Two Journalists with Children in Gaza
Journalist Wesam Yassin
Every day, journalist Wesam Yassin covers the war in Gaza for an Arab language news channel. That’s not her only job, though. A single mother, she cares for her family, too, which includes three children. Since October seventh, the day that Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel, the relentless counterattack by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) drove her and her kids to move three times. She now lives in the cramped city of Rafah dreading what may come next. She and her family have nowhere to go. Her other homes have been reduced to rubble. She only has her kids and her story.
Many people look at me suspiciously and may harm me if I report the whole truth.
Wesam is not alone. Amir Toth, a thirty-eight-year-old cameraman who spends his days by the side of Wesam and other journalists, also cares for his three kids and family as he films the carnage and starvation that has killed thousands of people on both sides of the dispute, particularly Palestinians driven from their homes by a bombing campaign that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vows to continue until he destroy Hamas, which might as well be called “mission impossible.”
Cameraman Amir Toth
Of course, all journalists covering the war in Gaza risk their lives to bring news to the public. But Wesam and Amir face double jeopardy. They work for Alhurra, an Arab language television station with strong ties to the American government. Since they are Arabs, the Israelis treat them as enemies. They could be shot and killed at any time. Their fellow Arabs harass and threaten them, too, for many Arabs know of Alhurra’s ties to America, Israel’s prime ally who supplies the Netanyahu government with the money and bombs that make their lands they cover a death trap.
Although Alhurra’s ties to America make it a prime target of false accusations that it’s a mouthpiece for U.S. foreign policy. The journalists that fill the ranks of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) represent a voice of independence in a heavily censored war. I am chairman of the board of the MBN, which runs Alhurra and other media that proudly champions America values of a free press, and free speech. Like better known outlets such as CNN or the BBC, the MBN has its faults. One of them is not following marching orders from Washington.
The Bush administration set up the MBN in 2004 to provide balanced and objective news to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region of the world where news is under the thumbs of governments and dictators. Congress funds the MBN, which by law must publish the news it produces in the MENA region in Arabic. So, few American even know of the courage and fortitude displayed every day by MBN journalists. To fill such a void, I decided to ask them a few questions about their lives and jobs. The following interviews were translated and lightly edited for clarity.
When you start work, what is the first thing you see every day?
Wesam: I check my phone to see more heartbreaking news that I’ll be reporting, which is even more heartbreaking.
Amir: The first thing I see at the beginning of the day is the crowding and randomness in everything from people’s faces to the difficult circumstances of their lives, which are not of their choice, but I always try to separate myself from these scenes until I get done.
How much freedom do you have in reporting the news?
Wesam: I have freedom to a certain point, which means we can’t report the whole truth accurately. The freedom to report whatever we see wasn’t the case either before or during the war. As journalists, we self-sensor ourselves. Unfortunately, we have many parties that may punish any journalist that is honest and real. For me personally, since I am working for an American network, I experience trouble a lot. Many people look at me suspiciously and may harm me if I report about the whole truth.
Amir: Not completely. I send a lot of news to the news team, and their confidence is high in what I’ve sent them, despite the nature of my work, the cameraman of Alhurra channel.
What is the main thing you would like America to know about this war?
Wesam: That not all Gazans are supporters of Hamas and there are many people in Gaza who are against the policies of Hamas. They are victims of a war between two parties that they have nothing to do with.
Amir: I want the American people to know that there are civilians who have nothing to do with the ugly factions that have robbed life from all parties. There are fanatics in all countries in the world, not only Gaza. There also are open-minded civilized people who love life and the exchange of cultures. Gaza is not the monopoly of the Palestinian factions. The world should know that the decision of war and conflict is not made in consultation with the people but exclusivity with a dictatorship.
What is the most tragic thing you have seen in this war?
Wesam: I have not seen anything that is non-tragic. Everything I’ve witnessed was painful and tragic.
Amir: What hurts me most to watch the difficult conditions and horror experienced by children. They were born into a mostly tribal society, backward and fanatical of dirty things that are not humane.
Do you feel you've become so used to seeing tragedy that not much shocks you anymore?
Wesam: Yes, but as much as we think that we have reached the tragedy limit, we still see even more tragic and monstrous things that shock us.
Amir: If I get used to it, it means that I am not a human being, I am against violence and killing everywhere under any circumstances and under any motive. So, I will not get used to it!
You are some of the most independent voices of journalism in Gaza. Do you feel that way?
Wesam: Absolutely.
Amir: I will tell you that, during my media studies, I’ve always worked in an institution that believes in media freedom and deals with news with balance and objectivity. Today, I work proudly with an institution that deals with news content objectively and with equilibrium. By the way, the graduate research I did at university was about the international media’s handling of the Palestinian issue, and I wrote that I was against local politicians that described any issue without neutrality and professionalism, even if I admired the community in the news.
How do you see the war ending?
Wesam:. A ceasefire will be announced without achieving anything for the Palestinians, and Gaza will enter a new stage.
Amir: I think that the war is continuing and will not stop one day, despite the periods of calm that Gaza is going through from time to time. The reason is the presence of extremists on both sides. If it ends, it will end in favor of the strongest, as it always ends.
Has the war strengthened or weakened Hamas and Sinwar (the head of Hamas in Gaza)?
Wesam: It has weakened Hamas internally and popularity wise. Less people are supporting them now, but it has made them heroes in the vision of the people living outside of Gaza.
Amir: I hope it has weakened them and I hope that all factions and organizations will disappear. I think that they have weakened despite the resonant slogans broadcast by these factions, but they are empty slogans. The existence of a state without civil institutions is nothing.
What do you tell your children or loved ones about this war?
Wesam: To have some patience because good days are coming.
Amir: I tell them now it's time to migrate from this country where there is no future, because, in my future vision, the conflict continues and will not end because of the presence of extremists.
What steps do you take to limit your exposure to danger?
Wesam:. There is no way to limit danger. Danger is all around us, it’s sudden and close.
Amir: I think that my precautions are very old. For example, I do not establish relations with members of the organizations, there is no communication, I do not publish any inciting content, and I always try to stay away from their governments. This is very difficult, but I always try to avoid the services of the government or the de facto government, and I always carry out my transactions through the Palestinian Authority. As for the level of housing, I transfer the knowledge of my surroundings and I have a permanent concern in this regard. In the end, I thank you for the fundamental questions and my answers are convinced by many who have suffered from repeated wars.
—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.