[Wall Street Journal] Bret Stephens - Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti described kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston as someone who "has done a lot for our cause" - not the sort of endorsement one imagines the BBC welcoming from an equivalent figure on the Israeli side. For years, the BBC had invariably covered Palestinian affairs within the context of Israel's occupation - the core truth from which all manifestations of conflict supposedly derived. Developments within Gaza following Israel's withdrawal showed the hollowness of that analysis. Domestic Palestinian politics, it turned out, were shot through with their own discontents, contradictions and divisions, not just between Hamas and Fatah but between scores of clans, gangs, factions and personalities. For now, one can only pray for Johnston's safe release. Later, the BBC might ask itself whether its own failures of prudence and judgment put its reporter's life in jeopardy.
2007-05-25 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive