JAMES TARANTO
EU Gets a Clue
"European Union foreign ministers meeting in Italy on Saturday declared that the political wing of Hamas was a terrorist organization following the group's claim of responsibility for the bus bombing attack in Jerusalem in mid August which killed 22 Israelis," the Jerusalem Post reports. The Boston Globe, however, isn't sure if a group that murders civilians on buses deserves to be called "terrorist." The paper's ombudsman, Christine Chinlund, explains its position:
To tag Hamas, for example, as a terrorist organization is to ignore its far more complex role in the Middle East drama. The word reflects not only a simplification, but a bias that runs counter to good journalism. To label any group in the Middle East as terrorist is to take sides, or at least appear to, and that is not acceptable. The same holds true in covering other far-flung conflicts. One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter; it's not for journalists to judge.
The only "freedom" Hamas is pursuing, however, is freedom from Jews, whom it seeks to exterminate. By the Globe's lights, we suppose this would make Hitler a "freedom fighter" too. Hey, who's to judge?
Speaking of Nazis, here's an Associated Press dispatch from Paris in which reporter John Leicester tries to out-Reuter Reuters:
France will compensate thousands of people whose parents were victims of "Nazi barbarity" in World War II, including those killed in massacres or for resisting the German occupation, the government said Saturday.
So we need scare quotes around "Nazi barbarity"? |
