Horrifying, world-changing events always have an upside. Gaza has shown Americans, as never before, the mature power of Arab journalists. Their voices are in our media to stay. Three examples. Here is the Washington Post's Abdel Kareem's stirring report on the killings of civilians in Gaza City:
"It was horrible," said Shifaa Samuni, 70, who was detained in the
family's house but fled with her grandson Monday afternoon after the
killings. She said two of her sons and three daughters-in-law were
among the dead.
"Look how much I lost," she said at al-Quds Hospital, where she was
receiving treatment for minor injuries, including wounds to her hands.
"Why? We did nothing. We are a peaceful family."
Here is AP man Ibrahim Barzak's incredible description of the destruction of his apartment and all the governing complexes he has worked in, and his father before him, in Gaza City.
Here is Ahmed Abu Hamda a producer for NPR, not holding back in his observations, on radio in Volvos and Subarus and BMWs across this great country:
I'll tell you something, my dear. Now in my flat, I'm not safe, OK?
If I go out, I'm not safe. I will choose the less threat. For example,
I had to go to the Shifa Hospital while I knew it might be risky. But
why I went there? I am a Palestinian citizen who live in Gaza Strip. In
such a crisis, I need money to bring food for my family. I have to risk
my life to provide this food for my wife, for my family. This is how we
are living here.
MICHELLE BLOCK: When you were at the hospital yesterday, who were the wounded and the killed whom you saw there?
Mr.
HAMDA: Honestly, most of what I saw were kids, women, some young guys.
But I stayed there for almost like two and a half hours, I didn't see
one single militant.
