Coming across a frank-speaking Palestinian fixer is a real needle in a haystack. David Pratt of Scotland’s Sunday Herald wasn’t proferred the usual party lines about the Israeli pullout and Gaza chaos:
One morning during the course of my stay in Khan Yunis, I woke to the sound of gunfire on the streets outside. Was it a battle between Islamic militants from Hamas and the security forces of the Palestinian Authority perhaps, or some other militia groups? “Rival families, one shot a member of the other, and now they are sorting things out,” explains our fixer Zead Mostafa, who studied media and journalism and hopes, despite serious concerns over what lies ahead, to continue his education.
Like many Palestinians, Mostafa fears for the future, and firmly believes that Gaza and towns such as Khan Yunis will become potential free-fire zones where corrupt officials, rival militias, criminal gangs and adversarial families will use the rule of the Kalashnikov to ensure their power base remains intact.
Does Mostafa’s openness stem from defiance of the gunmen, or could it indicate some kind of breakdown at the Palestine Media Center, which arranges fixers, cameramen and stringers for many Western news services?
