Watch the video. [BBC]
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:52 AM on June 1, 2007

Hey! You got the BBC News Front Page in my MetaFilter! Also: Fresh fighting hits Lebanon camp and Air hostesses told to shed weight for those who'd just as well get their BBC on MeFi.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 4:00 AM on June 1, 2007

Army of Islam. Right. Get this guy back. Just get him back.
posted by MarshallPoe at 4:33 AM on June 1, 2007

There's no way to date the video, apparently - fingers crossed it was recent and he's alright. As one of the last journalists to live and work in Gaza full time one of the things that has really come through in the UK news coverage is how much he was respected by everyday Palestinians. I do hope that he is OK.
posted by handee at 4:42 AM on June 1, 2007

I feel dreadful for Johnston and his family, the kidnapping is doing massive harm to Gaza, and I'm pleased the story is still getting covered.

However, I feel worse for all those people who didn't choose to be in Gaza, and who get killed in large numbers every week.

There's a reason why he was the only journalist in the Strip, valuable and brave as that has been: this is it.
posted by imperium at 4:44 AM on June 1, 2007

I completely missed this when I tuned into the BBC today.
posted by johnny novak at 4:55 AM on June 1, 2007

Hopefully this is a sign that he remains ok. Its been rankling me a little recently that the recent kidnappings of a british person in Iraq seems to be getting a lot more coverage than Alan Johnston's plight.
posted by burr1545 at 6:03 AM on June 1, 2007

Kidnapfilter: Not to demean the importance of freeing Alan Johnson; which has BBC front page status, but what about the French - Colombian Senator Ingrid Betancourt; now held prisoner for over 5 years and who now might possibly be released, thanks in large to positive intervention by Sarkosy. Article in Spanish here.
posted by adamvasco at 6:12 AM on June 1, 2007

Its an interesting video - I'm not sure if the BBC have posted all of it - it seems to end somewhat abruptly. Equally, whilst it appears to be a co-erced stament - it doesn't seem to be written down in advance - rather he seems to me to be making it up as he goes along. He also sounds quite weak and halting - at least to me. Despite that this video must be a good sign - it shows that he was alive post-capture and that his captors want something (possibly it's their demands which have been edited off the end?) Both of these things would seem to bode very well in terms of getting him back alive.
posted by prentiz at 6:37 AM on June 1, 2007

imperium, I listen to BBC world news on my local NPR station here in the states, and they have a daily bit about this where they read comments from their web site and emails from folks about this. The certainly are understandably keeping this in the forefront. I hope he's OK, and he gets released soon.
posted by Eekacat at 6:59 AM on June 1, 2007

Sure, Eekacat, I want him out too. But the Betancourt example above is another valuable contrast.

See also: Madeleine McCann, who should be found, but who has had at least 10 orders of magnitude more coverage than any similar missing child.
posted by imperium at 7:19 AM on June 1, 2007

I worry that Madeleine McCann will never be found... and that truly sucks.
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:59 AM on June 1, 2007