behold the dhimmise of western journalism

Staged but accurate!

Surprised? I think not.

Why would the BBC fire him for being pro-Pali? What else did he do wrong?

Well, I already shot all of my journalist-complicit-in-own-kidnapping at Jill Carroll, and I apologized for that from coast to coast. So I'll just watch this one.

Couldn't he just have gone on strike like anyone else?

It's possible that an "Arab language newspaper" could be, oh, I don't know... MAKING STUFF UP.

The BEEB was calling for his release yesterday.

Could they be in the dark? Quite funny, if so.

First, the British sailors get to sell their stories for entertainment, then we hear of reporters staging their own kidnapping.

Why are we surprised? Until the West gets serious about the War against Islamofascism, the whole thing is just a theater of the absurd anyway.

Sounds like the nurse in the plastic surgeons office here in Houston out on the East Loop (610) who had fallen behind in her paperwork, so she set some files on fire, figuring it would give her an excuse for not completing her work.

She wound up killing 3 people, and injuring several fire fighters.

#7 Izzy Dunne

Could be. But there are so many bizzarre things going on, who the hell knows! Nothing would surprize me any more.

OT: Canada loses 6 soldiers in Afghanistan to roadside IED. Nation mourns. HERE.

Oh sure...yeah, right. What would he be fired over? Being to pro-Palestinian? Give me a break. This is Arab propaganda designed to make the Palestinians not look like the ungrateful animals they happened to be.

Before taking this seriously, consider the possibility that they might be trying to absolve the "Palestinians" of responsibility for doing this.

Well, at least one Brit still has an instinct for self-preservation. Funny way of showing it, though.

"You're all racists for pointing that out! How dare you! Nazis!"

/Lgf Watch moron

OT

For all you Rosie fans... :)

[Link: www.flickr.com...]

I'd wait on this one.

Shalevet Pass wasn't shot by her mother.

"I know I'm in there, and if I don't come out, I'm coming in after me"

Must be awfully confusing working for the BBC and have all those different versions of the TRUTH to remember...lol

They really don't need reporters anymore. What with "unnamed sources" and "not authorized to comment" littering every article I read, not to mention the elusive "Jamil Hussein," why pay for what you can make up?

Far too often journos make themselves the story instead of reporting the story. Far too often journos stage a story instead of reporting the facts. This guy goes out and does both- stages a story about himself. And the msm wonders why they are losing influence.

I've been saying this all along!

Total collusion. And that goes for every other journalist that's been "kidnapped" by the Paleonazis.

All we're waiting for now is for this pathetic Islamofascist scyophant to shower us with endless stories about how wonderful the Hamastinians are.

"The BBC describes Mr Johnston as a highly experienced and respected reporter."

I assume that someone told Alan Johnston to not stage his own beheading, and to opt-out if any such option is offered.

here's one more interesting theory...
Perhaps Johnston is dead, the kidnappers accidentally killed or mortally wounded him in capture. Now they won't "release" him because they are scared sh*tless about what this would mean for their PR.
I mean, think about it. They've issued no demands, no ransom, no nothing, and have Palestinian "journalists" protesting in Gaza for his release. They may have just killed a representative of one of their most sympathetic media outlets.
Maybe the brits might actually get pissed off about this one... ?

Since British soldiers have no code of conduct, I wouldn't be surprised that Brit journalist have no conduct code, either. You really can't criticize the Euros for having violated their ethics, you know, since they have no ethical code to violate.

Reminds me of a famous scene from blazing saddles... ;~}

hmmm.. I see...
Blazing Turbans.

Cinema BabbaZee must work on this

Sorry, that may a little too obscure for some.

To clarify,

Shalevet Pass, Jewish baby in a stroller, targeted and shot by a Palestinian sniper (with a scope) while outside with her family.

The PA official newspapers reported (only after even the rest of the world was shocked) that it wasn't a Palestinian sniper, but her own mother who did it because she was embarrassed about having a retarded baby.

So the whole "kidnapped himself" may be another psychotic episode because it makes the palestinians "look bad."

Delicious.

#19 Ben Hur

I'd wait on this one.

Shalevet Pass wasn't shot by her mother.

Unless Alan Johnston is a Jew, I hardly think he need fear being killed by jihadis. He's more useful as a propaganda piece.

Can we get a sharp cool down with 50ºF (10ºC) temps and rain followed by six inches (15 cm) of snow in NYC and New England?

The 12Z GFS says not quite for NYC, and while temps don't go below 2º in Boston, critical thickness values/850 mb 0º line suggests possibly snow at a sufficient rate to accumulate, possibly even on roads, despite marginal temps.

12Z NAM says Boston right on the rain snow line, but 10 inches (25 cm) snow for Worcester quite possible. I once went to a frat party at WPI, and I saw (different shows) Wendy Williams and the Plasmatics, and Rash of Stabbings opening for The Ramones, at the Orpheum there.

If this is true, he should be fired and prosecuted, if possible.

Then again, I'm sure he'll get a book deal out of his "ordeal".

#10 Ed Mahmoud's Sock Puppet 4/09/2007 9:37:56 am PDT

Sounds like the nurse in the plastic surgeons office here in Houston out on the East Loop (610) who had fallen behind in her paperwork, so she set some files on fire, figuring it would give her an excuse for not completing her work.

She wound up killing 3 people, and injuring several fire fighters.
---

But Ed, it worked like a charm! Now she'll have PLENTY of time to eat free lunches! (albeit in prison)

So a Fake News Org - BBC - has a fake reporter who staged a fake kidnapping to stave off a very real firing.

Otay...

#31 Ed Mahmoud's Sock Puppet

Top 10 Wildest Weather in the Galaxy

Hmm... interesting. A real humdinger, if it's true. Although I'm skeptical of anything that comes from Al-Hayat. I mean really: Who gets "a notice from his superiors that he would be fired in the near future"?

Please, the Paleos are simply playing from a position of strength. We still don't know what the Iranians got for 15 British service members, but everybody knows a reporter is far more valuable then service members so they should be able to get a cool million at least. How much did Fox pay for Centanni and Wiig? And another thing the Paleos have set the exchange rate of 100 Paleos prisoners for 1 Israeli soldier so I am not sure what the exchange rate is for Brits now, although I heard the rate had gone up dramatically recently.

I don't know if I'm buying what "London-based Arab language newspaper Al-Hayat" is trying to sell here. At any rate, thank goodness the Palestininian security forces are on the case.

#26 zellmad

Maybe the brits might actually get pissed off about this one... ?

Don't hold your breath.

#27 Golem Akbar

Since British soldiers have no code of conduct, I wouldn't be surprised that Brit journalist have no conduct code, either. You really can't criticize the Euros for having violated their ethics, you know, since they have no ethical code to violate.

Did you see the protest by journalists in London? Jihadis shooting British soldiers, beheading British citizens blowing up British trains, and the BBC embeds with the enemy. Kidnap a journalist, and suddenly they're not neutral any more. By their own standards, journalists are not members of the polity of which they hold citizenship, they are a polity of their own.

If this is true, he's managed to make the sailors look like paragons of intestinal fortitude. C'mon...it's just a job! You can get another one.

Also on JPost:

Chief of the BBC's Middle East Bureau Simon Wilson told The Jerusalem Post that there was no truth in any suggestion that Johnston may have staged his kidnapping, or that the BBC was considering terminating him.

I couldn't help but smile at this allegation:

According to Al-Hayat, Johnston waited 15 minutes for his "captors" to pick him up...

Read it all here.

This goes out to Alan Johnston

Lying still;
Am I dreaming
Feel the chill
Breath of fear
Evil fingers
Hover, linger
Someone help me
Terror fills my soul.
Living dead;
Am I breathing
Sightless, blind
Heart stopped beating
Hear the crying
Of the dying
Someone help me
Terror fills my soul.

Next the Palistinians will claim those two IDF boys faked their kidnapping and subsequent vacation in Lebanon to get out of their mandatory service.

PS: As of 35 posts a full 7--nearly 1/4--are OT. Nice. My scrolling finger is inflamed. I'm-a call me a lawyuh.

#32 JammieWearingFool

If this is true, he should be fired and prosecuted, if possible.

This is a little more serious than even that. Britain initiated official diplomatic relations with Hamas in order to bring about Johnston's release.

#36 Cognito

Hmm... interesting. A real humdinger, if it's true. Although I'm skeptical of anything that comes from Al-Hayat. I mean really: Who gets "a notice from his superiors that he would be fired in the near future"?

He was posted abroad, so presumably he would be given notice that his posting would end at such and such a time. A friendly superior might give him the bad news on the quiet so he could try to find himself a new job.

Um, I'm invoking the 24 hour rule here. Long and strange way to go to keep your shitty job.
Just sayin...

#39 colt, I've leaned not to... many years ago I got very blue in the face and gave up. But there's always wishful thinking...

Maybe we could get the Italians to cough up a few million dollars for his release?

Has anyone asked Pelosi when she was visiting The Chinless Dictator what happened to the 2 IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hezb'Allah. There is a good chance he'd know.

Random thought.

#46 realwest

Long and strange way to go to keep your shitty job.

From the BBC website:

Johnston, 44, has been the BBC's correspondent in the Gaza Strip for the past three years - and the only foreign journalist from a major media organisation based in Gaza.

In other words, he's been more or less living in Gaza for three years.

[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]

#9 Squirrel

Why are we surprised by ANYTHING anymore?

#45 taxfreekiller

I get so mad when I hear apologists for illegal aliens - yes that is right ILLEGAL. Did anybody here Oreilly against Gerardo? Oreilly came unglued and rightly so. That smug, smarmy arrogant little hispanic bastard - he ought to be standing up for the side of right and not being an apologist for HIS people. If anybody has a problem with that - I hate people that break our laws and then blame us for not enforcing them. They can all go to hell - or the region of hell from whence they came - don't care which - just GTF outta here!

I regret that he has but one life to give for the BBC,

arg,

Geraldo Rivera is Jewish and Puerto Rican. Since 1989, Puerto Ricans have been incapable of being illegal aliens.

Geraldo is just taking the standard libtard position that we should welcome illegals.

Been three high profile cases of illegals with prior DWIs killing people around Houston in the last year. The real question is why they aren't deported after DWI #1.

More British grovelling ...

Luckily, this is creating a backlash among the Brits. This might turn into a positive in the end.

Palestinians knows who butters their bread

In the (absolutely awful) movie "Children of Men," there was a cute line towards the beginning of a "BBC" broadcast showing disastors around the world and the quote "Britain Soldiers On". Heh. As much as a Angliophile as I am, unless the Brits wise up and purge the BBC and most of their "intellectuals", along with their cadre of musnuts, we here in the US will be watching their demise. (Of course, we'll be following them shortly thereafter.)

Let's play a few thought games:

1) Johnston planned this 'kidnapping.' How does this exactly help Johnston? He "gets" kidnapped, could still lose his job, if not his life, and what exactly is the kidnapping supposed to do to improve things for him? Is he going to get a cut of the 'ransom?' This really doesn't pass the smell test.

2) The paper is lying and he really was kidnapped. The terrorists/thugs who have him are not above killing their captives. The last thing he's worried about is whether he's going to be fired, but whether the last sound he hears is a gun being fired or a sword coming down to hack his head from his torso.

This one is more believable since the paper may be trying to cover for the thugs who run around the territories looking for easy marks.

3) No one really knows. The paper is guessing as to motive, and don't really have a clue. He was kidnapped, but no one knows the motive or when/if he'll be released.

Speaking of released - the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap chatter continues to grow.

#54 Ed Mahmoud's Sock Puppet

Ed, my point is still valid. He is still hispanic and taking the "libtard" stance. This is just as bad as feeling sorry for the scummy killer Couey in Florida. Can you believe I commented on another blog about this guy being scum and somebody actully defended the pos? Some people just don't have a clue and never will.

Johnston gave himself up by returning to the BBC when he realized no one was looking for him.

#54 Ed

Re Gerald (Geraldo) Riviera Rivera?

BTW, there are 3 Israeli hostages...and Schalit captors want Barghouti, Saadat

I agree with lawhawk #58. What would Johnston get out of this?

I also suggest that the simplest explanation is probably the right one: he was kidnapped by some Palestinian clan thugs who want a few million dollars in ransom money. Since the families who do this sort of thing in Gaza are sitting on top of the social heap anyway, they really don't care that Johnston files reports which are just dripping with empathy about the "plight of the little people."

Here is more on the Israeli prisoners...and the murder, Barghouti.

62 Amy

Probably a piece of any ransom.

aboo #64

You mean that Johnston is looking to get a piece of any ransom paid? There really is no evidence of that.

#49 Puppet

WRT the Hizb'allah captured Israeli soldiers, they're almost certainly dead. I believe they had critical wounds at the time of capture.

Back on topic, I'm not sure which is more ironic. . .
That a BBC reporter may have staged his own kidnapping.
Or that after years of whitewashing Palestinian terrorism, the BBC is now on the receiving end of some of its own.

With kidnapping/extortion being one of the prime industries in Gaza, I don't at all find it hard to believe that Palestinians would kidnap a pro-Palestinian reporter (with or without his consent).

Its a win-win like all these fake kidnappings. They get ransom, he gets a story and sympathy.

Maybe the BBC will get a clue (though that seems unlikely).

What would the BBC reporter get out of this?

A story.
A book deal.
A credential/ veneer of credibility ("I was captured by terrorists").
A cut of the ransom money.
Sympathy.

lol @ 60

In other news: Reporter fakes his own death, next on the BBC... :(

65 Amy

A soon to be unemployed or maybe a soon to be blackballed and completely unemployable journalist, sympathetic the 'da cause.' He might but the Pals definitely need funds. And ever notice how sympathetic the Beeb is with the Pals? And not just the editors back home.

You asked a question, I provided a possible motive. Of course there's no evidence but lacking evidence is the only thing that seems plentiful.

Ask the Beeb if they've received any demands for his release. Whatever the case, somebody at Al-Hayat doesn't/didn't like him.

Goodness, this is really getting weird. First USA elected politicians sit down and have nice chats with terrorrists, and now reporters stage their own kidnapping?! What's next? Sunnis and Shias actually getting along in Iraq? THAT would be weird!

"You are our prisoner, British dog!"
"Wait. I am a BBC journalist. I am your friend."
"You lie, filthy kuffar!"
"Please listen. I am a famous television reporter. I always told the truth about the Palestinian people."
"WHAT? You told the TRUTH about us ... ? Are you quite mad? Prepare to die, infidel fool ... Allah Akbaaar!"

#28 BabbaZee

Reminds me of a famous scene from blazing saddles...

[best Cleavon Little voice]: Nobody move, or the reporter gets it!

I flashed on it exactly the same way.

}:)

All this news about Alan Johnston was absolutely stunning, and yet it didn't hit home right away - I live in the US for over 10 years: but I knew the man way back when.
I used to live in one of the places where he served earlier, Uzbekistan. Alan saw my first doc film on the ethnic Jews of Uzbekistan, introduced me to the local UNHCR, and I did two projects for them, in Tadjikistan and Afghanistan. He also narrated the second one gratis - Tadjikistan: Between War and Peace (Google video - an excerpt)... saved my filmmaking kinda sorta career... More of my apolitical politics are on YouTube (djueat, just in case, you know)
Alan's local helpers were more often than not harrassed and beaten up by plainclothesmen, all good Soviet/post-Soviet fun.
Can't believe it all would come to that: have nothing but gratitude and compassion for him.

The BBC (Bogus Broadcasting Corporation) is the best media friend the Palestinians could have where never a critical word is to be heard regarding their doings. For Johnston to have been in the Beeb's employ and living in Gaza for three years, it's probably safe to assume that he wasn't doing any exposes, like "No Massacre at Jenin" but the standard one-sided Palestinians-as-Victims pieces.

Gaza is chaotic to say the least. There's a power struggle between Hamas and Fatah supporters. Johnston may have fallen afoul of one side or some freelancing kidnapper. If the Palestinian leaders (such as they are) get wind of their useful mouthpiece temporarily silenced, he'll be freed toute de suite to publish stories about how well he was treated in captivity.

However, there remains the very real danger that meanwhile some inept lower echelon thug gets trigger happy, but then, Mr. Johnston clearly knows the risks he was running. Once wonders why he did so when he has apparently not turned out a single article that is not paint-by-the numbers. If he had, this site would have surely published them. It hardly seems worth risking one's life for boiler-plate.

For some bizarre reason, i flashed on the Geico commercial - Someone help me! - in a high pitched voice...

So, we're now forced to conclude that the BBC can't find its Johnston with both hands?