Gaza and the Arab Media


Mohsen Alsaffar
The young Journalist, Saeed, entered into the office of the chief editor of the magazine he's been working at for the past few months. Going in, he was welcomed with honor
• My dear Saeed, you've proven yourself to be a competent journalist in a very short time.
• Thank you Sir
• And as reward I've decided to let you write our head article this issue, Gaza
• Thank you Sir, to be honest this topic interests me personally, the incidents happening in Gaza are painful to every Arab and Muslim
• Yes, yes, you are correct
• I'll start right away; it’ll be a powerful piece.
• Well done son, but before you start, just a small note....
• What is it sir?
• You know our magazine is not backed by any statesmen (people in power)
• So?
• So your article shouldn’t be critical of the Arab governments that have joined in the blockade on Gaza actively and proudly, Please don't bring any trouble to us from the Secret Service. I don't want our magazine to be accused to attempting to sour relations with neighboring countries.
• Alright sir I'll try to deal with that issue carefully I know tensions between Arab countries are high.
• Well done son, another small request
• What is it Sir?
• You know our magazine is distributed in Western Europe and the US and we don't want to be accused of supporting terrorism or be banned from distribution, please don't mention the resistance of the right of the Palestinians to defend themselves, we don't want any troubles.
• Yes sir, even though I don't understand how an unarmed nation can defending itself against a large army can be called terrorism
• Well done son, also don't get into talking about Rich Arabs and their lavish spending on singers and dancers while the people of Gaza are dying of hunger every day, you know a lot of our funding comes from ads from companies owned by these people. If they're not happy, we won't see their money anymore.
Saeed at this point was getting angry, but he held himself and asked
• Consider done sir, anything else?
• Excellent son, but I don't need to remind you, don't talk about the children of Gaza dying of hunger and disease while the Arab media is getting busy with shows of Ms Universe and the Western media is busy with a news story about a giving dog found in Iraq rights so it can live in the states. We don't want to upset animal rights groups.
• Amazing, what else?
• Nothing, that's all, thank you very much.
• Are you sure? Nothing else? Anyone else you want to warn me from upsetting?
• Well since you mention it, you know how religious debate is going on these days; we don't want to cease that from happening, maybe if you could avoid talking about the Jews and their oppression of Palestinians and destroying and insulting their holy sites?
• Yes sir,
Saeed then left the Chief Editor’s office fuming and wondering how on earth he is going to write about Gaza with all these limitations placed. Next day the Chief Editor receive this article
Gaza: A first class health resort.
The people of Gaza are living it up in style after following the advice of their doctors and following a health regiment that stipulates avoiding all types of food that raise the levels of cholesterol and blood pressure and weight, they've also stopped using all polluting elements including petrol products.
They've also decided to take up walking which is very healthy for the body, especially for old people and the handicapped and the sick and pregnant women.
Also, due to recent findings about modern medicine's harms and its effects on the body's immunity system, the people of Gaza are resorting to the healthier choice of herbal medicine.
The Men, women and children of Gaza would like to convey their warmest gratitude to all the governments and regimes who have supported the Gaza blockade that has provided such healthy living standards away from all of civilization’s harmful temptations, and they pray that God would bring this beneficial blockade to all those who contributed to it of the Arab governments, and their family and children.
They also give their heartiest apologies to the Israel government for having to use so much of its army to ensure the stoppage of all harmful elements into Gaza's health city.
• What is this Saeed? Have you gone mad?
• In fact sir, this is the reality, according to your instructions, these are essentially no blockade, and it’s just another high class holiday resort called Gaza!
Happy blockade