a group has claimed responsibility for the attack. that's our website. aljazeera.com. that is the address to click on to. you'll have the latest on gaza and the downed malaysian jet on the site. hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you're in "the stream." [ chanting ] reporters on the grouped during the gaza israeli crisis are only able to provide a tiny window into what is really happeningment you'll hear from three close to the action on what they are not getting to tell you. plus, left politician and real talk from those affected the most by the ongoing violence. later... ..what is more effective in bringing about change -

political protest or food and laughter. we take a look at the impact of cultural activism. [ ♪ music ] we have all the feedback. excited about having the international correspondents on the show to talk about what viewers don't get to see, and a little insight into how they are processing everything that they have to confront day after day and these are the people we were seeing first hand. i want to show you a tweet by jonathan miller who had this photo of journalists carrying wounded chin out of the hotel. it makes you wonder what the personal toll is on the journalists that have to see many things first hand.

>> the ongoing crisis in israel and gaza strip compelled the neighbouring areas into what many feel is an endless cycle of violence. reporters try to encapsulate a complicated issue in a few minutes. what challenges do they have covering a contentious crisis. with much to say and little time to say it, what is missing from the conversation. joining us out of the gaza strip , is al jazeera america's nick schifrin, from beirut, rula, and hayden cooper, a correspondent for the australian broadcasting corporation. thank you for being here. there's a lot of coverage about what is happening in gaza, a lot can be lost in the big headlines. what are some of the compelling things about the situation that the think u.s. viewers should know? >> the most compelling thing for

an american to under is look into the eyes of a child as he or she listens to a bomb. there's a lot of us trying to be neutral and consider both sides and listen to the israelis and listen to the gazans and talk about rockets flying from here, and bombs flying into gaza, but when you spend time on both sides, and i have spent time on both sides in the last week and a half, you realise the asymmetry. the bombs dropped by, you know, f-16s are 200-300-400 pounds. they shake the ground. the bombs that hit a block away from here, two blocks from here have shaken the building here and blown the windows out in the past. you don't get that in israel. you get a sense of panic, the rockets are flying, they are crude. 97% land in open fields and the people there are very concerned, are worried, and it is panicking

to hear the siren, know that iraq is coming in and you don't know where it will land. but the sound of an f-16 dropping a bomb. the sound of a large tank firing. >> the homes, that is what we experience here in gaza, and we experience a portion of it. people in the homes at night have to experience that, and i think for an american viewer, it's important to see the image of the children hearing the bombs, hearing the f-16s, and they are terrified. >> rula, you covered israel and the west bank and escalations for years. is there anything different this time around? >> what is different is that people are just as polarized. the reaction is different, it's overwhelming sympathy and support. new you hear from egypt and -- now you hear from egypt and some of the gulf states, you hear

some condemnation. on the public levels there's support, that's from political leaders. it's the same, the challenge to put the story in complex. it's a story with a lot of complexities and history, and with the constraints of time, when you have to report the story in 2 minutes and a half. what do you take out and drop and keep the story in context. it's hard to keep it in context. a lot of times it's easy to sleep and say it is changing rockets and fire. there's a difference between launching rockets that don't reach their destination and fall into the sea, and rockets that are technologically guided, destroy buildings and kill other people. how many people are killed on one side, how many on the other. that is one context that is lost. another is what is going on. for example, the dynamics between hamas and israel. in the past six years there has been three wars, and in the

three wars, every time it ended with an agreement, you hardly hear anyone explaining how hamas men have guided the -- guarded the borders. they are the ones fighting the other factions firing at israel. how do you convey things like that - hayden, this is a question for you as well - a lot of viewers writing in saying: a lot of people don't know. my question for all of you is how do you make that accessible. how do you make an historic and difficult question accessible? >> well, with the people, like nick said, i guess the first thing you have to do is find the characters. it is, sometimes, very difficult to include all of the complexities on both sides of the debate, here in israel but across in gaza.

the most obvious way to do that is with the people. the people in gaza directly affected by what's going on and do the same on the other side as well, the people on the other side of the border who had rockets come into their homes. this is the way we calls try to tell the story, using the characters. sadly some complexities get lost, because this is a political issue, it's been a hyper charged issue and getting that across in 2.5 minutes or less than be challenging. >> i want to shift gears. talk a bit about how you personally processed what you see. the kind of toll that this takes on you and your colleagues watching this violence day in and day out? >> you remember the faces. it's very difficult to know sometimes what impact it is having on you. you might not know for quite some time. for me, what it is is when you are in places like gaza, and you

constantly have little kids coming up to you, surrounding you and talking to you, despite them having their homes blown up only moments earlier. they are the moment that you do definitely remember. and beyond that, it's meeting the people who have had their family members killed. this is something that all of us have to do in this job. it's just something that we have to confront most days in a conflict like that in gaza, it's not difficult to find people who have lost relatives and family members in the conflict. it's only later once you leave that it kind of hits you just how personal this is, that these are not simply victims, they are people. once you meet them. you can really understand what they are going through. the difficulty then is conveying that properly to television. >> a poignant note to end the segment on. thank you all. >> still ahead - from a lack of

proper health care to being awake and in fear. we speak to individuals on all sides. crisis about what they are experiencing on the ground and here in america. from comedy to cooking, the power of cultural activism in spreading one's cause. here are a couple of hash tags as well.

[ ♪ music ] >>. >> where there's great democracy there's great tragedy. we can change our attitudes about who gets to love and who gets to die. shooting randomly into a crowd is not the way to do it

welcome back. we are talking about the crisis in gaza and israel, doing it in a personal way, talking about the stories that the reporters don't get to tell, and the personal toll it's taking on palestinian families and the like. it's easy to lose the human element. >> voices from the ground have been powerful. i want to play selections of ordinary people caught in the crisis. >> a kindergarten in israel with sirens. sad to see small kids like that. >> it's terrible, my friend's sister is in gaza and the entire family is in one room, so no matter what happens, they are together. >> i'm in tel aviv seeing an opera, i'm the only american. it's terrible to hear bombs overhead. if it's my time i'd rather be

sleeping. >> i had a doctor stop treating him and his baby brother. >> people run to bomb shelters, wait for booms, and continue as if it's an ordinary friday. joining us now on set to talk about the personal impacts of the violence is saeed dora a palestinian american and son skype out of the israel an israeli citizen. from gaza in the occupied territories a gazan activist and from fireisland new york, a professor of jewish and religious studies and a rabbi. thank you for being here. saeed, you were born in michigan, grew up in maryland and have relatives in gaza. what have they been telling you? >> we are used to, first of all, relatives in gaza being a lot more brave than we think. we have a thunder storm, we hear the crack of thunder, we get scared.

but we are used to them saying it's no big deal no matter what we see. it is a big deal, they are huddled in their homes, and they are spreading through the house, they want to be in different places throughout the house. they are able to get help, but it's just battering. they are very worried, saying they are scared to death, sitting in dark rooms. the only things keeping the film lit, there are no explosions. >> typically, no matter what i see on the news, you can contact them and say it's just another tuesday, another wednesday. it's bad. how are israelis feeling and is there a sense that the government can bring this to an

end. >> they poison palestinian parents and children. there is a sense that the government has to protect its civilians. it's something that the israelis expect our government to do. life is changing. only - no, during the evening we slept with my friends, we drank beer. around 11 o'clock we had to run out for the circus. the neighbour next door opened the door, with a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old, and her husband was out. i was holding her baby, running down the staircase. another couple came out. they woke um, in their pyjamas. it was all in the first blow of the staircase thinking where is the peace they promised us, the hope they promised us, both people. this is something which is very

sad. when i looked on the baby eye, he didn't understand what was going on, staring at me. we think about the kids in israel living like that for 14 years k only having 15 seconds to run to shelter and the people of gaza living like that, victims of a situation for many years. there's a sense of frustration, a sense of where it is leading to. there is a sense that we have to act so the situation cannot go further. i have been struck by a lot of images and voice that is we heard, some of which we just played. sometimes there's the unexpected. i want to share part of this girl's story. it's a post that was shared on facebook, has been shared a lot, a young girl talking about her library, saying that she's afraid she'll lose her library. here is part of it:

>> she goes on to describe her personal possession, some things dearest, that she is afraid of losing. i want to ask you, what are some of the things that you think about when there's lives on the ground and things you might expect or not expect people would move in a moment when people thing it would end? >> personally for me, regardless of the obvious answer, family and friends, is to change daily lives. i think that we have an amazing daily life here. i think that the situation affects us all. it makes us think. and, yes, afraid of losing daily lives, we are afraid of losing the hope, basically, i think, is the most thing dearest to us, that peace can come in the

upcoming, and is something we are hoping for. mohammed, you were in gaza city as we did a technical check, we heard explosions in the background. what have the last few days been like for you? >> the last few days have been - i have lived through so many israeli shellings, and it's horrifying - people in gaza are staying in their homes, avoiding the streets. they believe if they run on the streets they are a targets, but people fleeing homes have been tarts for attacks -- targets for attacks. the atmosphere is one of fear. people who have been out in the

streets, children who were targeted, you know while they were on the beach or playing on the rooftops. everyone is trying to stay away from danger and they are frightened. we are hoping that we survive the israeli bombs and attacks. >> you teach at an american university. if you ask american jew and israeli jewing the same question, do you think you'll get similar answers or does distance distort reality? >> that's an interesting question. i think in many ways the distance sometimes distorts reality, at other times gives you a better perspective. i think that there are many israelis who are far to the left of many american jews. i think in a certain sense the

americans are really more unaware of the day to day reality of what occupation is. most american jew us - not all, but most - don't have a relationship to palestinians. most american jews when they visit israel, it's one of the things that the defense has done. it's kind of cut off the two societies. israelis - there's a strong right wing position. but on the other side many israelis are sympathetic to the palestinian cause. i agree with you. it's one of the comments that we got is from an israeli who had powerful words. i want to play them. >> there is no doubt that the current war is tragic, that a lot of innocent victims are losing their lives and getting hurt. we need to stop the bloodshed. let's make it sooner rather than

later. >> there was a sense of losing hope among israelis, and that's a terrible thing to lose hope. do you thick the palestinians -- think the palestinians are feeling the same way. >> i hope not. i feel the palestinians are almost at the point where it's a broken record. when are we going to catch a break. when are things going to improve, when are we going to, at this point - one of the happy yesterdays of your life. when you get married and have a child. how long would we have a child before they are caught in the rubble. and it's almost a numbers game. >> the cyclical nature of this takes its toll, i think, on everyone. thank you to all of our guests. they are going to stake around.

ahead... [ chanting ] >> our protests, the most effective way to prompt change. and could connecting shared emotions and experiences be the answer. the act of the culturalism when we come back. you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now véthe battle forc

only on al jazeera america [ ♪ music ] [ chants ] >> what we are looking for is an end to the siege, open the borders, let the gazans live and have human rights that everywhere else in the world enjoys. >> protests have spread across the globe and while political activism is the first go-to

reaction, we are joined by cultural agents of change to talk about a different approach. from washington d.c. is a palestinian blogger and author of "the gaza kitchen", and comedian saeed is with us in studio. you look at the serious issues through the prism of your comedy routine. i am sure you are criticised for it. what do you gain? >> honestly i almost gained the respect of the people in pal stipe, you know, the people -- palestine, you know, the people in the middle east. at the end of the day what is happening in gaza, this is not something i joke about, i do not joke about the cliche things, i don't talk about issues with airports. i don't do that comedy. my comedy is more than ode to them, almost to pay respect, to show i have not forgotten my culture, and looela is the same way, we haven't forgotten, we are in and here at the same

time. >> in terms of a type of activism. no matter how different or geography or beliefs or religion, things typify us. when you use comedy, you are tapping into something everybody experiences. is there a unity that you find in that. is there a bridge that you are creating. >> they say laughter sa universal language. when people try to recall articles they read. they can't remember who wrote it or what they say. when they quote john adjournment they say here is what they say, here is how it's said. when you get someone to laugh, it takes down the walls and allows them to see, hey, he's making a valid point. sometimes when you make those points on the stage, people say he literally tried to smack me just now. that is the best way to look at it. you raised an incredible

example of how humour and satire can be used as a tool. i want to show a clip from jon stewart. >> nothing stums up the asymmetrical nature more than a check this with the correspondents assigned to the beats. >> we have the view from the ground on both sides, starring with martin fletcher this tel aviv. [ laughs ] >> look at this. the gaza reporter looks like an extra from "the hurt locker" while the reporter in israel looks like he's going to bang out a stand up and head to a jimmy buffet concert. >> so, it's happening on both sides. if you take a look at israelis going into bombshelters in israel for example, taking a look at what you are seeing. a lot of people are making selfies saying:

>> she talks about the rockets. this is more than laughing, it is a coping mechanism, about doing more than that, right. >> absolutely. at the end of the day they are little things that i don't have to worry about, that my family has to worry about. i don't have to worry about bombs dropping. it brings people together. they say you never really trusted someone you said you didn't like. when i have people to like me, they trust me and listen to what i'm saying. at the end of the day there's a point made that israeli and palestinians, we are all heard. >> you are what a lot of people call a cultural activist, spreading knowledge through understanding. saeed uses comedy. you use food. talk about that? >> yes, food is obviously

something everyone wants to eat, even in situations of siege or war. you have to eat. and what basically my coauthor and i do is we use food as a narrative device to share of the palestinian experience. it's not just about the food per se, although it is unique in its own right. it's about sharing the stories of the palestinians of gaza. we have been removaling largely women, farmers, and others as well. and use the food to talk about the depopulation of the villages, the ethnic cleansing of the lands from which the palestinians came into gaza in 1948 and populated gaza, and made the food so interesting. again, we use the food as a narrative to talk about the current situation and the history. >> many ways to put the crisis into perspective.

thank you to all of our guests. until next time, we'll see you online. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we're following for you. >> russia and i president putinn particular have a responsibility to cooperate with the investigation. >> flight 17 in ukraine. this is secretary of state john kerry heading to egypt tin