Member-only story
The Emily Wilder Story : The Making of a Scapegoat.
I had no idea who Emily Wilder was until this morning when I read her statement on Twitter. I had noticed comments regarding her but had not realised that she had been working for Associated Press. Like many I had watched in shock and horror as daily news bulletins over the last 11 days had shown Israeli airstrikes and indiscrimanate artillery fire upon Gaza. In the rubble left behind were Palestinian men, women and children; some miraculously survived and many did not.
Perhaps the ‘lucky ones’ were those who died rather than those who survived. The survivors often were now completely alone in this world. Whole families were wiped out in a minute of pure evil. This is now the world of ethnic cleansing — almost live on your TV — and no official accountability for such crimes. This is why we desperately need good, honest journalists. Especially in Gaza.
However, these atrocities were being reported on by journalists within Gaza itself. Emily Wilder was not one of those but the AP agency had offices in a media building in Gaza which also contained Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera. This building was destroyed by an Israeli attack. The attack was targeted on the media building because according to the Israeli military — and them alone — it was home to Hamas militants.
