How We Witness This War

Writing this post somewhere over the Atlantic en route to the United States with a few European newspapers spread around me, I can’t help but wonder what Americans are being told, or what they truly know about the disaster that is unfolding in Gaza. My original intention when I opened my laptop was to create a massive list of Human Rights violations, war crimes, and links to the articles I have just read highlighting the ongoing and irrefutable evidence of Israeli war crimes that are occurring all over Gaza - and have been for almost 3 weeks.

However, there is something about long-haul flights that prohibits the obvious and begs deeper consideration of the greater situation at hand and what as modern world citizens we are witnessing - and perhaps more urgently, how we are witnessing it.

I have been fortunate enough to have been granted access to two major newsroom broadcast centres in the past few years - CNN’s kinetic news floor in Atlanta, and the sombre and always proud newsroom of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar.  I often juxtapose the stark difference between these two newsrooms as a larger metaphor for their divergent approaches to journalism and media responsibility.

The comparison is not difficult - CNN remaining firmly an ‘American’ news source with reporters camped well outside of Gaza (alongside almost every news organization in the world) - and Al Jazeera, deeply embedded within Gaza and providing the  most accurate picture of what is actually happening inside the heart of the conflict. But the metaphor extends well past access, with the nuances of the newsrooms providing a small glimpse into the greater (and divergent) approach to the trade.

In the Atlanta newsroom, you would be forgiven for believing you had stepped onto a Hollywood film set, with stylists, make-up artists, and yes, even a hairspray-attendent on call to adjust the appearance of the news-readers at any (and every) possible break. In Doha, by contrast, the feel is very technical (with plenty of lights and equipment) but given the relentless pace of their task, there is an unmistakable air of calm - of deep purpose. So laid back are the Al Jazeera presenters and support staff, that I was amazed I was even witnessing a live broadcast. Even more amazing when one considers the (now proven) military targeting of Al Jazeera offices in Baghdad and Kabul that makes even working in the Doha office a plausible hazard. As I walked around the Al Jazeera complex in Qatar, I was repeatedly struck by the devotion to journalism that is evident at almost every turn (from the quotes stenciled on the walls - including comments from Gandhi and Bob Dylan) to the outdoor monument to fallen journalists from around the world, proudly perched between the English and Arabic broadcast centres.

Media is about presentation. It is about appearance and delivery. It is also about journalism - a vocation while often (and easily) denigrated by outliers such as paparazzi and the tabloid press - remains a very necessary force for both good and evil.

As I cross the Atlantic and tonight will be watching CNN, Fox News or similar, I know the American people will not be receiving the entire story about the crisis in Gaza, much less the history of the conflict which is so crucial to understanding its solution. Rather, the sound-bites and news flashes I will witness will be choreographed, finely-tuned to fit within 90 or 120-second windows, and metaphorically, covered in make-up and hairspray. None of the raw images, the unrehearsed stories and desperate appeals - however disconcerting - will be allowed.

As we in Europe protest, and enjoy a wide array of press dispatches from across a broad spectrum of classically ‘conservative’ to overtly ‘liberal’ sources, our leaders remain hand-strung to truly voice what most of Europe is feeling about Gaza - fearing a stark departure from U.S. Foreign Policy, and carefully plotting the best path forward with a new administration only 4 days away.

So as citizens, where does the real power lie? Unfortunately not with Europeans, but most certainly in the hands of American citizens. We have seen the UN fail conclusively over the past week, issuing Resolution Order 1860, which aside from making a few news bytes, has done little to change Israel’s course in the war on Gaza. We have also seen a number of European leaders ‘demand’ an immediate ceasefire, calls that have been met with outright disdain from an Israeli leadership who have absolutely no fear of international criticism, save that heretofore un-voiced by America. With the full and blind support of the United States (a phrase that is even more poignant when one considers the media available to ordinary Americans), Israel will never back down from its desire to eradicate Hamas, regardless of the mounting civilian casualties and clear violations of human rights we know is occurring. The key is the United States, and the power rests firmly in the hands of its citizens.

We have witnessed a unity in America over the past year that has taken even the harshest cynics by surprise. The election of Barack Obama proved Americans can not only galvanize toward a new direction, but can swiftly act when a decisive moment is at hand.

And never has that been more required than right now.

I will keep an open mind this weekend as I thumb through the New York Times and Washington Post, hoping to find commentary or opinion pieces that match the European mood. But I cannot hold out hope that Americans will learn the truth about Gaza, its history, and most importantly, their vital place in stopping the bloodshed from CNN or Fox or ABC or NBC. Without news organizations such as Al Jazeera (which most Americans unfairly connect to images of Bin Laden crouched in a cave wagging an ominous finger at the U.S.), the truth will be very hard to come by here.

So perhaps this is a job for all of us.

If you see an American today, please pass this on. I intend to keep very busy doing just that over the next few days.