Freedom of the press - PLEASE HELP

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Shackley said:
I would suggest that Bliar's rejection of the democratically elected Hamas, his support of US efforts to punish the Palestinian people for electing what was at the time a relatively effective and corruption free Hamas and his consistent unwavering support of the Israelis has contributed to a further collapse of law and order and an environment that has made life less safe for everyone, Alan Johnston included.

Since most Palestinians seem opposed to the people who kidnapped Alan Johnston who they describe as being "nothing more than gangsters," and not linked to anyone in Palestine, I hardly think that any change in policy would be seen as rewarding the kidnappers, perhaps exactly the opposite?
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Hmm perhaps. I concede that I'm not well versed in these issues as you may infer from my absence from previous threads debating the subject of Palestine. (Why am I getting involved now then, you may ask ;))

Are you (as a Devil's advocate) suggesting that having chosen an immoral, unjust and undemocratic stance, the British Government should stick to it simply so as not to suggest that they listen to people who quite rightly do not agree with them?
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I don't know. My initial reaction would be to think that any change in policy now would lose face for Britain. I don't care how foolish Blair looks but I do care how foolish my country looks.

Incidentally is Brown likely to do anything different when he becomes PM soon? Will he be happy for the US to dictate British foreign policy in the way that Blair has been?
 
dirtydog said:
I don't know. My initial reaction would be to think that any change in policy now would lose face for Britain. I don't care how foolish Blair looks but I do care how foolish my country looks.
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Does it look any less foolish (in the longer term) for Britain to be seen as opposing democracy and Hamas' fight against corruption and inefficiency?

Would we not be seen in a more favourable light if we admitted that we were wrong, or at least if we were to be more even handed?

Do you consider that Britain looks foolish because we changed policy by abolishing slavery and hanging, because we gave the vote to women and to people who didn't own land, because we overturned legislation making homosexuality a crime?


dirtydog said:
Incidentally is Brown likely to do anything different when he becomes PM soon? Will he be happy for the US to dictate British foreign policy in the way that Blair has been?
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Probably not, likewise Cameron - c'est la vie, l'evolution est lente :(
 
Shackley said:
Do you consider that Britain looks foolish because we changed policy by abolishing slavery and hanging, because we gave the vote to women and to people who didn't own land, because we overturned legislation making homosexuality a crime?
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Not at all. It isn't a policy change that I am against but how it would look if we were seen to do it only in response to terrorists.

Anyway I take your point that Blair is not being entirely truthful when he said that he was doing all he could. He should have qualified it by saying he was doing all he could without displeasing his master in the white house.
 
I guess that the Norwegians have less to lose than Bliar in trying to work WITH the Palestinians. The Norwegian economy is not so dependent on the good will of the USA as is ours. Perhaps the Norwegians are a more independent people?
Norway has resumed direct aid to the Palestinian administration, unlike the European Union and US. In a statement on Thursday the Norwegian government said it had disbursed 60m kroner (£5m; $10m) to pay Palestinian civil servants' salaries. Norway normalised ties with the new Palestinian unity government in March - so far the only Western state to do so.
. . .
"We hope our contribution will help to alleviate the current social crisis in the Palestinian Territory, particularly for the many extended families with only one breadwinner," said Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere. "The critical situation in Gaza has many causes, but it has been exacerbated by social destitution and despair. It is therefore particularly important that the Palestinian authorities receive financial support from the international community," he said. BBC Link
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Tombo said:
I've got more important things to do that sign it.
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How true :(

Judging by your posts, playing computer games must be a tremendous drain on your valuable time, I expect that you have to make all sorts of sacrifices.
 
Just seems that this is only making there less of a chance that he'll be released, as others have pointed out.
 
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Tombo said:
Why would I,
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  • Time away from your console might allow you the time for reflection perhaps?
  • Maybe you could read some books?
  • You might even gain some insight into how other (real) people live?

I think that you should seize the opportunity to get out and about more while you still have your health and liberty :p
 
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has said the kidnappers of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston have made a new video showing him wearing an explosives belt. "In the past they showed him in an orange uniform. Today they showed him with an explosives belt round his waist," Mr Haniya said in Gaza. The video recording has not been seen in public.
. . .
Hamas has set a deadline of Monday for the kidnappers to release him. "We will not allow the continuation of the abduction of the British journalist. The issue of Alan Johnston must end," Mr Haniya said in a speech to his supporters. BBC Link
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The kidnappers of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston have renewed their threat to kill him if their demands for Muslim prisoners to be freed are not met.
. . .
"The demands are very clear," Tuesday's statement from [The Army of Islam] said - listing the names of prisoners it wants released. They include Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-born Islamic cleric who is suspected of having close links with al-Qaeda and is held by the UK government as a threat to national security. "There is no discussion or bargaining in this issue," the statement said.
. . .
Palestinian group Hamas has said it is working to free Mr Johnston. Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for Ismail Haniya, leader of Hamas and the former Palestinian prime minister, told the Associated Press news agency that Hamas officials were trying to get Mr Johnston released at the "soonest possible opportunity". BBC Link
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Let's hope that Hamas succeed :(
 
Shackley said:
Let's hope that Hamas succeed :(
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I wonder how much his value to the kidnappers has been increased with all these "free alan" activities.
Perhaps if he was considered to be of less consequence he would be less of a prize and therefore less likely to be murdered.
I wonder if these attempts to publicise his kidnapping will result in freedom or death for him.
 
The Palestinian kidnappers of the BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston yesterday reiterated their threat to murder him if their demands for the release of prisoners, including a woman who tried to blow herself up in a Jordanian hotel, were not met.

“There will be no compromise. He will either stay in captivity for 1,000 years or be slaughtered like a lamb,” the group, which calls itself the Army of Islam, said in a statement issued a day after they released footage of Johnston wearing what appeared to be a suicide bomber’s explosive belt. In the video, Johnston said that his captors would blow him up if a rescue attempt were made.

The kidnappers, [who are a branch of a renegade southern Gaza City clan who have bizarrely blamed Hamas movement and the British Government for his continued captivity], renewed their demands for the release of jihadists held in jails in Britain and Jordan.
. . .
The stream of statements, threats and demands appear to be an attempt by Johnston’s kidnappers to ward off an attack by the Islamist movement Hamas, which recently won control of the Gaza Strip in fighting with its secular rival Fatah. Times Online Link
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The greatest fear of Alan Johnston's kidnappers must be that Hamas will decide that 'enough is enough' and that Hamas will go in and get him - dead or alive.

Perhaps now would be a good time for Britain to try and work with the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people rather than trying to undermine them.
 
Shackley said:
Perhaps now would be a good time for Britain to try and work with the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people rather than trying to undermine them.
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ROFLLES :D

Now is the time for Britain to work with a group who fire rockets at their neighbours, train suicide bombers and have the stated aim of destroying Israel.

Oh yes, let's rush to "work with" people like that.......

Would you be so keen to "work with" the elected Govt of let's say the UK if the electorate voted in the BNP.......
 
Shackley said:
Perhaps now would be a good time for Britain to try and work with the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people rather than trying to undermine them.
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You mean those elected officials who just staged what is in effect a coup to remove the other elected officials who they don't agree with from power?

Hardly seems like democracy to me.
 
Diesel said:
You mean those elected officials who just staged what is in effect a coup to remove the other elected officials who they don't agree with from power?

Hardly seems like democracy to me.
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But but but those other elected officials were puppets of the west all true Palestinians hate Israel and must want all jews killed .......... /snackley
 
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