Supporting Alan
| 14:12 UK time, Friday, 20 April 2007
From Friday, you might notice that on the front page of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News website we will be having a regular reminder of the number of days that our Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston has been missing. It's a message which you are more and more likely to come across as you surf around the internet, thanks to the help of an increasing number of people who want to show their support for Alan.
Earlier this week my colleague Jon Williams invited anyone who runs a blog, website or web page to use a button in support of Alan. More than 150 sites have so far pledged their support - and that's just those we know about. If you want to do the same, you can find out how here.
At the same time, more than 40,000 people have signed our petition online to call on everyone with influence to increase their efforts to ensure that Alan is freed quickly and unharmed. .
UPDATE 25 April: More than 50,000 names have now been added to the petition. Thanks to everyone who has joined in.
Comments
Journalists should not be seized in such a disgraceful and cowardly way. Please release this innocent man at once.
Free press - Free Alan Johnston
Dont know what fun these morons get by trapping journalists and killing people.
I do not know much about the background, but kidnapping bystanders only makes the Palestinians appear to be the "bad guys". The smart thing to do would be to release Mr Johnston a.s.a.p.
My Prayer for Alan safe return.
and i find kiddnapping journalist a very disgraceful and cowrdly act, and i hope those people get punished for what they done.
People on the job should not be subjected to such acts.No political issue allows anyone anywhere to torture an individual.Johnston must be freed at once. His captors must understand that nothing will be gained out of the whole episode.
A humanitarian tragedy when our eye witnesses to unfitlered truth are sensored in any way, particularly this. Journalist in such hot spots ought to carry GPS transcievers recorded remotely to mitigate such behaviour.
Kidnapping an innocent journalist who brings the plight of Palestinians to the world's attention is dispicable
Perhaps you should not go to a war torn area unless you are there to defend someone or something. How many civilians must we lose before peple like Alan get the picture?
Stay away!!
I am a professor at the University of Georgia.
Please free Alan!!
Journalists are democracy's insurance policy against excesses. Situations, people and facts that cannot stand the (en)light(enment) of outsider interest should wonder if harming the meslsenger is in their best interest. This man should be freed at once and let me as individual decide if I want to listen to his reporting. He has a right to freedom of expression, I have the right to listen to or igore his message. Killing or intimidating these messengers only arouses my attention and interest and will only serve to bias my opinions against those parties responsible for this kidnapping.
why would the palestinians kidnap him in the first place, as the media is one of there main assets in there fight, this justs turns people away from there cause.
As a cuban exiled and a loyal ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ viewer I strongly support Alan and all abducted and imprisoned journalists around the world.
Luis Casacó, Montevideo.
The cause for fighting for a Palastine homeland is a just one and purely for the sake of independence. The kidnap of Alan Johnston has just given it a very bad name. He must be reliesed immidiately, harmless.
Sadiq Ali Bohra (Hyderabad Pakistan)
In fact what are the duties of a reporter? Or you don't want what is happening being publish again for us the rest of the world?
Please release this innocent effective reporter ALAN JOHNSON.
When will Palestinians know that they harm their cause by abducting journalists and aid workers? What has Alan Johnston done to the Palestian people or militants, to be specific, to warrant the inhumane treatment he's currently undergoing? I have on many occasions listened to Alan report from Gaza amid gun rattles and motor shells. Alan was not doing this for self-aggrandizement? He was bringing to the attention of the world the suffering of the Palestinian people under Israel occupation.
To the militants who are holding Alan: the whole world is laughing at you. Very soon, you will find yourself isolated. We will not amplify your quest for justice and freedom.You will be on your own. No one will answer your cries as bulldozers pound your houses and blazing guns mow you down.
Release Alan Johnston NOW.
Dear Alan--my friend, my eyes and ears, my heart.
I pray for your safety and immediate release from captivity.
I send my prayers also to your parents, that they may have continued courage and fortitude during this ordeal.
Alan, for years I have listened to you, to your fair and compassionate reporting on Palestine. Initially there were your several special assignments. Then,
when you were assigned as the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Gaza correspondent, I silently thanked the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for the aptness of this assignment. During the past three years, I have regularly listened to your Gaza reporting, the only international voice giving a picture of this terrible situaton.
I close, dear Alan, with my wishes for your safety and immediate release. Please, whoever you are, release Alan now. Magnaldi
Dear Alan--my friend, my eyes and ears, my heart.
I pray for your safety and immediate release from captivity.
I send my prayers also to your parents, that they may have continued courage and fortitude during this ordeal.
Alan, for years I have listened to you, to your fair and compassionate reporting on Palestine. Initially there were your several special assignments. Then,
when you were assigned as the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Gaza correspondent, I silently thanked the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for the aptness of this assignment. During the past three years, I have regularly listened to your Gaza reporting, the only international voice giving a picture of this terrible situaton.
I close, dear Alan, with my wishes for your safety and immediate release. Please, whoever you are, release Alan now. Magnaldi
Let Allen Johnston go!
Just a thought. Someone on the "How You Can Support" discussion suggests bringing Alan more into the public eye as had apparently been done in the past with some individuals held captive. I do support this ...... The idea of at the beginning of news broadcasts on local and international radio and television to announce the number of days he's been in captivity and so forth. He is worthy of being everyday "Breaking Headline News". So what if the viewers/sponsors/public etc don't like it!!
The dissaperance of Johnston has show the world that they are missing one of the Worlds top reporter and we pray he will be found.
I hope Alan is released soon. As a muslim this is not islamic and who ever is holding him should feel shame. He is not a miletry target leave him be!
May god speed your return to your family
The kidnapping of Alan Johnston was a stupid act that does not serve the interests of the Palestinians. Gaza is lawless and the Palestinian Authority is impotent to do anything. The Hamas movement is complicit in this unlawful act.
tell me how
i really am concerned for him and the family and friends
How about a visual reminder on TV news bulletins, either at the beginning or at the end? Not everyone is online, but most people watch TV.
this man is just doing is job,he is just a civalian like your civalians in this country let him go,
Has anyone considered organising a mass peaceful pilgramage to Gaza with all the extra focus that would bring. Not sure about the logistics of it but something needs to be done.
It is a shame and a disgrace that Alan's strive for objectivity has led to his victimization. The kidnappers, having clearly bitten off more than they can chew, must immediately redeem themselves before they irreparably damage their cause. Free him now!
I hope that these people are not playing with his life, he was doing his job highlighting the problems of Gazza to the world.
I hope that he is released soon so he can be reunited with his family and friends.
Good luck and god speed for safe return,
Dave Finlay (Chengdu, western China)
I listen to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ worldservice every morning here in OZ and have been touched by the response from listeners worldwide and in particular hearing the name of one of my all time fav footballers
Steve Archibald and all the other ex Scot players and I would like to add my name to your list and offer my love and best wishes to Andrew and his family and friends and too a quick release.
Have faith.
Jeremy
Independent reporters are needed in areas where attrocities are likely to occur ( on both sides ) so that people around the world can get a clear picture of what is going on. Kiddnapping them does no service to the people they are trying to protect, by broadcasting the injustices they endure, to the world.
Journalists must have freedom to report without fear or favour. Who ever has Alan is only doing themselves a disservice, He must be freed immeadiately to ensure free reporting can continue.
We've done out bit... Fingers crossed that this ends happily soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Johnston, his family and friends and colleagues...
Alan was a friend of the palestanians - he reported on many of the injustices against the palestanian people. Why would you kidnap him. This only hurts your cause.
This is to convey in the strongest possible terms,the outrage perpetrated by the abductors of a humane and insightful correspondent,the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ'S Alan Johnston.Infact it is a crying shame that someone would stoop so low, no matter what the cause or the justification.Myself an English language TV JOURNALIST from India,I know only too well the trying conditions under which correspondents are forced to work.This is especially so in flash points like Gaza from where Alan went missing last month.And it is my fervent plea to Alan's captors to free him at the earliest, as prolonging the agony any further could only undermine the cause, you might be trying to espouse.rgds, Geeth Krishnan
Every time somebody is taken hostage I wonder what kind of culture and background drive people to conduct themselves in such an inhumane manner.
Mr Johnston was doing his job and should be released unharmed and returned to his family and friends immediately.
My husband and I want Alan Johnston to be released at once. Set him free.
If the Palestine authorities know he is alive, their informant must know who are holding him. They cannot make a statement like that out of guess-work. Then why is it so difficult for them to negotiate Alan Johnston's release?
There must be a different agenda in the works here. Who benefits from Alan Johnston's disappearance? It's certainly not the Palestinians. Who doesn't want the world to know what is happening in Gaza?
Deliberately putting at risk, an innocent person such as Alan Johnston, to fulfill one's own agenda, is the lowest form of human behaviour
Alan,
I miss your reports and your sincere voice.
My prayers go to you with much love.
Sheldon Miller
Long Beach, California
please don't harm the messenger....its the messenger who revealed the gods to you.....
Alan Johnson is a journalist just
doing his job.He has been unjustly
detained too long.Plrase set nim free
now.
Alan was reporting facts on the ground in the occupied plastinian territory.
his capture is not in the interst of plastinian cause or islam at all.
I call his urgent release and unharmed .
Journalists are around the world to tell is as it is & should not be treated in this disgraceful way. Please release this innocent man immediately.
Its a pity that Alan Johnston while reporting from one of the world's most violence prone regions has been kidnapped - by the very people whose plight he was trying to narrate to the world. It shows the serious lack of debate on "ends and means" in this struggle like India had some 80 years ago when fighting British imperialism. Gandhi insisted that achievement of ends or goals by any means is morally unjustified. Means were as important as goals to him.
To make a peaceful, democratic, morally viable India, the means had to be non-violent and morally impeccable as well. The culture of debate within India - scepticism, cynicism all included - is therefore an important part of post-colonial India. Its a charateristic that has allowed India to endure for the past 60 years.
A similar debate about Palestine needs to be initiated vis-a-vis rampant violence. It seriously undermines the Palestinian cause.
I DO NOT BELIEVE THE DEMOCRACIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE DOING ENOUGH FOR THIS JOURNALIST. HOW PATIENTS IS THE WORLD SUPPOSE TO BE IN PUTTING UP WITH THIS SAVAGE BEHAVIOUR.
HIS POOR PARENTS TO HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH SUCH A TERRIBLE EVENT. THE FEELING OF HELPLESSNESS MUST BEING OVER WHELMING AT TIMES FOR THEM. ALAN IN CANADA
As a longtime supporter of hardpressed Palestinians,albeit from afar, and assuming that Alan has been abducted by some Palestinian faction, it so important to release him for
a)humananitarian reasons,
b)This does not help the Palestinian cause.
free him
Journalists have the potential to speak the truth and bring freedom. This is just what Alan was seeking to do. If truth speakers are shackled or silenced then everyone is shackled and silenced. Please let Alan go free.
Mr. Johnston strives to bring to the world news of the struggles and triumphs of the people on whom he reports in a fair and balanced manner. Silencing him only permits millions in the West to go about their daily lives in ignorence of this part of the world.
Would you choose to silence yourself? Of course not. Then show the world that you are brave, compassionate and unafraid - let this man and his voice for justice go free and you will be praised and respected greatly for it.
Why abducting you? Why getting at you? Why depriving you of your liberty? Why depriving your friends and relatives of your cherished presence? Why depriving your listeners from your excellent reports? Why imposing silence on you?
I am most worried and outraged. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to you and your close ones and wish all of you a lot of courage in this ordeal. Hope to hear you soon on air. The sooner will be the better.
Dear Sir,
I can't express the extent of my dismay over Alan's abduction. The abduction is henious and unacceptable by any standard for any motive. Afterall he was a geniune friend and a mouthpiece for all people who are under siege of operatio. Thus how on earth the abducters justify their act?
Please, I beg those responsible for Alan's abduction to let him free.
Adham
Those who take the inocent reporters, those who feed on fear, beliving that they can do no wrong, they who think their god no matter who it is, think they have the right to kill and mame, but are not willing to done a uniform like men but to hide like the wimpering dogs they are.
Show the world you are men not dogs and FREE Alan Johnston NOW.
Put on a uniform and say you are fighting for your fredom and/or your god, or stay the way you are and show the world you all are just cowardly dogs.
A true disgrace. How anyone can take a journalist trying to report the truth is unbelievable. I just hope he is released.
I am so worried. What is happening with Alan Johnston. My mother used to work with him in Uzbekistan and our family knew him pretty well. I can't beleive such a kind and very nice person now can be in danger. I can't beleive those who are holding him now can harm him. Please let him go!!!
I've added the banner supporting Alan to our company web site and my own blog today.
See you soon, Alan.
I am saddened by the fact that Journalists are now target in war torn areas. I am even more saddened when I think about what Alan's family and friends must be going through right now.Everyday, I pray that Alan's family will be strong, that his life will be preserved, and that he will come home ALIVE and WELL
Dear Alan,
We miss your passionate reporting, your courage and compassion for living in Gaza. A unique voice from the other side of the often untold story. I hope with all my heart that we will hear you again. Safa
I WANT SAFE RETURN OF ALAN' SINCE I FELT SINCERELY AND SERIOUSLY TO BE A CORRESSPONDENT FOR ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.I PRAY FOR HIS RETURN TO HIS DUTIES.
In addition to adding the Alan Johnson banner to my blog: "Roberto's World" at alvarezgalloso.blogster.com and signing the petition, I wrote to Univision the US Latin TV Station to tell them about the need to release Alan Johnston.
MAY GOD MAKE HIM RESUME HIS DUTIES WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM.
A man reporting the facts of the hardships and trials of a victim population is abducted and held by members of that same population? The inhumanity and stupidity of the act beggars the imagination. Those responsible are not dedicated to the Palestinian struggle half as much as any objective journalist is. Alan is more honest, just, humane, sensible and more of a Palestinian patriot than any of his abductors.
I for one would rather such a man walked freely in this world, because anyone under the heel of oppression needs Alan to show their side of the story too.
Alan, I hope you walk free soon. Gaza needs you but at this rate you may no longer need Gaza, and that's their loss. Be well, my friend, you're walking beneath a sun they cannot see.
Courage
Although the Palestinian plight is understood, this, nevertheless, is completely wrong and inhumane. Alan should be released immediately.
Our hearts and prayers are with him.
It is verry distrubing that are being kidnapped. It is because of them that we get to see the truth. I really hope that Alan will be released soon.
Whoever kidnapped Mr.Alan Johnston, is surely not helping his own cause.
Kidnapping innocent people, especially people who are doing their job can never be justified.
I am pleased to have added Alan's button to my blog .
My prayers are with Alan, his family, and his colleagues at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.
Whoever has taken Alan away, please release him soonest. Thank you very much in anticipation.
Nothing fruitful can be achieved by the painful suffering of a family....please please release Alan for the benefit of all...
please release alan asap!
my thoughts are with both alan and his family,this is a cowardly thing to do!
God bless allan his family and all who are struggling to find him.
I think it is a disgusting and terrible hostage. I think it is great that he is still alive but if he is still alive please for the people of gaza and Alan Johnston 's family release him now before it is too late
I hope Alan is returned promptly. I also hope Islamic terrorists renounce beheadings, suicide bombers and global jihad.
Maybe I am hoping for too much.
Please release Alan at once. I need the guy come back and give me more his greate reports, we all know Alan is a nice and good man, why does the nice man suffer in the Hell?
I think it is a tragedy that he has been taken, especially just for political purposes. I don't know whether I am sure that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ should be rallying for anything as they should probably remain neutral no matter what happens in the world. If I wanted to hear ideaology I would listen to a politician. I hope he is freed just as I hope all people can live freed, not because the he happens to work for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.
Alan took great risks to report from a part of the world considered too risky for continuous reporting by other journalists. It would have been nice of his captors to recognize the value Alan brought by his reporting. Will his hostage taking bring good will to the people who needed the coverage only he was willing to provide. Alan and the people he reported on deserve far better. Hope to hear Alan's voice on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ again soon.
Alan Johnston was there to help Palestinians. It's a cowardice act to abduct the innocent journalist. He shouldn’t be harmed or treated inhumanly but must be released safely as soon as possible - May almighty Allah protect him
I hope Alan is still alive and comes back home soon.
Please let me know based on which theory or religion belief you imprisoned Alan? Free Him. Jalal . IRAN
I am a Palestinian living in the Westbank . I want to inform you that this bad Behavior does bot represent us as the palestinians , all the palestinian are against Alan`s abduction , and we are Sympathizing with him and his family , Because Alan`s story remembers us the suffering of more than 11000 palestinian prisoners in the brutal Israeli prisons , most of them are kids , women , old people and even patients , and most of them was arrested without any guilt exactly as ALAN , who we hope to be free as soon as possible .
Free Alan!
Think....what will you do if someone from your family is kidnapped...its not a very happy time...Free Alan now..
To his holders; Nothing positive will be achieved by holding him. Even less if you dont let the outside world know why you are doing this.
He has done his best to give the world a fair and balanced insight into middle east affairs. Would you rather have CNN be the only 'western' news source informing the world. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ at least trys to find both sides of the issues. Think again let him go - unharmed.
Alan is one of the finest journalists and human beings I have ever met. I have had the privilege of working along side him in the past. Objective, fair and balanced as a journalist and a human with a heart of gold. I salute your courage and integrity, My friend. I will also say to the jerks who are holding you what a disservice they are doing to the Palestinian cause. They have silenced, albeit termporarily, one of the few voices telling the world of the misery of the people in the Occupied Territories. Free him, you fools.
Media reporters should not be targeted in such a spinless and inexcusable manner, Please free Alan!
Free Alan.
The kidnappers by their eerie silence with regard to their inhumane kidnapping of Alan Johnson are shooting themselves in the foot. Nobody with any sense would sympathise with them if they carry on detaining a beautiful human being who stood up for justice and fair play and who has supported the Palestinian course to the hilt.Let us hope their silence is not a sign of bad tidings.
Every moment the outrage against Alan's abductors is growing. They are their own worst enemies. Free him immediately.
Sincerely plea for the release of Alan Johnston, a highly professional journalist that uncvered & disclosed the plight of the Palestinian to the world.
Perhaps the abductor, whoever you are, would agree the sooner he is freed, the better publicity for you. Having Alan with you do not help your cause, but only be worsen.
While the world is watching, please do make the sensible choice, RELEASE ALAN JOHNSTON NOW!
As a journalist, I feel what has hapenned to Alan is a clear indication of how dangerous our work has become epsecially in war zones
To the ones who keep Alan, whatever reason you have, is not enough good reason for me. Free Alan. Now
I pray for his safe release and safe return home to his family and for his return to the job he loves to do. I expect good news to come through. May God bless him and his family. In Jesus name.
I really hope he's well and is released soon. It's a sad reflection of the times we live, and the state of our world, that this has happened at all. So many people are thinking about him and wishing for his safe return soon.
free alan
What's the point of kidnapping a journalist who's brave enough to make record of the truth and show it to the world? He has his family waiting for him...
Please free him at once!!!
I suggest that ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ WORLD can show viewers' comments regarding Alan's abduction, at regular intervals on the TV.
Care must be taken to publish only those comments that are touching and appealing to the kidnappers.
I appeal to free Alan at the earliest.
Alan, i pray for your safe return home!
This is a disgrace to the entire middle east region,Alan is a hardworking journalist whose his contribution bring peace and stability to the Arab community ,pls release him for the progress of the Arab region.Thanx
Please release this innocent man now.
Please release Alan.
I pray for his quick release. He is such a kind person and I like him very much. How can anybody harm such a nice person.I hope he will be relesed soon.
As we pray for Alan Johnston, the people of Palestine should know that without press the global world will not know of your problems, you need someone to tell your problems to the world & that is exactlywhat Alan Johnston was doing, for the sake of his family, please release Alan Johnston, he hasn’t committed any crime against any one.
Abass K Mohamud
Kuwait
I hope those kidnappers are familiar with this website and the calls to free Alan Johnstone and enforce these calls. Alan's a terrific correspondent and I pray for his immediate release unharmed. My best wishes and thoughts go to his family and friends also. This latest episode just proves that some regions of the world are far more sensitive to political exposure than others and I believe this calls for a global enforceable law(possibly headed by the EU and or the US)to protect the safety and security of journalists, reporters and news readers worldwide so that they can continue to do a great job without living in fear of their lives when they have to travel to politically sensitive countries.
I had the privilege and pleasure of working with Alan in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service newsroom, Bush House, London. At all times he was polite, friendly and above all thoroughly professional. From day one I have been very worried about him, and as time goes by, with little news , my concern has increased. Alan is a modest man who, I’m sure, would be truly amazed and somewhat embarrassed at the massive support and publicity he has encountered. His family, unused to the media, have behaved with great courage and enormous dignity throughout. I’m sure his friends and supporters have given them great support. I would also like to mention the cameramen, who are so often forgotten when reports from the dangerous places hit our tv screens, whilst in the comfort of our homes. My thoughts are with Alan, his family and close friends; I hope he returns home unharmed to a deserved rapturous welcome.
APPEAL FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS MEDIA FREEDOM COORDINATOR AND THE A.E.J. SECRETARY-GENERAL:-
The journalists and media workers of the Association of European Journalists appeal to those holding Alan Johnston to free him immediately. Alan’s reporting work for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ from Gaza in recent years has been of service to the whole world, and especially to the Palestinian people, by upholding the universal values of independent and truthful reporting. It cannot be in the interests of anyone to hold him against his will. We urge you to release him at once.
William Horsley, AEJ Media Freedom Coordinator
& Peter Kramer, AEJ Secretary-General
Sent on 22nd April 2007
The Association of European Journalists is a professional association of journalists with national sections in more than 20 countries and over 1000 individual members.
This is an absolute disgrace.Instead of appreciating the unbelievable work Alan has done for their cause, they have thrown stones in the well they have drunk from. The harm this is doing for the Palestinian cause is untold.Also ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as one of the biggest news networks in the world has the responsibility to give more coverage to this story.Not enough is being done.
Please add your feedback on the following website:
Journalists have the opportunity to make the truth public.
How very sad that the very people whose plight he was trying to report to the world should have so misunderstood his motives.
How sad that other journalist will now not go to Palestine for fear of similar treatment.
Can these people really want us to only hear 'the other voice'?
Release Alan and let him be your voice. He will speak the truth and I want to hear it.
From here in Santa Cruz on the west coast of California we send out good thoughts to Alan Johnson and his family. Please set him free.
Freedom For Alan now.
no more excuses, Release him now.
My heart goes to the family and friends. I pray for his well being and safe return.
For those wondering why someone would do such an awful thing that is hurting the Palestinian cause. Here is the short answer:
Its not hurting. Why do terrorist blow planes? or Kidnap aid-workers? It seems counter-productive but its not. In some twisted way it brings positive attention to the Palestinian cause.
Its in the human nature to disassociate from horrific actions. Thus, the action is singled out as the action of a mad-man and is easily forgotten, but the focus on "suffering" of the common people remains.
To stop such actions from happening again and again the harm must be greater than the gain.
For example, by NOT covering stories from GAZA for a week or two would discourage such acts.
But I suspects that the lessons have not been learned. The UK reporters union has called for a boycott on Israeli goods, which only proves to the kidnappers that their actions have paid off.
Please Free Alan NOW!
I really miss Alan Johnston. He
painted a picture of life in Gaza. He had such a gentle way of talking no matter what horror he was describing. I download your programmes onto my ipod and listen to them as I walk each morning through a forrest and along a river bank in Constantia, South Africa. Your podcasts are wonderful, but I am filled with sadness about his kidnapping and so hope he is still alive and will be returned safely to his family. His brave parents must be undergoing such an ordeal. I dont feel very optimistic.
Free this man now unharmed & back into the arms of his Family.
As a Palestinian in exile, I think Mr. Alan should be freed, and treated with complete fairness. Mr. Abbas should be the one responsible for his safety.
Free this man now unharmed & back into the arms of his Family.
We need people like this journalist to be able to report what is going on, without fear of such cowardly reprisals. Please let him go.
Alan I pray for you daily that you be released without harm. I still cannot believe it that no kind hearted Palestinian knows where Alan is.
The affection with which Alan Johnston is held in Gaza is remarkable and testament to his passion and support for the Palestinian people. He is clearly a very inportant bridge between the middle east and the western world and everyone is served best by his safe release. Like everyone I hope for his safe return and soon
Alan's abduction is disgraceful. It does not serve the Palestinian cause and is against the teachings of Islam. I pray for his safe and immediate return to his family.
As a Palestinian I say to the kidnappers if this is the way you think you fight for our freedom, then please DONT!!!!
If you're fighting for your own personal gain, then what a cheap way to do it.
FREE ALAN NOW!
Please free the poor journalist, Alan Johnston. It serves to no one's interest to detain or harm the journalist. And he's been detained long enough.
Hopefully any party with influence to end this incident will do so immediately to have the happy ending!
The world is watching....
Andy Huang (S.E.A)
Please,please, please I beg you, have mercy and release Alan Johnston, an innocent journalist ! His role is to make the world which includes Gaza a better place with words, not swords !
I just want to note as a Jordanian, that when people refer to such kidnappings as being done by Palestinians that's just plain wrong. We are talking about a small group of people, most likely teenagers, who saw a foreign looking guy and decided to take out their political frustrations on him. The overwhelming majority of our region is completely against these criminal acts, especially at a time when we are all struggling with freedom of the press, speech and expression. kidnapping a journalist is contrary to that struggle.
Free Alan!
i'm writing this email on behalf of all the journlaism students of my college( S.M., kathmandu, Nepal)
Please free Alan!!
My name is kiran and im 15 years old.
I think it is horrible that a jouralist should be abuducted whilst only wanting to be good. I want to be a journalist who travels, and it is getting more and more dangerous for people like me to persue their dreams of being a traveling jounalist.
It is just not fair.
I hope that Alan is safe and understands to keep faith.
He is an honour to the news reporting world.
God Bless Him,
Kiran
X
Alan Johnston is a very professional journalist. His reporting is always fair and even. I dont see any reason why he should be kept in captivity.
I am as a Palestinian is very angry at the kidnapping of innocent people like Alan. I don't really know who did it and why. It is very shameful.
Alan Johnson doesn't deserve to be held. Please free him now, this is not helping your cause.
May he be released unharmed. Thoughts and best wishes to his family, friends and colleagues.
I suspec that was an act of someone who didn't care about what Alan has been doing in Gaza. I am sure 99.99 percent of Palestinians will not agree anyone who is behind of this act. He could'n live there as the only foriegn reporter without support of the people. There is nothing anyone could gain by keeping him in the dark, so better to release this brave journalist as soon as possible.
Journalists should not be seized or harmed in any way. The whole world need to know what's going on from all sides.
An own goal by those that hold him; release with apology now
Do the people who are abducting Alan think that they are going to get what they want? If yes, they are great fools.By abducting Alan they are just hitting on their foot with their own axe. Please set Alan free soon.It is in the best interest of people of Palestine and the world.
Alan Johnston tells the whole world what happens in one of the most dangerous areas on our planet. He makes the appalling truths seen and unheard voices heard. This link between people living in Gaza and the rest of the world is broken now by this disgraceful kidnapping. Immediate release of Alan is not only for the good of him and his families, but also the people in Gaza.
No point can be made, no sympathy can be generated for a course,no demand can be made through abducting Alan. Alan's job was to gather information. No political capital can be achieved through such acts of terrorism,indicrimate psychological violence and torture. We shall stand firm,we will not be shaken. Alan is a hero. We pray for Alan's family to stay strong and calm. Alan, together we shall stand, together we shall win the battle for media freedom.
I am an engineer in Accra, Ghana. Whatever the reason is for capturing Alan, he is innocent. I call for his unconditional release now.
I am in fervent prayers many times a day for the safe release of Alan Johnston. Alan's contribution to bringing out the truth in the mid-east conflict has won him my heart and affection. His captors are holding the wrong man; he is a friend of the Palestinian people
Please release Alan Johnston.
Alann Johnston is the only person who can reveal the identity of his kidnappers.It is wrong on our part to blame anyone at the moment.So let us pray for his safe release and stop blame games.I think it is a pre planned conspiracy against palestinian state ,i smell something fishy in this drama.
He is doing his Job and helping your country by leting others to know what is happening to your county.
please we beg you.............
Islam do not preach violence, rather it is a religion that seek to bring people together, inform and educate people.This simply means that the religion is peaceful. In this vein, I wish to call on the captives to release Alan in the name of Allah and in the interest of humanity.
TURAD SENESIE
SIERRA LEONE
i am fawadahmad from peshawar i am so unhappy after johnson because he worked with poor people in gaza and he was a brave man i am also givind a lot dawangi to come back for his home
i pray for alan johnsons release, and my thoughts are with his family. x
Keep your chin up Alann, our thoughts are with you!!
I add my name to the long list of people who ask for Alan's immediate and safe release.
Free Alan, Free Alan, Free Alan, He provides a platform for the silenced. How then can he be put into such a situation? Please Free Alan ASAP. Free Alan, Free Alan.
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, if am permited to ask one question, for how long it will take for palestinan government to assure us and give us hope that our friend Alann Johnston is still alive, is one man or agroup of people greater then the gvornment? stop fooling us and show us where he is now.
Keep your chin up Alann, our thoughts are with you!!
FREE ALAN JOHNSTON, via Journalism for whatever reson u had when kidding u can justify your actions
and pain u bring on innocent journalists who risk they lives to give us information .free Alan free Johnston
Please free Alan. His family needs him.
Maria , London
It takes a lot of courage and strangth of conviction to go to trouble spots and provide objective journalistic reporting. Alan has over the years is become the very embodiment of this true jornalistic heroic.
I and millions of others pray for his safe return.
In one of Alan's own reports a few months before his disappearance he mentioned that there were a large number of tiny factions within the Palestinian territories who kidnapped Westerners in hopes of gaining money or status or political influence, but who were often quite amateurish in their approach.
I can only assume that one of these groups has abducted him and, discovering that the whole world is now watching them, they are at a loss how to release him without consequence.
Here's hoping Alan is soon back on our radios and televisions.
Come ON!!! He is on a job, he is working for the sake of his family or whatever he is working for. LET HIM OFF. Why is it that it is always the weak the less protected people who get kidnapped. It is an utterly disgusting and coward thing to do.
If you must wage war, wage it on people who are armed with weapons not microphones. Your actions are an offense to all right minded people and do nothing but harm your cause.
I first became aware of the plight of Palestinian refugees in the 1950s whilst visiting my father who worked for UNRWA trying to find solutions and provide help and support. It seemed to me that they were as badly let down by other Arab countries as by Israelis.
Only a free press can put pressure on all sides, by reporting the truth and highlighting the wrongs perpetrated by all those who are fighting fundamentalist causes whilst bidding for power.
That is why Alan Johnson has been kidnapped : to stop him reporting impartially and constructively.
It could be the people who have him are simply misguided. If so, they must let him go. But it is up to 'moderate' Palestinians to ensure he is freed - in the name of Allah, justice and truth.
PK
Hi this is Naseem From Helsinki!!!!I always have like Alan program and he is very nice repoter!!seen he has been kidnep, im worry about him. and every day when i open my tv in the morning I m hopping that he will be free!
Please for Allah's sake free Alan...
Galtambie, Holland
Like so many others I do hope that Alan Johnston is released as soon as possible and unharmed.
But I'm deeply disturbed by some of the thinking underlying several of the other comments I've read, such as the moral relativism of condemning the kidnapping not because such action is wrong in itself, but because it "doesn't serve "the Palestinian cause"; the repeated claim that Mr Johnston's abduction was wrong because he was a 'friend' to the Palestinian people - rather than a professional, highly-regarded and non-partisan journalist; and the repeated attempts to distance this self-defeating, brutal and irrational act from the political culture of the region, which from Iraq to Palestine to Afghanistan seems to be overwhelmingly characterised by such behaviour.
I'm confident that Mr Johnston will eventually be freed and look forward to that moment; I only pray that he will not himself say or do anything that places his abductors in a sympathetic or 'more human' light, thereby lessening the true horror and barbarousness of his ordeal, and so concealing the true character of his kidnappers.
I have lived and worked in the middle east for 8 years. I have known the people there as kind hearted and helpful. I sympathise with the Palestinians, but kidnapping journalists is the last tning that will help their cause. Free Alan.
Let him go in the name of peace and humanity.
As someone who was in Palestine when Alan was kidnapped and is now back home I find his situation particularly sad and I hope he is able to return home soon. My thoughts go out to his family and the many innocent Palestinians whose lives are made difficult every day by the many internal and external factions fighting for control of this small but beautiful place.
Alan always reported from Gaza excellently for the Palestinians. It's a great injustice he was kidnapped by the same people he was helping. Release him as soon as possible.
those who kidnapped Alan Johnston are not acting in the best interest of the Palestinians people and their cause.
I have been praying for him every day. I strongly beleive that he will be released near future.
How ignorant to kidnap the only first person journalist reporting on the Palestinians.
please bring allan safely home
Whoever has kidnapped, please remember that ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ journalists try to work unbiased and bring the truth. Most of the time their stories are centered around understanding your problems which influences government to take human approach.
If you work against these journalists, there wouldn't be anybody to bring support for your cause, which will keep you devoid of any sysmpathy from other parts of the world.
If you kidnap/kill journalists, people will blankly call you terrorists, if you wouldn't, people may consider you fighting for freedom.
You should decide.
Pushpa, Canada
The pen is mighter than, the Sword.
You can capture a person,never their spirit. You can silience a voice, but not their thoughts. You can try force change but you cant change things.
God is with you.
I've been following this story on NPR in Chicago for the last few weeks and my full support goes to Alan's family. I am blown away by the strength and calmness of his dad when talking about the ordeal they are going through. Keep up the spirit - we are all there with you!
Seeing Alan alive and well, talking about his fair treatment and continued sympathy for the Palestinian struggle would have a profound affect on world opinion. Hearing that he has been mistreated, killed, or continues to be held captive, has the opposite affect.
The captors of Allan Johnston should realize the simple fact that holding a person captive is in no way going to solve their problem. It is seen by every sane person as a despicable and cowardly act on the behalf of the captors.
Mr. Johnston is a reputed journalist of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ who has been doing extraordinary work by reporting from the hotspot, the plight of the ordinary people. He is one of the few links in an otherwise weak chain which connects the ordinary people of that region to the rest of the world. Holding him captive would make that connection even weaker, cutting off valuable resources that would help built a consensus about the region among the people of the rest of the world and thereby help built a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The kidnappers are either incapable of understanding this simple fact or else they are simple mercenaries bent on making some petty gains for their own sake. It is beyond any sane person’s understanding that how the captors of Mr. Johnston are making any political statement through their reckless act.
You [the kidnappers of Mr. Johnston] have already done unspeakable damage to yourselves and to your people. By releasing him immediately you would, to some extent, mitigate the damage you have caused your people and the pain you have caused to Mr. Johnston’s friends and family.
We, as a citizen of a modern society, appeal to the captors that Mr. Johnston be immediately released, unharmed.
Free Alan Johnston
An honourable man, a great journalist who sought to bear witness to the continuing plight of the Palestinian people shoud be relesed immediately.
Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
I add my name to the long list of people who ask for Alan's immediate and safe release.
I sincerely hope Alan is alive - given the job he does, there is no reason in this world that he should be killed. My sincere thoughts go to his family.
Who ever you are, you are gaining nothing by holding Alan except your own personal gratification through the publicity you receive. Give some thought to his family - what would be your reaction? Let him go.
Let him walk free.
This man should be free.
Journalists. We love them, we hate them, and at times we outright despise them. Many are simply working for a paycheck, others with the more sinister motive of ratings based profit. More often than not, they waste our time. But more not than often, they attempt to bring truth. That ever elusive, often times impossible to articulate, honest to god truth. For that reason we support them and their right to function without fear or threat of bodily harm. A free and open society has no greater ally than a truly free press. When captured, we do not ask for their safe return, we demand it. And we are demanding right now.
Please set Alan free
Such actions only undermine the Palestinian cause furthering speculation the Palestinian People do not seek a peaceful coexistence with anyone.
If you are fighting for freedom then fight man to man soldier to soldier, don’t seize innocent unarm journalist. You are losing sympathy from the outside world and it no good for Palestinian cause.
Free press, free Alan.
I urge those who are holding Alan to show some mercy and release him now. Alan was just doing his work by reporting all the injustice and the struggle of ordinary Palestians in Gaza and all Palestians teritories.Allah is the most merciful and just. But we can take one attributes of Allah that we can be merciful to one another and Allah WILL REWARD US
please release Alan free he has nothing to do with you that who ever you had him because he is more important for us than you.
God be with you Alan did not worry everything will be ok and soon you will join your family and God blesses you family.
Mulugeta
Hope to hear about your safe return.Be strong where ever you are. My thoughts to your family.
please please,release the innocent person
If Alan is the only well-known international voice left broadcasting from Gaza, why should even Palestinian militants want his words silenced? Shouldn't we begin to re-think our assessment that it was Palestinians loyal to the Palestinian cause who captured him? There's something growing ever more troubling about this continued abduction. It basically doesn't make sense. The longer the situation carries on, and the longer it obviously puts the Palestinians in a poor light, the more we ought to begin to suspect the motives of those behind it.
Does anybody else begin to wonder about that?
Kidnappings, extortion along with various demonstrations of "sufferings of the innocent" have become part of the arsenal of the assymetrical warfare.
I value the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's reporting from world affairs however, I think your refusal to report anything from that conflict until Alan's return, would put the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's journalistic powers in good use.
I didn't have a blog, but I made one today for the purpose of publishing the banner. Please free Alan.
If you are peace loving people, as you say you are, then you should let Mr. Alan Johnston free. we as people who can reason could see what kind of people you are through your actions.
journalist is the man who is showing the reality of the world, the satuation of the world, then why we kidnap him/her or why we kill.... journalists are so far away from politics they are not relating to any politics groups, just they are doing some thing good for our society....
please free Alan, his family need him alot, his parents are old and thier hearts are crying and they are waiting that when his son will in to thier home....
please free Alan...
Javed Askarzai, Kabul
Alan Johnston i admire yr actions N bravery. we'r with u.
Pls release Alan A.S.A.P
Our Prayer and Thoughts goes out for you and your Family, Alen Jhonston.
Pleasse Free Alen.
Ethiopia, Elleni
Alan Johnston Release
I call on the Palestine people , government officials or any ordinary citizens living there to be more honest with themselves , and seek Alan’s release from his abductors without any further delay, Alan is a man and human before being a journalist serving your problems more than anybody else can do. Please don’t leave any stone unturned till you trace him.
I wonder …. What is the aim behind his abduction? I again request your kind feeling to let him go free today before tomorrow. I beg you for that.
Please free this courageous and truthful man. This is an appalling situation and I think the Government should be seen to be doing everything in its power to obtain the release of Alan Johnston.
I would like to post my support for a man who was doing more good for the Palestinians than most by bringing their terrible situation to the public attention.
I hope he will soon be a free man again, he deserves it so.
Adrienne
Send word he is alive and well, then release him, this is not a just or righteous way of resolving your cause.
The Palestinin cuase won't be helped by the kidnapping or killing of its friends.Alan is a brave man who by reporting from Gaza was aiding the Palestinian cause more than guns and senseless kilings can do.For Palestine's sake:FREE HIM.
This is disgraceful! The whole nation is thinking of Alan & awaiting his safe release. Good luck Alan
I'm a student from Italy.Please free Alan Johnston now and stop with this kind of actions!!!Journalists must be free to talk and to do their job!!!thanks
just free the man...
It is against our holy religion Islam to punish some one for some one other's crime. Mr. Alan is an innocent man and he should be respected as a guest and humanbeing. Please dont harm him and free him at once.
Israr Mohammad
Post number 10 (on the page that is meant to be in SUPPORT of Alan Johnston), is rather inappropriate. It says people should only go to war zones "if they are there to defend someone or something". Surely journalists like Alan are there to defend alot of things - their right to report, the right to report the plight of the Palestinians, and the right to operate in the free press. The comment then goes on to ask when "people like Alan get the picture...Stay Away". This is offensive and unfair - if "people like Alan" did not do their job, people like the guy who wrote this post would be even more ignorant than they already are, and this is something we cant afford to happen. By telling journalists to "stay away" from conflict zones, you are reading from the script of those who WANT reporters to stay away. There is nothing constructive message number 10 - and it certainly doesnt sound like a message of support.
He was only doing his job. He is guilty of no crimes. Let him go.
What's the problem? Why worry, don't the palestinians want peace? Certainly they would never harm an innocent civilian.
Yesterday as I was watching the bbc's world news, I realized how little we think of people who prepare the news for us. We almost take them for granted not thinking of the resks they are taking and possible dangers they are in. I want Alan to know that I will be thinking about him. Please, bring Alan home! A viewer, Croatia.
For years Alan Johnston has worked in the same place that he was abducted by these faceless people. I wonder what any one will gain by indulging into this shamful act which does not help anyone not even the perpetrators.
MY APPEAL IS: PLEASE FREE ALAN SO THAT HE CAN CONTINUE WITH THE GOOD REPORTING HE IS KNOWN FOR.
Free Alan Johnston.
It is shame to capture him. He is just an innocent journalist. No religion, no cause can justify such an act.
~Jayant
Hope to hear about your freedom soon Alen.
The right for journalists to go everywhere on earth is inalienable.Free Alan Johnston.
A French citizen
Its a shame that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's support for Alan Johnston's release has been relegated to a small link at the bottom of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's front page, on equal footing with current features as "Day in pictures" and "Boom Town".
To get the word around, and to show its full support it seems like the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ should swap its banner at the top of the front-page for a "Free Alan Johnston" banner.
That petition should have a million signatures by now... not a mere 50,000.
Best of luck to Alan !
My heart goes out to his family during this unbearable situation there in.
I'm a muslim and I'm ashamed of this cowardly act bestowed upon him and his family.
To those who abducted him, tell us what you gained by this dispecable act?
I wonder how you sleep at night!!!
Shame on you.
Alan Johnston risked his life to tell the world what is really occuring on the ground in the Middle East,those who have the most to benefit from his bravery and dedication to honest journalism are ironically his captors.
The world needs honest voices,please release him unharmed.
ALL JOURNALISTS, MEMBERS OF THE PRESS AND CONCERNED OTHERS AVAILABLE IN LONDON TOMORROW, APRIL 25, 2007, PLEASE ATTEND THIS NUJ ALAN JOHNSTON VIGIL with the support of the International Federation of Journalists, BETWEEN 12:30PM AND 1:30PM outside the Palestinian General Delegation office 5 Galena Road, Hammersmith, London, TO DEMAND FURTHER RESOURCES AND EFFORT FOR ALAN JOHNSTON’S IMMEDIATE AND SAFE RETURN.
For more information go here:
Let the poor man go.
Kidnapping of Alan is only hurting the Palestinian cause...and diminishing whatever goodwill the international community has for the Palestinians and its people.
Please release him immediately.
my support to mr. Allan Jonston:
never forget,that God is always
in control and he is not only Alfa
but Omega also.
please free mr.allan johnston.he is our eyes and ears of whats going on
especially in Palestine state.
Please release this innocent man who was afterall only doing his job.
My thoughts are with him, his family and friends.
Why should anyone who is simply reporting to the British people and to the World about the goings on in a foreign country be taken hostage.
What danger does Mr Johnston pose to the Palestinian people and his captors?
Absolutely none at all, he is a journalist simply doing his job.
There is no legitimate reason why he should be held any longer and so should be released.
I pray Alan will be released unharmed. Please consider his family and friends who are desperate for news of him.
HI MY GOOD ARAB BROTHERS ,PLEASE RELEASE THE INNOCENT JOURNALIST FOR HE HIS ONLY THERE TO LET THE WORLD KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU FOR YOUR HELP .
it is cowardice to prey on targets that are unable to defend themselves. journalists do not carry guns on their assigments. please free alan johnston.
Journalism is, in my opinion, the most noble and selfless of the professions. To devote ones-self to the pursuit and publication of the truth is unmatched by any other profession available to man. If all fought wrongs with words, as journalists do, instead of arms and violence, the world would undoubtedly be a much better and more democratic place
What crime has a man whose job is to give the world the truth, done to diserve what has happened to him?
What has happened is a disgrace to humanity, not just Palestinians or Arabs, including myself...
Free the truth fighter...
Free Alan...
I believe everybody even if he is an extremist has a human inside. If my voice could reach to the people who has taken away MR Alan Jonhston , I would request to free Mr Jonhston as a proff that still humanity exists even in the areas where all the atrocities strike humans.
Please Please Please release Allan Johnstone. Canada
Alen is the man who is showing reality of the world.Its his job to tell the totall truth without hiding anything. Please release allen as soon as possible.
Sagar, India
Reporters are to witness and tell the news not be a victim of it. Please release Alan Johnston.
For the sake of his family and friends, for the sake of his colleagues and his millions of viewers, free Alan Johnston. He is a beacon to them all.
Dear Hostage Takers
I very much sympathize with your cause, but Alan is your friend and PLEASE REALASE HIM.
Thank you
Teffera, Ethiopia
Why abduct a man doing his job of reporting whats going on in the Middle east?
Do they have something to hide? Release him .
Please set the innocent man free whoever you are as holding him will not solve any of your problems. His family is worried for his safety.
Allan may God Almighty grant you freedom. Amen.
The kidnappers cannot hope to achieve anything by abducting innocent people like Alan Johnston. I hope that Mr. Johnston is set free soon.
Journalists should be free to report the truth. The fact that Alan Johnston has been seized goes against the right of free speech.
Free Alan Johnston - Now!
we support alan.
Please free Alan Johnson. He was only doing his job and having lived in the local community in Gaza, surely they would have known he was no threat and cared what happened within their community. Nothing can be gained from his continued captivity.
Please free Alan... He was just performing his duties..
--Phani
ITS REALLY DISAPOINTING TO THOSE IN GAZA THAT THE ONE WHO EXPOSED TO THE WORLD THE ILLS AND PROBLEMS THAT OCCURED THERE IS REWARDED WITH A BAD COIN.WHY BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU? FREE THAT INNOCENT MAN PLEASE.
The longer Alan is missing, the more worried Iam for his Life and health.
May God comfort his family and give them strenght.
To his kidnappers,
This will not achieve any aim, rather it will convince the World that you are nothing but terrorist.
This will be a truely sad picture to paint when there are genuine problems in Palestine.
Whenever I listen to Alan reporting, I always hear and see a voice for the Palestanians. How can this people be so callous to do this to a voice sympathetic to their cause?
We pray and plead that they should please release him unharmed. Other journalists should learn how ungrateful, unfriendly and unpredictable most Arabs can be - First Jill and now Alan.
Please release Alan Johnston, there is nothing for anyone to gain from committing such a degrading and cowardly act. x x
in an enviroment where people move with guns and the innocent move with a pen, notepad and a camera and all becomes an enemy combatant,this is absurd, free alan now lets the next generation know we live in a world of freedom
Please free Alan TODAY. He's nothing to do with governments or any other political/religious group. He was just doing his job of reporting to the rest of the world what is happening in your country.
Mandi in Cardiff, Wales.
Alan deserved to be out long time.I really dont know why these guys who kidnapped Alan are aware that their plight will not be heard.Please release Alan.
Hi Alan
I will continue to pray that you will be released soon in good health.
Keep the faith
Gascoynia, Sierra Leone
Release Alan now. Release him for the humity and peace. It serve no purpose to hold a professional man like him. Jeff
It bothers me what exactly these heartless abductors set themselves to achieve by abducting an innocent journalist who has been competently doing his job. I hope and pray he gets back to us alive, Amen.
Free Alan! Your cause, or any cause can never be justified if you do not leave the free press to expose the injustice: By kidnapping Alan you are kidnaping your cause. Free the innocent man!!!
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and Alan Johnston's presence in Palastein was ernonemously benefitting the palasteins.
Those holding him are against the palastein cause and should realise that they are damaging and destroying Palastein in the eys of the World.
How can any group win support for its cause by kidnapping a journalist and holding him for so long? Please add my name to the long list of those calling for his release.
Free Alan Johnston.
We need journalist like him to know better what happens in the world.
Free Alan.
(Gennaro Grimolizzi, Barile, ITALY)
Before Alan Johnston was kidnapped, I followed the plight of the Palestinians through his reporting and sympathized with their fight for freedom
Now the only news I want to hear from Palestine is news of Alan Johnston's release.
I can't believe it could be the Palestinians I learned to know through Alan Johnston's reporting that have abducted him. It seems illogical and inhuman to believe it; it's illogical and inhuman to keep holding him in captivity. My thoughts are with him and his family in this terrible time.
Whoever is holding Alan Johnston, LET HIM GO NOW!
please release Alan, he's done nothing wrong, nothing to harm only to serve, help and represent those without a voice in Gaza ... free him and serve the Palestinian people better - they will be better served with free journalists than with no independent reporters and only armed groups "protecting and furthering their interests". This cannot help - please release him. Paul, UK
Alan is innocent, he has done nothing wrong, his family and friends and journalists at large are missing him, we are missing him. FREE ALAN JOHNSON PLEASE
I sincerely hope Alan is still alive. FREE ALAN !!!!!!!
i may not know you Alan but my mum does please come back to us becayse my mum is really worried about you.
Please come back!
I truly hope Allan will be freed soon.
I hope Allan will be freed soon.
Journalits just do their job : inform people.
It's a shame to capture them. Alan is a journalist he does his job. Hope he'll be free very soon. Keep courage Alan and don't give up.
Alan take heart the whole world is behind you. In as much as I believe God cares for his people I also know that He is with you. You told the story as you saw it and someone with an agenda felt silencing you will make a difference but the good God will prove him a liar one day soon.
May God listen to our prayers and we here that Allan has been freed. Am stuck on bbc since yesterday after hearing of promises of releasing him again-let us keep hope.
Issa
FREE ALAN!!
I pray you find it in your heart to release Alan Johnston for his family and friends.