James Elder
The Guardian
What holds, and what fails, under pressure, standards and accountability.
James Elder is a spokesperson for UNICEF who focuses on the dire situation of children in Gaza amidst ongoing conflict. This interview reveals his deep empathy and dedication to ensuring access to education and healthcare for those affected, highlighting his role as a stabilizing force in turbulent environments.
“Leave here, you know, and that was always my response there. Gaza is different. You don't leave Gaza not until this ends, not because of what it's doing to the people, because of what it's doing to international norms, because of the dangers of what impunity there is doing to international systems and things that have given a lot of peopl…”
“Yeah, I think I'd break it into almost two parts. So I agree on there's a real problem with empathy. There's people like algorithms, without a doubt, Alice Sarah just feeding people too much information there. So there's a complete empathy fatigue.”
“UNICEF has felt it's important here we can't be neutron facts. If I see a child starving, I have to say so. If I see a child bombed, I have to say, you know, this child needs medical support. We're not a news agency. We're a humanitarian human rights agency. But you're right, journalists are shut out and this information has flooded in.”
“You'll always hear this idea that as many trucks can come in as are needed. Firstly, that's just demonstrably false. The responsibility for facilitating aid is with Israel, a girl or a boy has been killed every single hour in Gaza since that horrific attack on the 7th of October. Every single hour.”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 152. "A War on Children": A Generation in Gaza at Risk (James Elder)
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