Vigil-Auntie

At roughly 1315 UTC, at the same time the BBC was having an on-air "silent vigil" for the release of kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, a clan member of the group holding him had his head blown off by masked men.

Munir Dughmush was shot while standing outside a building in Gaza City's Zaitoun neighborhood, sources in the Gaza Strip said. They said masked gunmen opened fire at him, killing him instantly.

Following the incident, foreign journalists were advised to stay away from the Gaza Strip for fear of reprisal.

They recently said they were willing to talk about releasing Johnson.

How then does a highly influential subculture of fantasists with moral uncertainty and journalism degrees defend its’ own against another highly influential subculture of fantasists with amoral tactics and small arms? It doesn’t.

I‘m sure those who participated in the big BBC-staffer group hug believed that their vigils, websites, sign-bearing, and pot-banging will somehow appeal to the compassion of those who hold Johnston and get him released. This would only be possible if there was a way in Gazan militant society to actually act with compassion (if one was capable of it), and even yet not get shot by someone else if you try.
All their “campaigning” has done is raise the man's stock. The more of a pointless a stink they make about Johnston’s captivity, the more he's worth as a captive.

Which brings us to the the accompanying photo. Journalists without borders who seem to want to conceal their identity to even show empathy for one of their kidnapped fellow journalists. Even if they are just kids imagining their hearts are with him - Indeed they’re displaying the fear that they themselves have sewn by the over-reporting and giving too much importance and credence to the causes of Johnston’s captors. If they had enough self-awareness to see how screwy their tack is generally, they could let themselves seek the aide of the Israelis for the sake of Johnston’s life, even if it would undermine their rather fake “neutrality” of having to temper their reporting because of their vulnerability to the violence they would be exposed to.

Go figure.