It has been two days since the release of the most recent heart-wrenching video, in which my dear friend Jill is weeping and begging for her life! Ah! I guess hope is what keeping us going. Knowing that she is still alive is enough consolation to make me keep the faith. In the mean time, the following article provides some analysis of the latest video. Here are some excerpts:
To him [a member of the Washington Post’s Iraqi staff], Jill Carroll’s white head scarf conveyed specific meaning: "He could tell by watching the video that basically she was still with the Sunnis because Shiites would never have put a white scarf on her," Spinner related. She [Washington Post reporter Jackie Spinner] noted as well that "Jill and I both wore headscarves, two-piece things that you don’t really have to hook–it’s difficult to get your scarf to look exactly how an Iraqi woman wears her scarf if you haven’t done it since you were an adolescent. So you can cheat and use these two-piece things that you just flip over your head."
But her Iraqi colleague noted that the way the scarf was tied in the latest Carroll video was "a well-known way that women scarf themselves in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad."
Source: [Editor and Publisher]
In other developments, The Jordan Times, where Jill worked for a year, ran an editorial expressing anguish following the release of the latest video:
Jill Carroll worked at The Jordan Times for one year and she certainly never appeared as someone who would cry easily. On the contrary, her inner strength was always immediately apparent to everyone crossing path with her. But last night we saw her in tears. And this filled us with anguish and anger at the same time. To her captors, we want to say: Every tear you make Jill shed is fresh shame that you bring on all Iraqis, Arabs and Muslims. By kidnapping her, you silenced one of the few pro-Arab and pro-Iraqi voices in the international press. By continuing to hold her, you are harming the Arab and Iraqi cause.
And in other media developments, Aljazeera’s general manager, Wadah Khanfar called upon Jill’s abductors to release her saying that detaining her was "unethical" and that she should be released immediately.
UPDATE: The front page of Baghdad’s New Sabah newspaper carried a public service announcement Wednesday with a picture of Jill urging her captors to free her. The headline read: "She loves Iraq. Now she needs your help." The paper also ran an editorial in which they asked for her release. Here are some excerpts:
American freelance journalist Jill Carroll, who used the name Zainab in Iraq, has been held by kidnappers since Jan. 7. Jill loves Iraq and Iraqis. She is known for her independent thinking … Everyone who has a conscience, and a faith in God and the law, cannot find any way to justify this horrible act. Her kidnapping, and ending her freedom, cannot lead to [bowing to the demands of] the leaders of the Revenge Brigades who ordered this act …
We as Iraqis join with Dr. Adnan al-Dulaimi in calling for Carroll’s release from captivity. We are sad and anguished at the attacks on the press, acts that express bitter facts and a black page in our history, and shame everyone who stands by and justifies such dirty acts. We address this, our open message, to the Revenge Brigades, to release ‘Zainab,’ Jill Carroll, in the name of God, and in the name of Iraqi honor, and in the name of Arabic and Islamic gallantry. Let her do her job or let her go to her frightened family.
Also, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has commented on efforts to free Jill. "Everything is being done to work with those who might have influence, and there are an awful lot of people who are calling for her release," she told reporters Tuesday.
UPDATE 2: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a new appeal today (in Arabic) to Middle Eastern media outlets calling for the Jill’s release. According to CAIR, the appeal was sent out to the group’s extensive media contact database throughout the Arab world. The appeal repeated the Washington-based group’s previous statement that no cause is served by targeting journalists that are trying to relate the human suffering caused by war.
My heart goes out to Jill Carol, for I think of her often and wonder what she must be going thru…may God keep her safe and release her to her family soon. What a courageous woman!!!
I just hope that Jill makes it through all this it’s weird but I have thought about her alot. I think Jill looks like a beutiful women, like a angel and she gives a bright glow everytime I see her picture. I hope this girl is safely returned home were she can continue to live her life happily and continue to glow. I was also wondering if there is ANYTHING I OR WE CAN DO for Jill if so please E-mail me(Rune48@aol.com)! back I might not return to this website? I pray for Jill Caroll and my thoughts are with her.
I am an American contractor here in Iraq. Everytime I hear about Jill Carroll it upsets me. I hope and pray for the release of her. She sounds to be a wonderful big hearted person. The next time I see her name in the news headlines I pray that there will be a photo of her back with her family.
Brent
I pray for the safe return of Jill Carol to her family.
My hope is for a world that can cope with differing views.
Kalsten
Jackie Spinner and her twin sister were interviewed on PBS the other day.They co-wrote a book about Jackie’s Iraq war coverage and her nearly being kidnapped,and I wondered if she had met Jill over there.She may have mentioned meeting her but I didn’t get to see the whole show.
do you remember this poem
Maya Angelou – I know why the caged bird sings[crys]
i had forgot till now
A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
Freedom, we pray
How about a complete high resolution+fps Quicktime / MPEG-4 copy of the original video for online distribution so that we can analyze for ourselves?!
There’s alot of talk over this (tragic) event, but not alot of primary source material being made available.
Jill Carrol abduction video: online analysis
Reporter Natasha Tynes, a friend of kidnapped freelance journalist Jill Carroll, today blogged a roundup of links to analyses of the kidnapping video aired earlier this week. “Knowing that she is still alive is enough consolation to make me keep the fa…
Jill Carrol abduction video: online analysis
Reporter Natasha Tynes, a friend of kidnapped freelance journalist Jill Carroll, today blogged a roundup of links to analyses of the kidnapping video aired earlier this week. “Knowing that she is still alive is enough consolation to make me keep the fa…
We are all hoping and praying that you friend Jill returns home safely.