Sunday, July 22, 2007

From Beirut, by an Israeli Journalist who Made it

This is not a fiction, this is totally true, an Israeli journalist decided to go to Beirut to cover the first commemoration of July war.Her name is Lisa Goldman and reports for Channel 10 in Israel.She managed to get in, and obviously she managed to leave... apparently she likes the city because it reminded her of Tel-Aviv!...The question is, what is the kind of feeling you can have towards such a situation... from being offended to being amazed passing by the most angry feeling one can have...that's what this video is all about, at least for us Arabs...When I first heard about this video I said to myself calmly: Let's see what is it about, but when I watched it... I felt a mixture of humiliation, insecurity, sadness and anger...If a normal israeli journalist can make it that easily to Beirut, undercover with probably just some kind of european or american passport, Isn't it time to ask ourselves what is the best way for us to feel safe? Is it a continuity of the war situation or a normalization with israel meant to make such a video report a matter of banality?...

Bachir Habib


Channel 10 report from Beirut
Uploaded by Lisang

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

i dont understand why u r so surprised / angry / insecure ?????

Anonymous said...

let's twist it then, imagine an almanar journalist reporting undercover from israel, but on tv with the same arrogance, misleading all people he s interviewing by giving them a false identity of him!... is it clean? is it safe? and how will a normal israeli citizen feel about that?

Arab Democracy said...

Insecure...yes

whatever our views on Israel are officially Lebanon and Israel are two countries at war since 1948.This lovely lady must have travelled to Lebanon on a passport issued by a Third country.
The dilemna for Lebanese authorities is that they welcome foreigners and journalists in particular but this was a blatant breach of trust.I come in as a westerner, lie about the purpose of my visit, abuse the trust of ordinary Lebanese civilians and then report in Hebrew Live to Israel.

I wonder what your views would have been had this lady been caught, arrested and jailed by Lebanese authorities.

Joseph

Anonymous said...

what exactly are you enoted about, nothing in the report is particularly controversial, she says nothing bad about lebanon and if anything paints Lebanon in a good way.

Why would it matter where she is from ? Surely you are not afraid of words or of Individuals?

Maybe if you looked at her and her report you would see that not only have you nothing to fear but that she is not unlike many Lebanese people and that even she recogniswd how alike Tel Aviv abd Beirut are or how alike Damascus and Jerusalem are.

Having other people report form you country is a good thing and should be welcomed not cause fear or annoyance

? said...

Quel est l’impact d’un tel reportage sur la population israélienne et sur la population libanaise ?

Comment un Libanais peut-il décrire son vécu face à ce reportage qui apparemment a suscité pas mal de polémique ?

Une journaliste israélienne a décidé de faire un reportage sur le Liban plus spécifiquement en se centrant sur la ville de Beyrouth connu pour ses fêtes, ville qui ne dort jamais et qui accueille « l’ennemi » à bras ouvert sans même demander son appartenance ; alors la je me pose la question suivante :
Au début du reportage, le Liban a été décrit comme étant un pays sectaire peut être, il y a une part de vérité dans cette affirmation mais le faite d’accueillir une journaliste, un étranger lui parler ouvertement sommes-nous réellement sectaires ? n’oublions pas le paradoxe libanais malgré son brassage religieux et culturel nous avons toujours été ouvert aux autres. Contrairement à d’autre.

Ce qui me frappe dans ce reportage c’est la référence à une identification commune face a l’insécurité, mais aussi face à une réelle menace de guerre nouvelle. Tiens donc la guerre, il en a été question dans ce petit reportage mais quelle drôle d’image, la guerre n’a pas eu lieu à Beyrouth et dans son centre ville MAIS AU SUD DU LIBAN. Et dans sa banlieue. A t-on omis une partie de la vérité ? mais surtout pourquoi ?
Ce centre ville est vide comme on nous l’a filmé mais est-ce une conséquence directe de cette guerre meurtrière ? des derniers évènements ? ou est ce que le reportage a été filmé à 6h du matin ?

Une image peut dire tout ce qu’on veut lui faire dire et la placer dans le contexte que nous souhaitons. (facile !)

Enfin, est ce un moyen ou plutôt une tentative d’identification du peuple israélien au peuple libanais que cette chaîne a tenté de montrer ? si c’est le cas, je ne pense pas que cette tentative a réussi. Ces deux peuples sont recroquevillés sur leurs malheurs sur le passé et sur les pertes vécus mais chacun à sa manière et chacun dans son histoire. La souffrance ne se mesure pas par le nombre croissant de mort il y a eu beaucoup de mort… Beaucoup trop de sacrifice surtout du côté libanais dans ce conflit. Il n’est plus question de la 2e guerre mondiale mais bien évidemment de notre histoire contemporaine commune.

Voilà ce que j’ai à dire en ce moment présent faites tous les reportages sur ce pays sous de vraies identités ou de fausses identités. Je me demande si un Libanais ose frauder pour faire un reportage pareil engendrera-il une nouvelle guerre ?
Un Israélien qui ose braver un tel interdit est admiré par le monde entier si un Libanais ose faire ça il sera probablement traité de terroriste et /ou d’espion !


Dur dur, de rester objective quand passion et frustration s’emmêlent….

Vive la liberté

Arab Democracy said...

I will respond in English for the benefit of most readers but I've read Karine's excellent response in French as well.

The reason for posting this video is to enable such a discussion. I have my personal views just like everyone else and they might differ from other contributors at Arabdemocracy.

I think at a time when every country including Israel, the US and most European Countries treat the issue of border security in a hysterical manner I wonder why the Lebanese should not be at least worried that an Israeli journalist entered the country in a fraudulent manner.

i would welcome Miss Goldman anytime in the future when issues are resolved between our two countries and she is willing to accept me as a tourist in Tel Aviv. Until then I think her behaviour is merely sensationalist, irresponsible and does not do anything for peace or the reputation of Lebanon.

Lets be clear again...this lady lied about who she was working for when she interviewed people.She misled them. Would that be acceptable in any western country?

She might have made a scoop but I am not impressed.

Joseph

Anonymous said...

Joseph,

I will answer u through some facts

1. Arab channels have reporters in Israel and have israeli guests on their talk shows (Arabiya, Jazeera...)

2. Even Al Manar have correspondents in the occupied territories (am not sure if they do have any behind the green line).

3. Border security has nothing to do with communication between the two countries. I mean today with the Internet u can communicate with Israel live... (i think u can even do so by phone / fax...)

4. Many journalists r free lancers who sell their stories to any media outlet who is interested in buying. Also, many of them work for news agencies (Reuters...) who supply any media outlet that is interested in buying.


Suppose that goldman didnt carry and israeli passport at all but still worked for an israeli TV channel, would u have the same position?

Illitch

Bachir said...

Dear Illitch,
I will, by respect, leave it to joseph to answer your comment, but there's a huge lack of precision in what you're saying about tv channels, agencies and freelance journalists... we'll meet again after joe's reply to your post.
cheers
bachir

Arab Democracy said...

Again I dont know the exact details of which channels report from the occupied territories and using which reporters. I doubt that any Lebanese media outlet has regular correspondents in Isrel proper.I could be wrong.

I think Illitch this is still besides the point I was making. If this woman had interviewed you under the pretense that she was working for a European TV then broadcasted your views on Israeli TV compromising your safety and hers you might feel differently.

Anyway. Its all done now but Miss Goldman's behaviour will lead to more suspicion of foreigners and journalists in particular which will actually compromise fair and honest reporting of the situation in lebanon.

Joseph

Anonymous said...

Joseph - Did she in fact act under false pretense? Throughout her presentation on Israel's Channel 2, she kept referring to her friends in Lebanon. Could they have had an influence in easing her entry to Lebanon?

Bear in mind that while both Israelis and Lebanese, especially politicians, are barred from traveling to each others countries, it is always possible to travel to Beirut, Jerusalem, or Tel Aviv by land.

Since I believe it is always about perspectives, I'd like to take this conversation to another level. It is understandable to recognize the frustration of some vis-à-vis the lack of security at Lebanese borders, sea, and air accesses and the fact that an Israeli journalist was able to report from Beirut about the economic and political situations in Lebanon given the role Israel played in the 2006 war. However, if national security and safety breech is equated to the successful endeavor of an Israeli journalist to enter Lebanese territory–allegedly-illegally, what do we call the rise of radicalism in Palestinian camps throughout the country and their access to illegal weapons through various means including Syria and Saudi Arabian money? Also why is normalizing relations with Israel so taboo and something of a failure to “us Arabs”?

Marwan-

Dr.Mad said...

well i have mixed feelings about this story, to start with i do agree with Joe it is wrong to interview people without revealing the identity of the journalist and the TV network, maybe Bashir has something to say about that.
now about the security part, yeah it is true that this story shows how border security could be breached so easily, but i think that this is just the tip of the iceberg. we have known about this story because it was a report for TV channel, but i am pretty sure that there are far more dangerous security leaks in all the region, since the people who are responsible of protecting our borders are very busy protecting themselves

Bachir said...

well i agree with many things that have been said here, and disagree with many others.
first of all i think we have to look at this event from two different levels. with the eyes of an outsider, this story can only look like a piece of good journalism, a brave journalist who accepted to work and report from an area considered very dangerous for her.
In this very superficial case, yes it can look like a good report.
BUT if we look at it from where i think it should considered, and if i want to look at it as a lebanese, many things i can say here:
1- yes i do share the insecurity feeling. the reason is the following: if it is that easy for an israeli journalist to do it, how easy is it then to the secret services that carry different identities, knowing how trained they are and how logistically prepared... when i think about all that, yes i do feel insecure... it is not at all a matter of principle of not accepting an israeli reporter covering beirut, it's the fact no one figured out she was here that worried me!
2 - the matter of securing borders, i see it differently guys, i think "physical" borders are nowadays a kind of joke. what i mean is that the virtual era killed the physical borders, for example, can we imagine hezbollah that efficient without an access to monitoring all israeli reports and being able to follow what's happening inside israel without the internet for example, or without the 24hrs tv broadcasting? would hassan nasrallah have succeeded in making the bombing of the israeli warship a perfect scoop without 24hrs television? ps: the israelis watched the warship on fire as we did and at the same time!...
3 - as a lebanese, i felt goldman was very arrogant in the way she reported. for someone who s not aware of the real situation, it might look "nice" that she talked about her lebanese friends and showed a nice face of the country.
i really wonder how friendly the people she talked to would have been friendly to her if she told them she was israeli. what i m kind of sure of is that the taxi driver would have dropped at the first police station. THERE IS NO DOUBT SHE HID HER IDENTITY...
4 – Even if the 21st century is an open space with practically no borders, there are still a “modus operandi” setting the rules of a conflict, these rules have been violated, and by principle, it is worrying in terms of future usage of journalists and journalism by third parties for political or intelligence means…
5 – this one is for illitch: no there are no arab reporters from arab countries that have not signed peace with Israel allowed into Israeli land.
The bbc Arabic radio, al jazeera, al arabiya and others use arab Israelis, or Egyptians or Jordanians or Palestinians to report from their heartland.
And for the other way, never an Arabic channel had an Israeli guest or spokesman without having on the spot someone to challenge him, and this was not the case on the channel 10 report. And please let’s not be simplistic regarding that matter because it's very misleading….
Finally regarding freelancers, I have never seen an Israeli journalist selling a report in hebrew to an arab media, neither an Israeli (not arab israli) commissioned by an arab media for whatever report…and the difference we have to make here with freelancers, is for example the Iraqi scene, where it is more than risky to work, then local journalists do the job. another example is war zones. here, a foreign or local journalist or photograph can sell to different media if he s a freelancer, this is only because theconflict or event is top news, and every piece or picture is welcome, so the channels, newspapers, magazines radios and websites buy everything on the market… and it s here set by the rules of offer and demand… a real market with real competition.
Sorry for being that long but i think the subject deserves it.
Cheers
bachir

Anonymous said...

Again - you claim no one knew she was here, you don't know that.

In the larger scheme of things, your concerns appear delayed and somewhat blow out of proportion given the influx of weapons to the country through Syria, the degree of lawlessness at the palestinian refugee camps accross the country, and the wave of assassinations since 2005.

Ms. Goldman, really is just the type of the iceberg

Marwan-

Arab Democracy said...

Your repeating the 1980s discourse Marwan. While West Beirut justified every Syrian behaviour by the fact that the Israelis occupation took priority the Christians ignored Israeli actions in the name of resistance against Syria.

I dont think Bashir believes that the situation would be under control if it wasnt for Ms Goldman (I wish she would join the discussion by the way...that would surely take it to the next level!)but the discussion was centered on whether what she did was a good or bad thing for Lebanon, peace,Journalism, her career etc.

So which one is it?

Joseph

Anonymous said...

Joseph/Bashir - Steering away from conspiracy therories for lack of evidence (there's much that could be said concerning the message behind Ms. Goldman's reporting from Beirut), I would however say this, at the surface, Goldman's "gig" is more of a sensational act if you will that would certainly serve to advance her career, Channel 10, and fascinate the many that consider Lebanon a very dangerous zone, primarily Israelis. I don't know if this was intentionally meant to serve Lebanon as a whole or what it means in terms of journalistic integrity.

My firs5 concern is regarding Bashir's argument that because of this "breech" we should now feels insecure. Especially that we are not clear if Ms. Goldman reached Beirut through deception or if this happened under the government's watch. My second concern is with regards to his comment regarding us arabs normalizing relations with Israel. Some Arab nations have established full diplomatic contact with Isreal, those that have not should do so - if they choose to - based on their national interest no the whole Middle East.

Ma teghlat ya Joe, I am definitely not repeating the discourse of 1980, I am not taking sides at the expense of Lebanon's security.

Marwan-

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone, Lisa Goldman here. Pity no-one invited me to join the conversation; I actually found the link while idly looking through Technorati.

I'd like to address a few of the concerns and misconceptions regarding my report for Channel 10.

First, I do wish that I could have openly told everyone I met that I was doing a report for Israeli television. Unfortunately, however, that was impossible: by doing so I would have endangered their lives and my own. However, I did stay as close to the truth as possible. I was born and raised in Canada, so I am indeed a Canadian citizen with a Canadian passport. I have been an Israeli citizen for only six years. I used my real name, I told everyone the name of the European newspaper I work for, and I also said I was a freelance journalist - which is true.

I did not have help from any Lebanese in entering Beirut. I bought a ticket from a travel agent in Amman, and I booked my hotel room by calling directly from Tel Aviv. I found my way around the city using the Zawarib Beirut City Atlas, which I purchased at a local bookshop.

I did know some Lebanese via the Internet, but none of them knew I was coming in advance of my arrival. I contacted a couple of them the internet after I arrived in Lebanon. We met socially, in public places, and the only "help" they offered was basic tourist information such as how much to pay for a taxi ride and how much to leave for a tip in a restaurant. They did not guide me, and they did not offer any additional information - nor did I ask for any. Before my trip, however, I did consult with a couple of European and American journalists who once reported from Beirut about interesting places to see and dangerous places to avoid.

I am surprised and disappointed at the expressions of "humiliation" expressed on this thread. Why humiliation? I did not say anything negative about Lebanon or Lebanese. I did not try to trick anyone, either. After I spent a week in Beirut as a tourist I realized that Israelis were very ignorant of normal, middle class life in Beirut and the immediate environs. I happen to think ignorance perpetuates hatred and conflicts, so when Channel 10 asked if I'd like to return for 36 hours in order to prepare a report, I saw that as an opportunity to give Israelis a different picture than the one they saw via footage from the wire services - footage of destruction and extremism.

The only reason anyone outside of Israel knows about my report is because Al Manar decided to broadcast it, and Al Jazeera picked up on the report. I noticed that neither An Nahar nor l’Orient de Jour mentioned the report at all. Contrary to the claims of AM and AJ, I did not enter Beirut illegally. As noted by communications minister Ghazi Aridi, I left Lebanon on 10 July; since my report was broadcast on 11 July, it's obvious that I did not broadcast live from Beirut.

I would also like to point out that Al Manar, LBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiyya and pretty much every other Arab news outlet have correspondents in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Yes, the local correspondents are Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, but so what? How is it different to have a Canadian journalist reporting for Israeli television in Beirut? And yes, Israelis do write for newspapers such as Al Hayyat and Al Sharq Al Awsat.

As a matter of fact, I have met three Lebanese citizens in Tel Aviv. One is a businessman who has a blog called Perpetual Refugee (he and I did not meet when I was in Lebanon), and the other two are journalists. One reported from Israel during the war for a major European news outlet, and has family in Beirut. All have non-Lebanese passports, but their place of birth is noted as Lebanon.

As for the concerns about security – really, I do think that is a red herring. If an LBC reporter who was born in Canada entered Israel via Ben Gurion Airport using his Canadian passport, there would be no reason to deny him a visa. Once inside the country he would have to pass through security checks in order to visit places like the Knesset or military zones, but that is a different matter and those security checks apply to everyone – even Israeli citizens. I did not attempt to enter any military zones in Lebanon. I did not enter the parliament buildings and I did not interview politicians. And, as a previous commenter noted, the real security problem is on the porous Syrian border – not at the airport.

More questions? Fire away! I'll do my best to answer.

Arab Democracy said...

Dear Lisa

I am glad you joined the conversation (I did say that in an earlier post).

From my perspective it was not the content of the report that I found uncomfortable. What you reported on the Lebanese Middle Class 'way of life' is not new to Israelis who have visited Lebanon. Usually on the back of Merkava tanks or in their dealings with this or that Lebanese faction.

The question is about the Lebanese sensitivities that your have disregarded through your action. This is a country that has had its borders, its skyes and its cities repeatedly overun by The Israeli Defense Forces (1969, 1973, 1978, 1982 etc). It is true that others have done it but this is not the point of this conversation.

I appreciate your efforts to spread Love and Understanding throughout the Middle East and your courage (some would say recklesness) to put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation to do your job but you have used a method to enter the country probably used by many Israeli spies in the past(You will agree with me that Israel does spy on Lebanon). Many foreigners who happen to be Jewish have visited Lebanon and will still do despite the hostility (unacceptable to me) of sections of the population. What you did will counterproductivelly make the Lebanese think twice before they speak or befriend a foreign journalist.

Finally our countries are OFFICIALLY AT WAR SINCE 1948 (this has nothing to do with Hizbollah)and there are very real grievances with Israel that will not be resolved unless a just and honorable peace is reached. Until then I am not welcome in Tel Aviv and Israeli Journalists are not welcome in Beirut.The rest is open for discussion.

Regards

J.E.

Anonymous said...

Well, J.E., if that's the way you feel then I guess there's no point in continuing. I thought this was a conversation, not a blame game or an opportunity to re-hash hackneyed old political narratives. I was hoping we could get beyond that, but - oh well... Tant pis.

Cheers,

Lisa

Arab Democracy said...

I thought the point of your trip to Beirut was to try understanding the Lebanese mindset.I gave my personal opinion,shared by many, and with which no doubt other Lebanese will disagree.
But that is not acceptable to you!

What I find interesting about Israelis is their insistance on ignoring the harsh incomfortable truth that they have 'upset' the Arabs. Lisa , cosmetic solutions and all the goodwill on both sides will not bring us peace. Facing up to our history and our responsibilities will.

J.E.

Anonymous said...

Nope, J.E., you misunderstand me.

My problem is not with your expressing your opinion (with which the many Lebanese who have taken the trouble to write me do actually disagree), but rather with the following:

1. You did not address any of the points I made in my original comment - e.g.,the one about correspondents representing media outlets in so-called "enemy states", including Lebanon (and, by the way, Syria) reporting freely from Israel;

2. You asked some pretty silly questions - e.g., do I agree that Israel spies on Lebanon. I suppose so, but how would I know and what's that got to do with my report or this thread? I'm a journalist, not a spy. And since I have been to the Israel-Lebanon border on several occasions, and have seen the Hezbollah listening posts (technology courtesy of Iran),just a few hundred metres away from the Israeli listening posts (courtesy of the USA), I guess it's a fair bet to assume that Hezbollah and Israel spy on one another;

3. The generalizations: "What I find interesting about Israelis is their insistence on ignoring the harsh uncomfortable truth that they have 'upset' the Arabs." Huh? Which Israelis? Have you ever met any? Because you're not talking about me, and you're not talking about any Israelis I know.

Look, J.E. I don't see the politicians doing much to stop the Middle East's rush toward self-destruction. So I really have no idea what you are talking about when you mention cosmetic solutions. Mea culpas won't bring peace, but acknowledging that there's plenty of blame to spread around on both sides, as well as the individual humanity of one another, might be a step in the right direction.

Also, you might want to check out the posts I wrote during the summer war - just to get an idea of where I'm coming from before you start attacking me. I don't know where you were during the war, but I spent a fair chunk of it alternately ducking katyushas and attending funerals. And guess what? I still don't see any point in being angry.

Arab Democracy said...

Lisa

The reason why I did not respond in details to your individual points is that most had been covered by previous commentators before you joined.

1-I will leave it for others who know more about the subject of foreign correspondants in Israel to respond on this issue.

2- My point about spies wasnt 'silly' at least not to those reponsible of security matters.You did put yourself at risk

3- I have met Israelis in different circumstances and found them to be a diverse group with a range of opinions. Nonetheless you cant deny that the views that Israel is 'a small country isolated in a hostile sea of angry irrational Arabs' is not a widely held view in Israeli society.

4-I have no doubt that Israelis suffered in last summer's war but so did the Lebanese and so do the Palestinians on a daily basis.There is now way to measure and compare suffering.

5-I agree with you on the individual humanity issue.But as I said earlier goodwill alone is not enough. We need to tackle the real issues head-on.

Finally I dont want to turn this is into a confrontation between you and me. This is not my intention nor the purpose of arademocracy.I do apologise for sounding harsh in my first post but I am usually direct. I am very pleased to read your opinion and hope you will continue to contribute to this site on this issue and others.

J.E

Anonymous said...

Hello Lisa and J.E

Let us got back to the report. I think it would be more constructive
1- You were right Lisa, arabs and israelis have correspondants with european passports even if they are at war.
2- As a journalist, I believe in the name of the freedom of the press, that we journalists should have the right to report from any war zone to give as you said both parties involved in the battle the other side of the story
3- The real problem I have with the report Lisa did was: first that she wasn't able to show more the contradiction or the diversity ( depending on how the audience will see it) Lebanese experience: extremism Vs bay watch, ideology Vs tolerance and freedom of behavior and finally culture of death Vs culture of life
4- Why Lisa was not able to show it ? because she wasn't allowed to cross Hezbollah checkpoints. What is the purpose behind having Lisa show the destruction in dahyeh and south lebanon with people partying next door? to show israelis how much lebanese love life despite the despair and saddness the july war has caused: lebanese are not monsters, july war was a desaster on both sides : Israel and lebanon!
4- what is the morality behind all those remarks? : Lisa if you want to come and report in beirut, make sure some european ( non israelis) for exemple go report in the south and in dahyeh: get the real feeling of the people, the children, and then, mix your report with the report of the european journalist: at least, from a journalis point of view you would have had the full picture. there is no need in coming to beirut, doing all this effort, covering half of the story and saying to channel 10 that hezbollah people google every journalist and this is why you couldn't report in their region: you know the obstacles, deal with them and find your way out. Good luck
zalfa chehab

Anonymous said...

Dear Lisa,

First of all, I will do my best to make my self-clear while i am writing in English cuz i usually write in French.

I don’t have any problem that u have done a report in Lebanon. The problem is that many of us felt that u lied on your identity while interviewing people.

But what I can understand is the hardness of your job as a journalist in this part of this world as well for a Lebanese journalist in israel. But the difference as an Israeli journalist if u had a problem in Lebanon all the international community will be offended or chocked and for a Lebanese journalist if anything happens there no one will do anything for him or worse he will be accused of spying and terrorism.
Plus, unfortunately to do a report as u said the person must have a double nationality so he can access the country: illusion of liberty as a journalist?

To be honest I was surprised when I saw the report. I was positively surprised cuz this the 1rst I see images of my country that are not focusing on the hizbulla area and other as I am used to see in Europe or on western channels.

But my problem with your report is why u named your report one year after the war and u were talking about the war while the filming was in the downtown Beirut. U knows better then me that the conflict wasn’t there!
Don’t u think the fact that the film doesn’t show the reality one year after the war? The destruction is massive in south Lebanon, as u knows. I don’t see the link between the images and the title. I know the Israeli people have suffered also from this violent situation that became an absurdity.
But the consequences of the war are far away from the reality that u wanted to show.
If u want to talk about Lebanon why not simply to do a report to show that we are similar.

If your aims is to show that Lebanese people are not familiar with security question and vulnerability and it’s new I think it is an error.

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding between the two population Lebanese and Israeli we are ignorant about each other plus intolerant. Plus the political situation doesn’t help anyone to be tolerant.
I am sure about one thing if you were not an Israeli report no one will say anything and most probably no one will be mentioning this report.

But u have to understand something our pain and frustration from Israeli politics doesn’t help us to be tolerant as the Israeli population.





K

Anonymous said...

Hi all,
Well the idea of posting lisa's report was not to judge it professionally, the existence of this report is a matter of fact now, and it’s again a matter of fact that people have the right to feel about it… yes, they can be happy, satidfied, they can see it as a very courageous step, and still, there are others who may feel angry, disappointed, others who might see it as a violation, and others who might again feel insecure!....
Again, what I’m going to stress on here is the danger, Lisa, you may have done your work as you have been asked, but, I think the people who appeared in your report are now in danger, they may have trouble now because they appeared in your report, and yes they will feel betrayed by you not giving them the real details about where this report was going to be broadcasted.
I mean if your report was to some print or radio, there would not have been any problem… it happens, it happened, and it will happen… but I think and that’s my personal view, the idea of a tv report was arrogant!...
Second, just to correct a confusion in your report.
At the entrance of dahye there is no checkpoint, and with your Canadian identity you could have gone to dahye, with not any problem… the only dangerous place, would have been what they call the security perimeter, and there, u will not have found any checkpoint, and not any armed men… if u were close to that area, some civilian might have come politely to ask you what u re doing here, he would have asked you about your identity, the media you work for, and even here, you could have risk it, but it would have been really dangerous if they really google names… I mean, and it’s a fact your family name inspires googling!...
But this would have only been in the security perimeter that is maybe 1/10 of dahye.
Anyway,
What I don’t like about your discussion with JE is the fact u re feeling offended… I mean your report and people have the right to be offended or angry, and yes I share joe’s anger big time, and I m not only angry towards you, I m angry as well towards the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, and the Lebanese authorities in general who declare that the country is in war with Israel and at the same time not assuming this conflict.
I would have loved that report to be a normal one, a pure banality, as said in the introduction to your video report on our blog. But the fact is that it is not a banality and it can never be… again it s a matter of fact!
About the issue of reporting: well I have made a long post, you replied partly to it…and still some confusions have to be clarified.
1- Al Manar or any Lebanese tv station have no correspondents in Israel, they do have in the Palestinian territories.
2- As I said in an earlier comment, pan arab stations have Israeli guests, but they bring someone on the spot to comment live or by phone to what they say, this was not the case in your report.
3- Regarding what is written in Al hayat or Al sharq el awssat, yes, arab Israelis do write, and they re welcome, well azm bishara and Muhammad barake are always welcome in the arab and Lebanese press. Even Hassan nasrallah made apologies to arab Israelis when his katyushias were falling in Israel. And by the way, we post on this blog articles from the Israeli press, as all other arab websites and papers do!...
4- Have you met an arab journalist with a foreign passport how long has he been retained for questioning when arriving to ben gourioun airport, only because he has an arab name… (that wasn’t your case at Beirut airport as I can see, and that s good)… and trust me, I know people who waited for more than an hour to have their passport back, and from these Egyptians and Jordanians and Palestinians…I won’t be long on that….

I would like to finish by saying that this virtual space is meant to be one where ideas are exchanged, and where hate has no place and no one really wants to know how many funerals you attended, and I will not tell you how many each of us Lebanese did… and I hope we’ll stay away from the “holocaust like” debate, after all, this website was made by people living beyond frontiers, by people JJ Rouseau described in a smart way by then as “citizen of the world”.

Anyway guys, keep on debating, and Lisa, please try to stay cool, and don’t take it personal, because there is nothing personal here, we’re just feeling about your report!... And I’m still angry!....

Last word to Zalfa, yes it’s a pity lisa didn’t go to burj el brajneh and haret hreik to film a young shia lady wearing a miniskirt and a very nice décolleté walking side by side with another one wearing a chadore… that would have been a nice picture that would have raised some interesting comments in Israel!... no lisa?

And finally, all of this is bringing to my memory a couple of lines by L.Cohen, and that’s to finish:

“Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died”

Anonymous said...

I don't understand what everybody is nervous about!

I live in Beirut, and I absolutely dont'y feel insecure because Lisa Goldman entered Lebanon!
After all, LBC have Amale Shehade in Tel Aviv, and great for them also.

What I really feel insecure is from the Lebanese living inside Lebanon. If we where stronger and more united (Lebanese and more generally, we Arabs) we would absolutely feel no need to be afraid of Lisa Goldman the journalist.

If she came in to spy, and managed to get out then all I can say is Bravo. Hopefully, one day Lebanese will be able to cheer at the "legend" of a Lebanese spy entering Israel.

Till then, let's stop blaming the others for our insecurity, our real problem is us Lebanese...

Jihad

Arab Democracy said...

Dear Jihad

I dont know if there is really an issue of blame here.I am not one of those who blame Israel for all of Lebanon's plight. I agree with you that the Lebanese have only themselves to blame and only when they realise it will we be able to move forward.

My criticism of Lisa was elsewhere and related more to her claims that she contributed to peace and understanding through her visit and is promoting 'the real Lebanon'.Following my dicussion with her on this website I watched a video she posted on her blog of her appearance on Israeli TV.I encourage you and others to watch it and judge for yourselves the motivation and the reactions to her scoop.She has clearly made a name for herself and appeared on US networks but as far as peace and understanding are concerned we have not moved one inch forward.

http://ontheface.blogware.com/

Regards

J.E.

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