UN-Truth

Today, at a briefing by the IDF for journalists, held in Ashkelon, I saw Joe the Plumber in attendance. His presence does make waves — everybody has a different reaction. Some journalists wanted to interview him. One journalist , only half-jokingly, that if he came near Joe, he might want to … do something physically aggressive. The manager of the hotel where the press conference was held wanted to have his picture taken with Joe. The IDF officers around — most of whom spoke English as a first language, Hebrew as a second — also wanted to have their pictures taken with Joe.

I decided then and there: I wanted to meet Joe. I caught him as he was coming back inside from one of these photo-ops, and found him open, easy, willing to engage.

He did say that, for him, everything is black and white — there are no greys.

And, he asked me if I knew that “When Hamas took over Gaza, they destroyed the greenhouses”?
I replied that I thought it was the Palestinian Authority and its Fatah-dominated security forces who were in charge in Gaza at the time of Israel’s unilateral “Disengagement” from Gaza in August-September 2005, when “the greenhouses were destroyed”. (Hamas surprised everyone by accepting advice to participate as a political party, the Change and Reform party, in January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, then winning a majority of seats. Hamas did not actually “take over” Gaza until mid-June 2007, after several weeks of pitched battles with Fatah security — who Hamas believed were working to undermine and overthrow the Hamas-led “National Unity” government.)

Daniel Seaman, Director of the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), which is part of the Prime Minister’s Office (and which issues the all-important press cards), has apparently taken Joe the Plumber under his wing, and continues to escort him Joe during his visit here as a war correspondent for Pajamas Media TV.

I asked Danny why he was doing it, and he referred to a show on Israeli television that I’ve never seen. Then he explained that he thought Joe the Plumber would probably hold a great appeal for the average American.

Does the average American watch Pajamas TV, I wondered…

Joe hasn’t been inside Gaza during his visit here — the Israeli policy is to keep all journalists out, and only a very few selected correspondents have been allowed into Gaza as “embedded” with the IDF, and they talked only to IDF officers and soldiers.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel has filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court, asking that free access to journalists (foreign journalists, at least) be restored immediately. The press has been barred from Gaza for most of the past 2.5 months.

Joe might have been able to get a privileged place to get into Gaza, had he wanted it, but he apparently wasn’t interested.

He antagonized most of the press on his first day here (still very jet-lagged, of course) by telling them they should be ashamed of what they do … On day two of the visit, Joe said on-air that he was trying to be “a little bit more tactful”. He said what he meant on the first day, when he clashed with his media colleagues, was this: The media doesn’t need to be on the front line with the soldiers, because they’re a distraction; and, they don’t need to see what is happening every day …

Joe hasn’t been to the West Bank, either, however — though that is much more do-able.

Hell, he probably hasn’t even been to East Jerusalem.

So, I offered to take him around, in order to show him the other side of the track.

He was immediately interested, but then in a flash became cautious: “Is it dangerous?”, he asked. Most of the time, no, I told him. It’s just not nice being anywhere near checkpoints, especially if there’s a protest or demonstration brewing.

So, Joe is thinking about my invitation.

Will Joe have enough time to see the other side? Will he clear his calendar, and make time? Stay tuned …

Filed under: Blogging, Gaza, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Palestine & Palestinians