'Joe the Plumber' turns Mideast war reporter

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1004798 [headline] => 'Joe the Plumber' turns Mideast war reporter [abstract] => The Ohio man who shot to fame during the US presidential campaign has travelled to Israel as a war correspondent for pjtv.com. [keywords] => israel, gaza, hamas, joe the plumber, obama, mccain, wurzelbacher [content] =>

An Ohio man, who shot to fame during the US presidential campaign for asking Barack Obama about his tax plan has travelled to Israel as a war correspondent for pjtv.com.

'Joe the Plumber', whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher travelled to the south Israeli town of Sderot hoping to give ‘ordinary Israelis’ a voice in the media, he said.

The people of Sderot "can't do normal things day to day,", for fear a rocket might come in,” said Wurzelbacher.

Wurzelbacher landed in Israel on Friday and said he has already experienced several rocket alerts.

On Sunday, he was shown remains of rockets while an Israeli police spokesman briefed him about the situation in Sderot.

Standing in front of a pile of spent rockets Wurzelbacher said "I have thousands of questions but I can't think of the right one."

What he could summon up quickly was anger against Israel's critics, who are outraged by the more than 800 Palestinians killed in Israel's bruising air and ground onslaught against Gaza.

Thirteen Israelis have also died since the operation began, including four killed by the rocket fire that has been cited by Israel to be the reason for the war in the first place.

However, war correspondent or not, Wurzelbacher will not be able to enter Gaza due to Israel’s blockade of foreign journalists there.
 

[start_date] => 12 January 2009 | 11:26:44 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => APTV [commentCount] => 2 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => Samuel Wurzelbacher, dubbed 'Joe the Plumber' by the Republican campaign during the US elections, is in Israel to cover the Gaza conflict for a conservative online news organisation. [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 58266 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_39043707_joe_plumber_sderot_1201_b_getty.jpg [title] => joe_plumber_sderot_1201_B_getty_39043707 [description] => file:site_1_rand_39043707_joe_plumber_sderot_1201_b_getty.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-01-12 12:03:00 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [4] => Array ( [id] => 1004771 [label] => Israel 'nearing goal' in Gaza [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [3] => Array ( [id] => 1004768 [label] => World protests mount over Gaza strife [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [2] => Array ( [id] => 1004764 [label] => Bombing of UN school 'a mistake' [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 560755 [label] => 'Joe the Plumber' tour [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 560644 [label] => McCain 'for Joe the CEO' [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1004764 [headline] => Bombing of UN school 'a mistake' [abstract] => The popularity of Hamas and other Islamic groups in the Arab world is on the rise due to the Gaza war, as Israeli defence officials say the bombing of a UN school was caused by a 'stray mortar'.
[content] =>

The popularity of Hamas and other Islamic groups in the Arab world is on the rise due to the Gaza war, as Israeli defence officials say the bombing of a UN school was caused by a 'stray mortar'.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports an 'errant' mortar missed its target by about 30 metres, hitting the school and killing around 40 people.

Israel initially said militants were hiding in the Fakhura school in Jabaliya.

Palestinian sources denied this, and said all of those killed were civilians.

Israel now says troops fired three rounds at a target close to the school. Two of the mortars deployed hit the intended target, but the third missed, and hit the UN building.

Media battle 'lost'

Meanwhile, analysts say the Israeli offensive in Gaza is actually strengthening support for Hamas and other Islamist movements.

"Hamas appears to be scoring points," said Dhia Rashwan, an Egyptian specialist in Islamist movements.

"So far, Israel has not achieved all its military and political objectives and has lost the media battle."

Israel's military offensive on the Hamas-controlled territory has killed at least 875 Palestinians, including 275 children, and left 3,620 wounded, since it began on December 27.

'Imbalance'

Media coverage shows an imbalance between a modern force, armed to the teeth with the most sophisticated weapons, and a militia equipped only for guerrilla warfare, analysts say.

This appears to have contributed to inciting angry protests worldwide, mainly in Arab countries, they believe.

"This is a repetition of the major crises seen in the region during the past few years," which strengthened Islamism in the Arab world, Rashwan said.

He highlighted Israel's war on Lebanon in July 2006, which failed to destroy the military might of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah, and the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, which brought Islamism to the forefront of the resistance.

"Opposition in the Arab world has become led by Islamist movements ... Public opinion is led by these movements," at the expense of Arab nationalists and liberal oppositions who are losing ground."

Meanwhile, "the gap between Arab regimes and their people is being widened all the time", Rashwan said.

Abdul Aziz al-Sager, head of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre (GRC), agreed that Islamists are reaping a windfall of popularity from the Gaza war.

Support for jihad 'rising'

"Injustice serves the Islamist movements, putting them in the vanguard through their support for jihad", or holy war, in the Arab world, he said.

"What Israel is doing in Gaza is strengthening Hamas" in terms of gaining the backing of the public opinion for the movement, although "part of this opinion still notices a lack of political maturity of this movement", Sager said.

"In wanting to wipe out the resistance, you have created a resistance inside every household," Hamas's exiled political chief, Khaled Meshaal, told Israeli leaders in a speech on Saturday.

"As Israel strikes Hamas to weaken it, this movement is becoming stronger among the Palestinians and Arabs, mainly as it has proven to be the only one to stand up to Israel, following the example of Hezbollah in Lebanon," Bahraini activist Ali Fakhrou said.

"Through this war, Israel does not seek (just) to hit Hamas, but the Islamist resistance which is feared by the United States and its allies among the Arab regimes, who believe that success for this resistance would lead to fundamental changes" in the region, he said.

'Protection' from Islamist movements

"Islamist movements, born out of the void created by the collapse of the Arab nationalist and leftist ideologies, are the only ones capable of protecting the region from the madness of US politics and Israel," said the former Arab nationalist.

"Islamist movements are going to dominate the political scene for many years to come," Fakhrou predicted, citing the "interaction between these movements and the Arab street where recent pro-Gaza demonstrations were dominated by Islamist slogans and calls for jihad".

Jordan's Princess Haya, a UN messenger of peace, also warned that growing Arab anger and frustration over Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, could spiral out of control.

"I think the frustration on the Arab street, the humiliation, the hurt, the anger and the sadness are something that can't be kept under control very easily in the near coming future if this (war) continues," said Haya, daughter of late King Hussein and wife to Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 12 January 2009 [articletime] => 12 January 2009 [display_order] => 0 ) ) [comments] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [articles_ugc_id] => 16405 [author] => Dave [source] => Queensland [content] => What's next, Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck reporting?
If they are going to send a puppet in to report, maybe they should send Kermit the Frog or Miss Piggy.
It just show's how desperate Israel is getting trying to buy support for its war crimes.
As for the people of Sderot, I'd rather be one of them living in fear of a rocket attack then someone in Gaza having to deal with actual rocket attacks tank shells, blockades. Oh the people of Sderot have it soooo bad. [user_headline] => What's Next? [comment_date] => 12 Jan 2009 19:27 AEST [agree] => 4 [disagree] => 0 ) [1] => Array ( [articles_ugc_id] => 16398 [author] => James [source] => Melbourne [content] => Did that reporter think about the 300 Children died in Gaza?
We need the truth of this massive number of death toll in Gaza.
Does he expect the Palestinians to die without defending themselves? [user_headline] => Report about the Civilian Killed in Gaza [comment_date] => 12 Jan 2009 14:18 AEST [agree] => 5 [disagree] => 0 ) ) ) [winston] => test )