability there, even as most predict its failure, due to Gaza’s isolation and its dwindling supplies of electricity and food. International governments have reacted to Hamas’ victory there by bolstering their support of its rival, the Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas. The US has pledged to stop its embargo against the Palestinian Authorities, while Israel had said it could work with a Palestinian government that does not have Hamas as a part of it.

Treated as a pariah state by the international community, Gaza will face much hardship in the coming weeks. It would be to Hamas’ advanatage to score a public relations victory by securing Johnston’s release.

Perhaps Hamas’ control of Gaza will yield at least one good thing — the freedom of captured BBC journalist Alan Johnston.

After a week of bitter fighting with Fatah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s forces, Hamas has gained the upper hand in Gaza. And one of the first things they have done, to their credit, is to announce that they have contacted Johnston’s kidnappers and demanded his release, according to the BBC.

Calling Mr Johnston a “guest of the Palestinian people”, a Hamas spokesman said Mr Johnston should be treated with welcome amongst the Palestinian people.

Mr Johnston went missing since the middle of March, and the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group, claims to have him, releasing a video of Mr Johnston earlier this month. In the video, Mr Johnston had said he was well-treated by his kidnappers.

The Hamas spokesman went beyond just demanding Mr Johnston’s release. He said Hamas won’t tolerate the captivity of foreign journalists.

Despite the bloodshed and power struggle, Hamas had pledged to work with President Abbas, recognizing his authority.

But the reality of the situation on the ground is more complex. Gunmen are known to be wielding the real power, not necessarily the politicians. There is no guarantee that they would follow orders from politicians.

We can only hope that Hamas will be able to enforce some form of discipline over its victorious forces in Gaza and direct them towards working to honor their pledge of freeing Johnston and ensure no more journalists are kidnapped by fringe groups.

BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who has been missing since March 12, has reportedly been kidnapped by a Gaza-based group called Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam).

In a tape submitted to the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera, the group claims they have Mr Johnston, showed his BBC work pass and demanded the release of Muslim prisoners held by the UK, specifically the release of Abu Qatana, a Palestinian-born cleric currently in British custody. According to the BBC, there isn’t much information about Jaish al-Islam other than it being a Palestinian group.

The Palestinian government says it is still working on securing Mr Johnston’s release and believes he is still alive. Here’s hoping they will soon get Mr Johnston free.

Sign the online petition to free Alan Johnston here.

Just doing my wee bit here, hopefully, to help save the life of an outstanding and compassionate fellow journalist – the BBC’s Alan Johnston.

Mr Johnston was seized while working in Gaza City on March 12, and though he is still believed to be alive, the BBC says there hasn’t been direct information on his fate.

His colleagues at the BBC, along with European parliament members, and journalists in parts of the world, are agitating or working to have him freed.

Please sign the online petition on BBC to have him freed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6518185.stm
Or you can also help by doing this http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/04/how_you_can_help.html

Here’s praying that Mr Johnston will be safe, and free, at the soonest.