Let’s do some math: 1555, it’s 5.71 times more than 272.
1555-255= 1283.
The good thing with mathematics is that figures don’t lie; figures don’t take side; 1555 is a far greater figure than 272. It is undeniable.
And still. Still. When you shed some humanity on these figures, they lose their stone-like immutable quality, they start to dangerously falter, stumble toward the elusive, the scurvy.
1555 days and nights of incomprehension, fear, anger, hope, depression, pain, longing, screams, tears, forlornness, and pain again and again.
272 days and nights filled with the same fear and pain.
And still. Still it seems that for the French media, despite the arithmetic, 272 is a far greater figure than 1555.
Why? Because 272 is the number of days and nights so far spent in captivity by two French journalists (Stephane Taponier and Herve Guequiere) abducted by the Taliban somewhere in Afghanistan while they were trying to do their job.
Why? Because 1555 is the number of days and nights so far spent in captivity by Gilad Shalit, (who is also a French citizen), brutally abducted by the Hamas on the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Gaza while he was trying to do his job.
So what? The French international TV, TV5 monde (whose political line well reflects the main political line of the other French TV channels) has the portrait of both journalists incrusted in its screen during each news report; the portraits of both journalists are on display on the facades of numerous French town halls; demonstrations, meetings on their favor are regularly held; TV5 monde doesn’t bother displaying Gilad’s portrait on its screen; to my knowledge, the city hall of the 16th arrondissement in Paris is the only one displaying Gilad’s portrait.
Let’s go back to TV5 monde, that covers almost on a daily basis the situation in the Middle-East: last week, Mohammed Kaci (one of the regular anchormen of the TV station) interviewed the mother of a Palestinian-French citizen (Salah Hammouri) imprisoned in Israel for having tried to commit a terrorist act. Here is what, among other things, he asked her:
" - When is the last time you saw your son?
- I saw him for the last time on September 12 [2010] since I can see him twice a month for 45 mn; the visits are supervised by the Red Cross”
- How is he treated in prison?
- They are 8 by cell; he spends his time as he can; you know, in jail, there is not much to do, so he tries to read and to study.”
Oh, that’s very sad, that the mother of a convicted terrorist can only see her son twice a month and that all he can do while doing his time is read and study! It is really worth wasting some “on air” time!
Now, I would have liked these journalists to interview Aviva Shalit and ask her the same questions:
“- Aviva Shalit, when is the last time you saw your son?
To which she would probably answer: I haven’t seen him since June 2… 2006.
- How is he treated by his captors?
To which, nobody can answer. Because for Gilad, there are no visitation day, no Red Cross supervision, no packages, no letters, no medicine to be sent to. Nobody knows how he spends his time; if he is allowed to read, to study; these preoccupations even seem completely surreal applied to Gilad; for we don’t even know if he is given any basic human right, such as seeing the light; being fed regularly; being talked to…
So what?
TV5monde, as do most of the main French medias, has just proved one more time the depth of its bias when it comes to anything related to Israel. Spending time on a terrorist, deliberately ignoring the fate of Gilad Shalit and systematically inviting biased interviewees [for the French readers, see Alain Gresh’s blog, invited last week also], that seems to be one of their major missions.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t count the days for Stephane Taponier and Herve Guequiere, but we should also, in the same measure, count them for Gilad Shalit, whose detention is as unfair and as horrible as theirs.
And yet, 1555 is a far greater figure than 272. It is undeniable.
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