Yesterday we published “A Jewish reporter in Gaza responds to Jane Eisner,” Dan Cohen’s response to a piece by Forward editor Eisner called “Why the Forward Sent a Brave Reporter to Gaza,” in which she described the decision to send their Middle East correspondent, Naomi Zeveloff, to Gaza for a three day reporting trip. Larry Cohler-Esses, an assistant managing editor at the newspaper, had this response:
I think Dan Cohen is missing some important points:
1) Naomi is Jewish and a female, which is often a different experience.
2) Dan Cohen goes in as a pro-Palestinian individual free-lance journalist who is Jewish. Naomi goes in representing an explicitly Jewish, pro-Zionist news organization. That is something with very different implications from POV of potential security issues.
3) Hamas is currently in the midst of an intense conflict w/ militants who declare their loyalty to the Islamic State.
4) Some reporters have, in fact, been kidnapped in Gaza and have remained in captivity for months, sometimes in very scary circumstances.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Alan_Johnston
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4623164,00.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-fox-news-reporters-kidnapped-in-gaza/
This is a risk Dan Cohen can evaluate on his own as an individual. The calculations for a pro-Zionist publication w/ significant resources that might be of interest to a group that declares its fealty to IS and presumably, IS’s tactics of kidnap and ransom, are totally, profoundly different.
Meanwhile, it’s a shame the conversation has been diverted to this from Naomi’s actual story, which is what counts.
Larry Cohler-Esses
Assistant managing editor, News
The Forward
Editor’s addendum: One thing that was evidently not clear to all readers: Dan is in Gaza in part on assignment/at the behest of our site, Mondoweiss.net.
If reporters have actually been kidnapped. if there really are dangers, then who are we (at MW) to pooh-pooh Forward’s fear of the same? What we should do is to read the resulting article, see who Forward’s reporter talked to, see what she experienced socially, etc. If she manages to return from her (was it 3 day?) visit w/o getting a solid information about physical damage, psychological damage, deaths and injuries, the history of Gaza since 1947, then shat was she there for? But if she does get this stuff and reports it, then what’s there to complain of (except the too-short visit and perhaps her list of people to visit).
Was Naomi wearing a shirt identifying herself as a “Jewish female, representing an explicitly Jewish, pro-Zionist news organization.”?
pffffft, Larry Cohler-Esses. Why no mention of Eisner, Larry?
(why does this remind me of Rudoren & Blitzer and their “terror tunnel” adventures?)
Wow, that response emitted so much snootiness I had to turn on the fan just to see the computer screen.
“The calculations for a pro-Zionist publication w/ significant resources that might be of interest to a group that declares its fealty to IS and presumably, IS’s tactics of kidnap and ransom, are totally, profoundly different. ”
Excuse me but when did Hamas do “fealty” to Isis, that’s just pure Israeli propaganda that Larry Cohler-Esses (what did Wodehouse say about people with three names?) repeats though it has been thoroughly disproved. Then he kinda disrespects Mondoweiss as being low hanging fruit that no self respecting terrorist would ever think about attacking. No, they would rather go after the Forward with its deep pockets.
Phil, as we say down south, he’s treating you like a red-headed step-child.
i wonder what Larry Cohler-Esses thinks of israel’s administrative detention policies. it’s much more likely someone would be kidnapped and tortured by the israeli military than by hamas.
The original piece by Dan Cohen was ridiculous and reflected the preaching to the choir prevalent here at mw. now it is a topic for whataboutery by the denizens and moderators of this web site.
but back to the fact: the original post by dan cohen was ridiculous.