Journalist Interview Bomb Building Celebrity In Gaza

One of the jobs of a journalist is to interview celebrities, which would explain why Slate has an interview of al-Aqsa bomb builder Abu Saif by Sharon Weinberger

It wasn't so much Google Earth that had brought me to Abu Saif, but rumors that Gaza's rocket men were importing new technology, including guided missiles, to target Israel.

Rocket makers enjoy an air of mystery, and to meet Abu Saif (a nom de guerre, meaning the "father of Saif"), I was instructed to drive down a specific street in central Gaza City, where a young man jumped into the car and guided us to the meeting point. With electricity available for only a few hours a day in parts of Gaza City, we stumbled up several flights of a darkened stairwell illuminated only by our cell phones.


In 2008, when rockets were raining down on southern Israel, journalists would frequently visit the "factories," where militants would make the crudely built weapons, called Qassams, named after the militant wing of Hamas. Lately, however, the rocket-making business has slowed (militants these days abide by an uneasy cease-fire made by Gaza's notoriously fractious militant groups), and my meeting with Abu Saif took place in a small room of an apartment decorated with an orange floral print and a matching plastic orange flower arrangement; as we spoke a young child cried in the background.

Sounds the potential for a new show: Lifestyles Of The Murderous And Deadly.

Of course, the terrorists know that they are attracting media attention:

In some ways, rocket making has almost become an extreme form of reality television, with the militants understanding that playing to the cameras is as important as, or perhaps more important than, actually launching rockets. Groups like the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades regularly film semiscripted home videos, complete with dramatic editing and cheap sets.

The point is not that "rocket making has almost become an extreme form of reality television"--the point is that the media is giving the terrorist media attention and free publicity--a fact that Abu Saif uses to his advantage:

Abu Saif offered to show me a video his group had shot for Al Jazeera English the week before. (He also insisted on videotaping our interview.) We sat quietly for about half an hour watching the tape, which showed the rocket makers preparing the propellant and then integrating it with the shrapnel-filled body. (A single rocket takes about 25 minutes to construct.) Abu Saif wouldn't discuss the details of the ingredients.

And like every celebrity, Abu Saif talked about a new debut:

Yet lately it appears things may have evolved even beyond the unguided Grad. In April, militants launched into Israel what was reported to be a laser-guided missile, which struck a school bus. When asked if the militant groups were indeed on the cusp of employing a new technology, Abu Saif was coy, saying only that when the right time came, they would make an announcement.

But the point is that the media has taken on a very obliging role.

Not only do the terrorist get to inspire terror, that get publicity for their actions. If anything, the journalist who interview these terrorists give these Arabs an aura of credibility, reinforcing the idea that these are not terrorists out to kill civilians, but "freedom fighters".

Perhaps even worse, these journalists themselves may have convinced themselves of this.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas.