A Dangerous Job
An uncensored view from a Journalist in Gaza
Journalists typically don’t like to become part of the story. If you live and work in Gaza, the story engulfs you whether you like it or not.
Saif Alswaitti is a reporter who lives and works in the war-torn Palestinian enclave. His work appears on the Arab language news channel Alhurra, which is part of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) where I am chairman of the board.
Saif Alswaitti, pictured here in Rafah, a city in Gaza, joined the MBN at the beginning of the war during October, 2023.
By law, the MBN, which is financed by the American government, provides news to the Arab-speaking world only, and in their native language. Since few Americas can understand Arabic or see the work of the MBN, I decided to do a Question-and-Answer session with our MBN reporters to provide Americans a rare, uncensored view from the ground from journalists where war is a day-to-day reality for them and their families.
Usually, the news that flows from the war sparked by a vicious Hamas attack is heavily censored or controlled by the Israeli military. But the MBN, which was set up during the Bush administration in 2004, champions American values such as freedom of the press. The MBN, whose journalists are free to report what they see, is a government funded Arab-language non-profit organization that serves an audience of 27.4 million people in twenty-two countries in the Middle East and North Africa, a region where the factual unbiased news MBN provides is rare.
I am publishing one of these exchanges as a Q&A on my Five Ws blog, which I publish independently. Any views expressed here are not representative of U.S. government policies or those of the State Department or the United States Agency for Global Media, which oversees the MBN or of MBN itself. My goal is simply to give Americans an unvarnished, on-the-ground view of the brave and honest work of MBN journalists, with whom I’m proud to be associated.
The tragedy goes beyond death by bombing and bullets and extends to dying of hunger.
Here is the exchange I had with Saif Alswaitti, who at thirty-three, has worked with MBN as a journalist since the start of the war. The interview was lightly edited for clarity and was translated from Arabic. He is currently working in Rafah, a city near the Egyptian border that has been inundated by Palestinians displaced by the war.
When you start work, what is the first thing you see everyday?
“Before leaving for work, I bid my children and wife farewell as if it were the last time, for I do not know if I will return to them or not. Upon arriving at work, I check that my colleagues are well and review the list of victims' names in case I know one of them or have lost a dear one. I also see the lines of displaced people standing every day since morning, whether to get water or bread, or in line to receive aid. The life of the displaced has turned into queues for the mere basics of living, including treatment at the hospital's gate, where there's a line to see a general doctor amidst the shortage that the city of Rafah suffers in clinics and hospitals.”
How much freedom do you have in reporting the news?
“I enjoy freedom in conveying news of the war and its field events, though it's not absolute. There are obstacles from the displaced and locals who prefer not to appear in the media because their living conditions and dignity have been demeaned, with humiliating scenes such as lining up for toilets, which they say is degrading. Additionally, we lack freedom or rather protection from the Israeli army, which might shoot at us or target us during fieldwork. We cannot cover news from military operation areas. We only have the protection of wearing a press vest and helmet. We evacuate and exit combat zones like the displaced and other civilians without any protection.”
What is the main thing you would like America to know about this war?
“The most important thing I want America to know is that the people of Gaza were forced into this war because of Hamas's actions since October seventh and before, and that the people of Gaza love life and do not want this conflict to continue. America should also know that we want international law applied and previous agreements implemented that ensure the rights to life and statehood. Furthermore, America should understand that Israel's wars, killings, and destruction pose a much greater danger to it than to the Palestinians themselves.”
What is the most tragic thing you’ve seen in the war?
“The most tragic aspect of this war is the scenes of displacement and expulsion from our homes and the children who lost their parents. The tragedy goes beyond death by bombing and bullets and extends to dying of hunger. The cries we heard from northern Gaza due to famine are extremely painful. Another scene of real tragedy is if you ask any Palestinian in Gaza what their dream and ambition are now, the only answer is to leave Gaza and travel abroad, which falls under the category of population displacement after witnessing the devastation, death, and hunger.”
Do you feel you’ve become so used to seeing tragedy that not much shocks you anymore?
“I try to avoid watching devastating footage as much as possible. I am human and have feelings, and any devastating scene affects me deeply. However, I try to hold myself together as a journalist and convey the event no matter how difficult. One of the hardest scenes is seeing displaced people shocked by what happened, losing their family, and being the only survivor, wishing for death.”
You represent an independent voice of journalism in Gaza. Do you feel that you are uncensored?
“Yes, I feel independent as I convey the event neutrally and professionally, focusing on the citizen's life and humanity.”
How do you see this war ending?
“I believe the war will take more time, and we may have several months ahead. This war will bring many surprises and tragedies to the people of Gaza, and its end will not be as we wish. The war has changed much in people's lives, even their way of thinking and their forward-looking view of life. We are now in a military war, but after the cessation of fire and gunpowder, we will face a continuous living war and a long battle to emerge from the ruins on the ground and the devastation that has affected people's living, psychological, social, and familial aspects.”
Has the war strengthened or weakened Hamas or Yahya Sinwar (a Hamas leader believed to be hiding in Gaza)?
“As a journalist trying to read the events before the war started and during its developments, and between the lines of Hamas leaders' speeches, I believe Hamas has become significantly weaker militarily, politically, and popularly. Its popular base within Gaza has completely fallen, but externally, I expect its popular base has grown significantly. To completely eliminate Hamas militarily (the goal of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister) might take a long time, especially with Hamas’ strategic weapon, the tunnels. Although weakened, they still have an impact on the ground. As for Sinwar, I believe he has fallen out of favor, but he is now the main player on the field, possessing a strong and winning card: the Israeli hostages within the sector, which he controls and brandishes always.”
What do you tell your children or loved ones about the war?
“Since the war began, I have lied to my children and loved ones, telling them it will end soon. This is a terrible war in which the innocents have suffered the most and paid the ultimate price.”
What steps do you take to limit your exposure to danger?
“I avoid any place that could pose a danger to my life. When I started my journey of displacement from north to south Gaza, I initially refused to leave because I knew the neighborhood well and understood that it was a safe place without any elements from Hamas or other armed organizations. However, I was forced to move to the south. Upon arriving in the south, I began looking for a safe place, trying to gather information about where my family would stay. These procedures and search operations were followed again when I displaced to Rafah. I try to stay at home or work without moving much to minimize the risk. On the work front, wearing a vest and helmet, following the Israeli army's evacuation orders, and attempting to evacuate my wife and children out of Gaza. We await the Alhurra channel's management to decide on the evacuation of the teams amidst the looming danger to Rafah, the last shelter centers where we are located.”
—James O’Shea
James O’Shea is a longtime Chicago author and journalist who now lives in North Carolina. He is the author of several books and is the former editor of the Los Angeles Times and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. Follow Jim’s Five W’s Substack here.
Any opinions or observations in this blog are purely those of the author and do not represent the official positions of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) or of the U.S. State Department’s Agency for Global Media, which administers federal grants to the MBN.