BBC Reports on Gaza Freedom Flotilla

May 30th, 2010 § 1 Comment

A boat dedicated to American ISM activist Rachel Corrie who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while protesting against the demolition of a Palestinian home.

Whether or not the boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla arrive safely in Gaza, they will have at least achieved the difficult feat of catching the attention of the mainstream press, something which every activist action for Gaza should be aimed at. Jon Donnison of the BBC reported on the boats yesterday and followed up with another report today. It’s obvious that the content of the second report has been influenced by higher-ups who were likely angered by the low amount of bias Donnison showed towards Israel yesterday, but at least there is a second report. In the clip below Donnison even counters another BBC commentator’s argument that the aid isn’t necessary by adding that despite Israel’s claims, the United Nations reports that Gaza is getting less than a quarter of what it actually needs for normal survival standards.

The idea that everything is okay, just fine in Gaza, is simply not true. It’s not uncommon to see young people sifting through rubble to try and recycle bits of old concrete, such is the shortage of construction materials to allow people to rebuild.

Is Donnison’s reporting perfect? The answer is no, but he is operating within an extremely confined power structure and he and other mainstream reporters and outlets need evidence that viewers want increased, accurate reporting on Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories. For now, Israeli spin doctors are trying to write off this activist action as a political ploy or security threat, but anyone with eyes can assess the reality of the situation for themselves, and the uninformed public often requires a mainstream lens to do that with.

Gaza is recognized as the world’s largest “open-air prison” and this flotilla can’t change the situation for the long term, but what it can do is wake up the world to the point of asking why activists from around the world continue to face-off with one of the world’s top most brutal armies when others like them have lost their lives while doing so.