by Natasha Tynes | Feb 14, 2006 | Jill Carroll
Here is a quick Jill update from the Christian Science Monitor:
Sattam Hameed Farhan al-Gaood, a former senior official in Saddam Hussein’s regime, made an appeal in Jordan today for the release of journalist Jill Carroll. Mr. Gaood, who was released in December after an extended period in US detention, stated that he is profoundly opposed to the US occupation of Iraq. But he called for Jill’s release "to prove that the resistance does not kill innocents." "Upon the request of Jill Carroll’s family who called on us to contribute to release their daughter, I have already taken serious steps and am doing the best I can in this respect," Mr. Gaood said.
"I find myself in a position that can’t be ignored, because the appeal came from a mother and a father and not from a bunch of occupiers … I call upon you in the name of Islam and the honor that is characteristic of Muslims and Arabs, and remind you that forgiveness is a duty … I as your brother have been asked to help, and if you think that I am worthy, then please respond to my appeal."
Hope is what is keeping me going these days. In spite of the latest deadline set by the kidnappers, I have not lost hope. I still wholeheartedly believe that I will see Jill … and soon, real soon.
UPDATE: Here is another update from the Monitor:
On Tuesday, Al Iraqiya, one of Iraq’s most watched TV stations, began carrying a public service video calling for the release of Jill Carroll. The spot reminds viewers of Jill’s love for Iraq and includes interviews with Iraqis who talk about their concern for Jill, saying they’ve come to feel as if she’s one of their daughters. The televised announcement is part of an ongoing campaign by the Iraqi media to support efforts to free Jill.
There are two versions of the public service video. The shorter version portrays Iraqis and Jill’s mother Mary Beth Carroll appealing for her release. The longer one incorporates an emotional appeal from Adnan al-Dulaimi, the influential Sunni Arab politician Jill had been hoping to interview on the morning of her abduction, speaking of how deeply distressed he’s been left by Jill’s abduction. Several other major Iraqi TV stations have indicated they intend to run the public service announcement in the coming days.
Source: [CSM]
UPDATE 2: Veteran Aljazeera anchor Mohmamad Kreishan asked for Jill’s release in an editorial (in Arabic) published in the pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi. The gist of his commentary is that kidnapping journalists is wrong generally and that, in partciular, Jill is known for her love of her profession, her dedication to her job, and as someone who sought to convey the daily sufferings of Iraqis. He also commended her work, saying she is not like those "hotel journalists" that stay in their hotels and rarely venture outside to get the story. He ended his editorial by appealing to the kidnappers to release Jill, saying otherwise "her blood will turn into a curse on you and on the whole country, which is something we do not want to happen, neither to you nor to the country."
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 10, 2006 | Jill Carroll
Reuters has just released some breaking news from Al Rai TV in Kuwait in the last few minutes. According to Al Rai, the kidnappers say they will carry out a threat to kill Jill unless their demands are met by a Feb. 26 deadline. The station is citing sources that are "close to her captors."
Kidnappers holding U.S. journalist Jill Carroll say they will carry out a threat to kill her unless their demands are met by a Feb. 26 deadline, Kuwait’s Al Rai TV said on Friday, citing sources close to her captors. In response to a question from Reuters, Al Rai chairman Jassem Boodai declined to specify the kidnappers’ demands … "The demands are specific. We have passed them on to the authorities," Boodai told Reuters.
Source: [Reuters]
Previously Jill said the group was demanding the release of all female detainees held in Iraq and then five were released, but US and Iraqi officials denied any quid pro quo. 450 detainees were released over the last 48 hours in Iraq, but none were women. It is unclear from this statement if there are additional demands and it’s unclear what was in the letter Jill mentioned she was providing in her 9 Feb. video statement. As of today, 10 February 2006, Jill has been held captive 35 days!
UPDATE: Reuters has provided an additional piece of information from Al Rai in an updated version of that same report that indicates that Jill is being kept in the capital with other women:
The private television station said sources reported Carroll was being held in a house in Baghdad along with other women. In the video aired on Thursday by Al Rai, Carroll, 28, was shown wearing a headscarf and apparently composed and in good health — unlike a previous video in which she was distraught.
This was detailed a bit further in a quote from the Associated Press: "People close to the kidnappers told the private TV channel earlier Friday that Carroll is "in a safe house owned by one of the kidnappers in downtown Baghdad with a group of women," Jassem Boudai told The Associated Press."
UPDATE 2: This Associated Press report is quite insightful regarding the media movement that’s occurred with this latest tape. It also adds some additional information and provides one of the best analysis articles about the use of media in this whole terrible mess, confirming the fact that Aljazeera exercised considerable editorial control over release of the tapes so as not to provide an open mic to whomsoever perpetrates these actions. In other words, as mentioned before, there was audio on the tapes preceeding this one, but they chose not to air it.
But, as the story highlights, smaller outfits, like Al Rai, have an interest in putting these things out there to make a name for themselves, acting as a conduit for ner-do-wells. Also of note: the off-the-record Jazeera employee who confirmed that there was mention made of "letters" being sent in the other two videos. Here’s the story in full:
Carroll’s Iraqi kidnappers change channels in bid for more prominence
By Paul Garwood
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – Kidnappers of journalist Jill Carroll have chosen a new TV station to broadcast their videotapes in a bid to promote their demands more effectively and increase pressure on the U.S. government, security experts said Friday. The third and latest tape, which appeared on a Kuwaiti station late Thursday, also gave new hope that the 28-year-old freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor is alive. The American was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad by gunmen who shot and killed her translator. The first two videotapes of Carroll in captivity were aired last month on Al-Jazeera television, but the station did not carry her voice.
The private Kuwaiti station Al-Rai broadcast the new 22-second video in its entirety and with Carroll’s voice. She spoke of having sent two letters but did not say to whom. "I am with the mujahedeen," she said. "I sent you a letter written by my hand, but you wanted more evidence, so we are sending you this letter now to prove I am with the mujahedeen."
An Al-Jazeera employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to make statements for the station, confirmed the first two videos referred to a letter. The station did not mention any letters when it aired the videotapes. It did report that the kidnappers were demanding the release of women held prisoner in Iraq.
Al-Rai owner Jassem Boudai said his station has given U.S.authorities Carroll’s letter, which he only described as "sensitive." The station didn’t reveal its contents, he said, out of concern for the reporter. Some terror analysts said Carroll’s kidnappers used the relatively unknown station to get more of its message across and to avoid being tainted by Al-Jazeera’s reputation as being biased toward insurgents.
Al-Jazeera came under sharp criticism for airing videos showing al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with hostages they soon beheaded. The station cut the tape when masked gunmen drew knives and moved toward their doomed victims. Since then, Al-Jazeera has sought to air just enough material for news value without appearing to be a conduit for gruesome propaganda. Station policy is not to carry the voices of hostages.
"There are a lot of question marks for insurgents at Al-Jazeera because they don’t air all their tapes in entirety, or not immediately or sometimes not at all," said Mustafa al-Ani, director of terrorism studies at Gulf Research Center in the United Arab Emirates." But these small stations will jump at such opportunities because they aren’t famous," he said. "Very few people had heard of Al-Rai before that tape, but now people all over the United States know it."
Another senior Al-Jazeera editor concurred, saying Carroll’s kidnappers had found it impossible to get their demands aired fully because of his station’s strict content policies. He said the kidnappers wanted to make their demands clear and used Al-Rai to do so. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to make statements for Al-Jazeera.
A top U.S. media analyst said being able to get their messages out in their entirety will have an impact on the American public, and could put pressure on officials to question the Bush administration’s approach to the war in Iraq. "These videos will prompt us to feel fear, hope, heightened anger or frustration about a matter as viewers will have little control over, and this could lead us to putting more pressure on our public officials," said Bob Steele of the Florida-based Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 9, 2006 | Jill Carroll
CNN is reporting that a private Kuwaiti TV station — Al Rai — has a new — third — tape of Jill! I haven’t seen it yet but I understand she is wearing different clothing than before and that she says she is doing okay but she pleads that her abductors’ demands be met, saying:
"I sent you a letter written by my hand but you wanted more evidence so we’re sending you this new letter now just to prove that I am with the mujahedeen," Carroll says in English on the tape, aired on Al Rai television.
"I’m here. I’m fine. Please, just do whatever they want, give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time; please do it fast," she says. "That’s all." On the tape, Carroll begins by saying, "Today is Thursday, Feb. 6," then shakes her head slightly and corrects herself, "Feb. 2, 2006."
Source: [CNN]
UPDATE: CNN now has an update on their site and MSNBC has a short piece from the Associated Press that will likely update if there is anything new to report. Jill appears more composed in this video. This tape also includes a listenable audio portion. It is worth noting that the previous tapes also included audio — they were not silent as some reported. Aljazeera kept tight editorial control over the content, allowing their anchors to summarize the information, rather than give a platform to her captors. Perhaps this new tape is running on Al Rai so those controls are not in place.
UPDATE 2: Immediately following the release of the tape, Christian Science Monitor Editor Richard Bergenheim issued the following statement:
"It is always difficult to see someone speaking under coercion and under these circumstances. We are seeking more information about the letter that Jill refers to in the video. We remain in constant contact with Jill’s family and are still doing everything possible to obtain Jill’s release."
Jill’s family has also released a statement:
"The family is hopeful and grateful to all those working on Jill’s behalf."
UPDATE 3: Reporters without Borders has again asked for Jill’s release as soon as possible, stressing the fact that as a journalist she is but a neutral observer to the conflict.
We remind Carroll’s kidnappers that she is a journalist who has just done her job, which is to describe the conditions in which Iraqis are living. She is not responsible for the US government’s decisions.
At least these disturbing images give us some proof that she is still alive, which is truly encouraging. However, that falls short of calming our concern and anguish over Jill Carroll’s fate. The time has come to renew our mobilization effort. We urge members of the media around the globe — particularly those in the Arab world — as well as Muslim dignitaries, to continue to intervene on her behalf.
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 7, 2006 | Jill Carroll
With actress Juliette Binoche and former French hostage Florence Aubenas attending, Reporters Without Borders staged a demonstration in Paris today in support of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll, exactly one month after her abduction in Baghdad. Thirty white balloons were released from the human rights esplanade at Trocadero, overlooking the River Seine, to mark each of the 30 days so far spent in captivity by Carroll.
Addressing the journalists present, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said it is essential to demonstrate: "The impressive show of solidarity that was maintained for Aubenas all the time she was a hostage should now be repeated for Carroll and for Iraqi journalists Reem Zeid and Marwan Khazaal, of whom there has been no news since they were kidnapped on 1 February," Ménard said.
Source: [RSF]
This is yet another wonderful gesture of support for Jill. I have always liked Juliette Binoche. This is yet another reason to respect her even more. Meanwhile, we are all praying and hoping here, hoping to see our Jill very soon. May God protect her and grant her the strength to endure this ordeal.
UPDATE: The Associated Press ran the story and included a nice quote from Binoche:
"We’re here to be with her, and to help her in a spiritual way," said Binoche, star of The English Patient. "I think our presence here is a way to sustain the possibility of freedom."
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 6, 2006 | Jill Carroll
Below is an Associated Press photo taken of a poster of Jill that was hung outside city hall in Rome. It will remain there until Jill is freed. Jill has been kidnapped for a month now but hope remains, and the prayers have never stopped! Don’t forget Jill.
In the mean time, via Xeni Jardin over at Boing Boing, I discovered that through their literary blogs a group of writers has organized a symbolic action and are sending books and journals filled with blank pages to Aljazeera television "in the hope that Jill might soon be able to fill [them]." With this blank book protest, participants are pressing the network to "do [its] best to convey this message to her captors: Let Jill Carroll go." Writer Abby Frucht explains further on her blog:
Hi. A few of us at readerville.com are initiating a gesture of support for Jill Carroll. We don’t harbor any illusions that by doing this we will effect her release….but we want her to know, when she is released, that she had the support of other readers and writers and that we didn’t forget her. Here’s how it goes. Send a blank journal, a blank notebook, or a small sheaf of blank papers [via Airmail ASAP] to: Al Jazeera International, P.O. Box 23127, Doha, Qatar. On the first page of the blank book, write this letter or one like it:
"To Al Jazeera News, I am one of a group of readers and writers sending you this blank book in the hope that Jill Carroll will soon be able to fill it. Please do your best to convey this message to her captors: Let Jill Carroll go, so that she might continue to write about the things that have made you so eager to claim our attention. Through Jill, and through the gesture that you will make by setting her free, we other writers, readers, and thinkers will better understand the differences, and the vast similarities, between our corners of the world."
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 3, 2006 | Jill Carroll
I just read this in the Christian Science Monitor:
A poster of Jill Carroll will be hung from Rome’s city hall starting Sunday in a sign of hope and solidarity, the mayor’s office said. The poster will be kept at the city hall building atop Capitoline Hill until the hostage is released, said a statement by Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni. Over the last months, posters of other men and women kidnapped in Iraq or elsewhere have been hung from the same spot.
This is a really touching act! Meanwhile, we are all here praying and hoping that we will see Jill soon … real soon!
With actress Juliette Binoche and former French hostage Florence Aubenas attending, Reporters Without Borders staged a demonstration in Paris today in support of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll, exactly one month after her abduction in Baghdad. Thirty white balloons were released from the human rights esplanade at Trocadero, overlooking the River Seine, to mark each of the 30 days so far spent in captivity by Carroll. 