Great Moments in Optimism

Perchance to feel:

More than 600 BBC journalists led by the director general, Mark Thompson, joined vigils for kidnapped Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston across London this afternoon.

Some 500 staff left their desks at Television Centre while 100 World Service members demonstrated their support at Bush House.

Seeming to resort to the supernatural, the very idea has the air of a séance. When one starts to believe that having empathy and good intentions will cause barbarians to change their ways, then you are indeed proving that you’re out of options, and that the concept stinks – that is, if you can admit that the world isn’t always what you hope it is and have a Plan B.

Fearing for their lives, European Union monitors stationed at the Rafah Crossing that connects the Gaza Strip and Egypt have asked the defense establishment for help in drawing up escape routes from Gaza...

...The third proposal, which was accepted by the EU monitors, was to make a dash for the Gaza security fence that separates Israel from Gaza, where they would be rescued by the IDF.

"They want to know that we will help them escape if the need arises," the defense official said. "Their concerns are understandable if you take into account the large number of threats they face."

Then again, with such great aspirations of peace and love among the innocent and downtrodden that the same mass of humanity holding vigil is willing to promote through their reporting, such a thing hardly seems necessary.