"I DO NOT BELIEVE IN HEROIC JOURNALISM”
 

“The important thing in the field of journalism is upholding general principles; the epic part of it all shouldn’t be overrated, because I do not believe in heroic journalism.”  These words were spoken in Jávea by the reporter Agustín Remesal, former international news correspondent for TVE, at the presentation of his book, “Gaza, a Prison without a Roof”, which took place in the Javea Neighbourhood Forum.  The book is the result of his experience as a correspondent in the Middle East over a four-year period and  one in which the reporter offers the reader, “all the details that are too lengthy to fit into a television report.”

In his presentation before the civil society of Javea, he declared, “I got to the war late; before then I worked in several slow-paced correspondent bureaus,” referring to his jobs in other European capitals. “Working as a war correspondent,” he added, “makes you put things into a different perspective.”  The reporter revealed details of his experience, of his friendship with figures such as Al Hasar, head of Hamas, people such as, “Doctor Harras, a psychiatrist who cures children of night terrors due to the bombings,” intellectuals from the Islamic University of Gaza and “especially the people on the street, the most interesting of all, like some of the children playing marbles in the street.”

Agustín Remesal revealed that he was not surprised by the truce.  “It’s a first step in the right direction. It’s for the good of both sides to give peace a chance. The upper-middle class is tired of the attacks and the Palestinians have seen that they are not going to get anywhere with a permanent war.” Gaza is one of the epicenters of the general conflict that has shaken the countries in the Middle East for nearly half a century. Agustin Remesal is yet another voice offering an exceptional vision of the day-in-day-out of a news correspondent for TVE in the Middle East, one who has witnessed the daily battles between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. From this setting he recounts the death of Arafat, the disappearance of Ariel Sharon, the retreat from Gaza of the Jewish colonists and the ascent to power of the Islamists. Details of events that are too lengthy for a television report. As a passionate witness overcome by emotions, yet maintaining the distance required by the ethics of journalism, he is moved by the hatred and the deaths.

According to the author, Gaza is a cage, a prison without a roof. It suffers from the "Cage Syndrome", given that the one and a half million "prisoners" that live there can see the sky, but are enclosed within fences bordering the sea.

Remesal insisted upon his thesis that, "Peace is established at a negotiation table, but it is really within the people."  Furthermore, in his conference he pointed out that, “looking beyond the negotiations between important political leaders, we find the feelings of the majority of the people who are tired of this endless war.” 

In his book, Agustín stresses that, “this is a book about what I have lived through and experienced in the Gaza Strip. This isn’t a book about the conflict, or whether or not it will end,” although he did add that all of these topics are inevitably treated in his book.

Despite certain pessimism after analyzing the situation in both factions, he emphasized that the role of the European Union, “come what may,” was a good one. He also added that in the not too distant past, a conflict of this nature would have ended with the annihilation of one or the other side, given that no conflict is eternal. Fortunately today there are mechanisms in place to avoid this ending.