Venetian Mirror

August 21, 2002.

Today is my long-awaited arrival in the Gaza Strip. We'll start filming tomorrow. Everything looks bleak. The city is devastated, ruined houses occupy half the city. For now, Jurek suggested we dress as civilians, which will allow us to capture everyday situations here.

***

It's August 21, Krzysztof Herszenko, Dziennik Informacyjny, hello everyone.

Another day of fighting in the Gaza Strip. Our reporter is here.

- Hello, Piotr! Tell us what the situation is like in the city...

August 22, 2002.

It's already the second day in the "death zone." It seems the people living here are defenseless against the Israelis. The city is regularly shelled, we have to hide in basements. A young Palestinian woman agreed to tell us about life here. What she said is unbelievable. Tomorrow we'll try to get to the school where children were supposedly victims of Israeli shelling to verify this information. We were on the outskirts of the city, and the Israelis were demolishing houses. I don't understand why. Apparently, terrorists are hiding there, shelling Israeli army bases. The only thing we saw there were defenseless people fleeing from the bulldozers. I don't know who's right, but what we have might be suitable for a report.

***

It's August 22nd, Krzysztof Herszenko, Dziennik Informacyjny, hello everyone.

We're connecting with our reporter in the Gaza Strip...

- Hello, Piotr! Do you have any new information regarding the riots?

- Good evening, everyone! The Israeli army has begun countering the Palestinian uprising. Massive demolitions of buildings on the outskirts of the city have already begun. This is supposed to prevent terrorists from hiding while shelling Israeli army bases...

August 23, 2002.

We were at school. It's terrible what's happening there. Children fearing for their lives during lessons. The school is regularly shelled by "good" Israelis. The army general of these "good" soldiers told us that rockets are regularly launched from this school. He showed us footage from a camera on an observation tower. Only, the tape was labeled "May 20-25, 2002." He clearly thought we didn't know the Israeli alphabet. Now I'm sure who's cheating in this game. We have to look for some evidence. That evening, some major clashes broke out in the city center. We didn't go there. We considered it too dangerous.

***

It's August 23...

We're joining our reporter in the Gaza Strip...

- Hello, Piotr! Have you heard anything new about the civil war?

- The war is getting more and more intense. Palestinian terrorists are attacking Israeli forces. There are numerous civilian casualties. The fighting should soon subside, as the Israelis are bringing in more and more heavy equipment...

August 24, 2002

Today we were looking for someone to give us a report on yesterday's clash in the city center. We found several children, maybe 14-16 years old, who were watching it all from their apartments. According to them, the Israelis started killing civilians after Palestinians threw stones at one of the bulldozers. While we were talking, fighting broke out again. We were in the middle of an exchange of fire between an Israeli tank and... elderly women fleeing from houses slated for demolition. It was terrible; of the approximately 40 people present, about 15 survived. It's good that Jurek had his journalist's medals in his camera case. His timely release saved our lives. Unfortunately, it didn't save the children who told us about last night's events. This is sick; they shoot defenseless people for no reason. I suspect that if we weren't Polish, we would have been dead long ago. The Israelis think the truth won't come to light, but Jurek secretly recorded the entire incident. Unfortunately, we don't have a broadcast slot scheduled for today. Tomorrow we'll piece it all together and broadcast it to Poland. I hope the whole world will know that defenseless, innocent women and children are being shot at in this cursed death zone. Tomorrow we'll go to the Israeli side for an explanation; it will be safer to move around the city wearing special jackets for journalists. I hope this will help us avoid situations like today's.

August 25, 2002.

I had a dream, such a beautiful one. I haven't had a vision of something more beautiful in a long time. I saw a meadow scented with roses, full of lush greenery. In that meadow, I saw children from school. Children laughing. Their wounds caused by the war in their hometown had already healed. The scars only reminded them of the past. There was no hatred in them, no terror in them, only the joy of life. Almost all of these children were filled with love. Only one was sad. She approached me and grabbed my hand. It was probably a girl; she led me to the water. She pointed to the mirror of the lake. I looked at them and saw the ruins of houses, her body beneath them, and above her a crying woman, putting on a belt laden with explosives. I knew this place. That was where the exchange of fire had taken place yesterday.

The roar of a bulldozer woke me from my sleep.

Now I understand where "terrorists" come from. People who have nothing, for whom life has lost meaning. The only thing left for them is revenge... for the blood of their loved ones, their compatriots.

We must go to the Israelis now; ask them about yesterday's murder of the "evil" Palestinians. I'll hide a camera in my jacket; we'll include this conversation in our report. Soon, maybe another week, and we'll return to Poland. We'll put it all together and release this hidden truth about the death zone to the world.

It's August 25th...

We have sad news for you: our colleagues Piotr and Jurek Walker were killed today in the Gaza Strip. They were shot by Israeli snipers. According to an Israeli army spokesman, they were mistaken for terrorists. This tragic incident occurred at 2:00 PM Polish time...