{"id":32890,"date":"2024-05-03T07:37:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T05:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=32890"},"modified":"2024-05-03T07:37:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T05:37:28","slug":"bloodied-dispatches-ahmed-isselmou-on-the-gaza-carnage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/bloodied-dispatches-ahmed-isselmou-on-the-gaza-carnage\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloodied Dispatches\u2014Ahmed Isselmou on the Gaza Carnage"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Middle East\u2019s best-known news channel in the Middle East, Al-Jazeera, grapples with the unending death toll of Palestinians and its correspondents in Gaza.<\/span><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ahmed Isselmou
\n<\/span><\/h4>\n

Translated by Rana Asfour<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In late March 2011, during the revolt against the Gaddafi regime in Nalut, a city in the far west of Libya, I found myself hiding in a house under the watchful guard of Libyan militants. It was 3:30 in the morning, and the night was dark. Following a violent knock on the door, one of the guards rose up at the ready and looked out the window. Upon recognizing his colleague, he opened the door. A voice could be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notify Ahmed that the bodies have arrived at the hospital. I can secure admission to the morgue if he moves immediately.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The guard didn\u2019t need to tell me. Dressed in only a thin pair of pajamas, I was ready to go, wondering whether my camera\u2019s battery was sufficiently charged.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Less than ten minutes later, I had my first direct encounter with death.<\/span><\/p>\n

The morgue worker opened the refrigerator doors, uncovering gray bags that held what remained of the dismembered bodies. Out of the seven corpses, not one body was fully intact. It suddenly dawned on me that I was the only journalist with access to this mess and it was my responsibility to ensure the images reached the channel I was working for as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

An hour later, these images appeared on people\u2019s screens, and the world saw what I had witnessed. It was at that moment horror seized me.<\/span><\/p>\n

That brief meeting was just the beginning of my many subsequent encounters with the dead. In the past 13 years, witnessing a lifeless body nearly every day has become routine for those working for major news channels in the Arab world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I offer this experience as a prelude to something more dreadful.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Days of Bitter Tears<\/h4>\n

On July 15, 2014, I arrived in the Qatari capital, Doha, to take Al-Jazeera\u2019s entrance exam. I had come from Dubai, where I worked at a rival channel. At that time, Israel’s war on Gaza was at its peak, and Al-Jazeera’s coverage was one of the main reasons I accepted the offer, when it came, to work for the channel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly ten years later, as the Editor-in-chief of news bulletins at Al-Jazeera, I am responsible for the morning editorial team. Though the title may sound impressive, it is offset by the fact that each day begins with tragic tidings.<\/span> I come from a Bedouin Mauritanian background, where popular mythology suggests that whatever you start your day with, you will end it with. As such we tend to avoid unsettling events in the morning. However, the work culture in Arab newsrooms is far removed from these traditional beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of my job, I have numerous responsibilities that involve assigning stories and working with various editorial teams. This means that I am obliged to review every video clip or photo we receive from reporters, news agencies, and open sources to determine its suitability for broadcast.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the October 7 war on Gaza approaching its eighth month, the task of choosing the appropriate media material for the region\u2019s most viewed channel is proving a psychologically tortuous task.<\/span><\/p>\n

The video clips that have surfaced from the genocide committed against the people of Gaza, casualties of the Israeli war, have undeniably left a profound impact on all who have seen them. However, unlike regular viewers and social media users who have the freedom to ignore or avoid these disturbing images, journalists cannot simply look the other way.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most difficult days for my team was when Israeli forces initially stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in mid-November. The initial pictures displayed the disintegrated body parts of children scattered throughout the corridors and among tents that had housed thousands of displaced individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n

On that day, I had six journalists working with me and time was of the essence. A woman journalist was assigned the task of blurring parts of images that showed spilled blood, severe wounds, or amputated organs. This process is time-consuming as each frame of the material needs to be examined separately to ensure that nothing broadcast on the screen contradicts the network\u2019s editorial policy, which stipulates respect for human dignity.<\/span><\/p>\n

I left my colleague with instructions regarding each video clip, while I turned to deal with other matters. Minutes later, I returned to find that she was not at her desk. I was in a rush to upload the material on screen due to the worldwide attention the medical complex was receiving which, later, turned out to be inaccurate propaganda. I heard faint sobbing from behind the desk. My colleague was struggling to hold back her tears and catch her breath.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could you assign these videos to someone else? I can\u2019t go on watching them, she said.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I assigned the task to another colleague, but they too couldn\u2019t process the pictures. They were unable to control their loud sobbing. I assigned a third colleague; she clicked on the first image and screamed. A child, its brain spilling out beside it, had her scrambling out of the newsroom to the bathroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

My task was to absorb the panic and horror that was spreading among the members of our team. I talked about how crucial it was to respect each other\u2019s feelings as colleagues, and I emphasized that we all had the right to express our emotions without fear of being judged or facing negative consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, I assisted the video editor in processing the images. Unfortunately, it was a re-run of what had transpired earlier with my colleagues. This scenario has played out repeatedly during this war. As journalists, we have no choice but to endure psychological damage in order to reveal the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n