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January 6th, 2009
11:58 PM ET

Covering the Gaza crisis

Program Note: Watch Anderson's full report LIVE from Israel tonight on AC360° at 10pm ET.

Anderson Cooper explains the challenges reporters face in trying to cover the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

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Filed under: Anderson Cooper • Crisis in Gaza
soundoff (365 Responses)
  1. Steve from NY

    Anderson, we love you but just come home safely.

    The Israelis will only allow you to report on the minute scratches of their citizens and the minimum destruction of their private property which can be repaired in a day or two while not allowing you to report on the hundreds of Palestinian deaths, thousands of life serious injuries and gargantuan catastrophe to Palestinian infrastructure.

    I know that you are fair and balanced but with the restrictions of the Israelis you will not be able to do your job.

    Stay safe!!

    January 6, 2009 at 8:39 pm |
  2. Ash

    @ Isaac- this is not a religious war- it about land, territory & all things political. If this was any other country acting the way Israel is acting it would have faced a much worse reaction, even economic sanctions. Sympathy for Israel has run out!!!!

    War crimes like the ones Israel is committing is not a nice thing. If you were a Palestinian civilian caught in the middle of this bloodshed what would you do? Israel is a developed and a powerful country. Gaza is dependant on aid for survival. The use of such disproportionate force is cruel when you know that hundreds of civilians will be killed.

    If the war is against Hammas then why kill Civilian children? If the war is against Hammas why not let food and medical supplies into Gaza? If the war is against Hammas let the reporters in! Look at what the U.N has to say about Israel's actions. Israel can not win respect by doing what it is doing!

    This is plain wrong by ANY moral standard. America's politicians may have their hand tied due the powerful Israeli Lobby and cant speak out against Israel -but that does not make it right. Israel is okay with caring about world opinion when it is in Israel’s favor- if its not then the world is wrong and Israel is right!

    DEDUCTION: Israel is always right- the rest of the world if not in Israel’s favor is wrong. Doesn’t sound very logical does it?

    January 6, 2009 at 8:38 pm |
  3. Concerned US citizen

    I am sure Nazi Germany was also happy there were no International journalists to document what they were doing also.
    Shame on the world for allowing this slaughter of innocent people.

    January 6, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
  4. Mike, Syracuse NY

    It's time for Israel to say 'enough is enough' and expel all Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Let the rest of the Arab world deal with them.

    January 6, 2009 at 7:48 pm |
  5. kaye in Vancouver

    Reporters are banned from entering Gaza because there are criminal acts in progress. Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, no criminal would want witnesses to their crimes. Did I say enough crimes and criminals??? Just checking. I hope you report on the story objectively since we are not getting an unbiased view of what is happening. Otherwise your reports (not just your but all the reports) would show the massacre of civilians and the outrage of the world.
    Israel says that they have killed 100 something militants? I guess the other 400 something was you know collateral damage? These are not just numbers these numbers represent real people, human beings, children, women, men, families. Shame on US for giving Israel the green light for this massacre.

    January 6, 2009 at 7:46 pm |
  6. Megan Dresslar - Shoreline, WA

    Anderson,
    Thanks for sharing with us and coverage for us from Israel..... you're so amazing reporter tonight... I hope you will be safe area and keep your shelter from shooting....... Please stay safe and more blog for the viewers and me...... Please come home safety..... miss you and love you..... Good Luck to you!!!!!

    January 6, 2009 at 7:21 pm |
  7. Isaac

    The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
    He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
    Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
    He's always on trial for just being born.
    He's the neighborhood bully.

    Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
    Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
    Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
    The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad.
    He's the neighborhood bully.

    i'm sorry but this bob dylan song pretty much sums up the last few millenium for the Jewish people. You get attacked so you fight back, its a war and it doesn't matter how many die on either side. War means that one side has to win. Which one would you rather have a terrorist organization that uses its own people as shields or the only democracy the size of Lake Ontario in the entire region.

    January 6, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
  8. Ludie

    Hey Anderson ..Please be safe...but remember " Beruit 1983"...the cry from inside was "old tell the world"...Areil Sharon was in the refugee camps for days killing women, children and older men....(foreign press was forbidden)...my guess is this is what's happening in Gaza...
    Israel's military is most capible of protecting its country (from thugs like Hamas) without dropping bombs and shelling babies in Gaza ... look forward to you telling the real story...

    January 6, 2009 at 7:04 pm |
  9. Eric Blair

    It is not like Mexico firing rockets into the Texas. It is more like a group of Native Americans fire some rockets at Texas and kill one person, and then the governement goes in and kills 500 Native Americans including hundreds of civilians. That would be a better analogy. Such a response would be extremely disproportionate. The Israelis' response is unjust because it has resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:49 pm |
  10. Annie Kate

    Anderson

    If the Israeli government isn't going to allow reporters in to Gaza is there really anything to report other than government processed statements and how many bombs appear to go off? If you can't report this "war" as it is happening what about doing a background piece on all the fighting that has gone on in that region since 1948 when Israel became a recognized country in the world by the UN and how the Israel of today differs from the Israel then. Knowing the background of all this may help in understanding what is going on now.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
  11. taghreed

    for the first time on CNN i can say that was a good coverage , let the world know who are the real murderer , isreal claimd that 5 ,6 has been killed from hamas missles!!,, our number is above 600,, dead, almost 3000 wonded , still counting for more , isreal bombed a school full of children and women ,,killed 45 today and they knew that before they bombd , to them i say stop the blood ,, GAZA is bleeding . childrens of GAZA are screaming to have murcy , if you are human ,, stop this ugly crime ,,
    to CNN i say be fair and uncover the truth to the world to know.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:27 pm |
  12. Dee from CT

    There’s a palpable frustration in reading/seeing/listening that you cannot get any closer to Gaza, your fervent need to get to the heart of the matter is just that much further away being just on the outskirts of it. Take as many precautions you can while pushing on the pursuit of getting the facts – above all stay safe and come home safe – all of you!

    January 6, 2009 at 6:27 pm |
  13. Alex

    The journalists should have gone to Gaza PRIOR to IDF offense and got embaded into Hamas groups to report all those rocket attacks on Israel citizens. That would be nice to see a report from anyone standing next to Qassam or Grad launcher saying how unhumain it is to kill inoccent jewesh children. I would really like to see for how long that person head would be on his shoulders.

    Sorry ladies, i didn't use word "her", because under Hamas rule no femail journalist would even be allowed to do her job.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:19 pm |
  14. Will from Key West

    Anderson
    Other than a boost in ratings brought about by the dramatic images that play upon human emotions: why would reporters need to enter Gaza? The current conflict is but yet one more chapter in a very long and well known conflict where both sides seem to be more willing to shed blood than to compromise. The Israeli government is just being pragmatic in prohibiting access. Any civilian causalities or hardship will be attributed to the Israeli government 'the aggressor/initiator of the conflict' and thus any photos or video out of Gaza become Hamas propaganda.

    War is war, nothing more. Tactically no army would choose to enter a battle that's a 'fair fight'. Unfortunately, even if Israel is tactically successful (barring genocide) strategically Hamas wins. To quote Robert Taber, "A revolutionary can only be defeated; if he admits he is defeated."

    For the viewers who still feel as if they need to see the horrors of war, I would ask you to take a moment and ask yourself 'why'.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:04 pm |
  15. Mike

    Hamas is responsible for all of this.
    They ended the ceasefire and started firing rockets into Israeli territory.
    Think of what the U.S. response would be if 80 or more rockets were fired into the U.S. from Mexico daily.
    Remember the response after 911. Israel is within it's rights to defend it's citizens. Any other response would be negligence on behalf of the Israeli government.

    January 6, 2009 at 5:56 pm |
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