The Associated Press (AP) has decided that if you refer to Hamas as terrorists, you’re being too harsh. According to a report at the Washington Free Beacon, which reviewed some AP materials, the AP decided that “terrorism and terrorist have become politicized, and often are applied inconsistently,” and thus, “the AP is not using the terms for specific actions or groups, other than in direct quotations.”
The Beacon went on to explain that “Hamas, an Islamist militant group dedicated to the annihilation of Israel and Jews around the world, is classified as a terrorist organization by dozens of countries, including the United States and the European Union. Hamas has undertaken hundreds of terrorist attacks against civilians since 1993, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.”
So, terrorists are no longer terrorists. According to the AP, they’re now “militants.” Oh, and “Terms such as Hamas fighters, attackers or combatants are also acceptable depending on the context.”
The AP style, aka the Associated Press Style, provides guidelines for grammar and citations in news writing and reporting. It’s the style guide most newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets use, so it is a guideline for anyone who wants to work in journalism or media writing.
Not just writing; it was this leftist style of conformity that led reporters standing in front of burning buildings to refer to what was taking place as “mostly peaceful protests.” This style of journalism — whether written or verbal — lies to the American public.
So, what could have contributed to this most recent case of the soft peddling of language by the AP?
The Beacon also noted:
Bucking the “terrorist” label is one in a series of strange decisions by the Associated Press, which include once sharing office space in Gaza with Hamas. That office, which the AP used for 15 years, was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in May 2021. The Israeli Defense Force stated the building contained Hamas operatives and weapons, as well as an office for Islamic Jihad, another terrorist organization based in Gaza.
AP executive Gary Pruitt lamented at the time that his company was “shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.”
Here’s the problem with the AP’s claim of being “shocked” by the bombing: You can’t sleep with the enemy and then throw your hands up in dismay when the front door gets kicked in. The Free Beacon reported that “An Israeli Defense Force source said at the time that Associated Press reporters were aware who their neighbors were. And The Atlantic reported in 2014 that Associated Press staffers in the Gaza office could see terrorists stationed next to their building launch rockets into Israel. Despite their proximity, the Associated Press never reported the rocket launches, which endangered the group’s staff and nearby civilians.”
This is the organization that tries to protect Joe Biden’s border disaster by telling journalists to stop using terms like “surge” when describing the flood of illegals crossing the southern border. It also wanted outlets to use terms such as “unrest” instead of “rioting” after the George Floyd debacle. The AP’s attempt to manipulate the emotions of American citizens through biased reporting and the massaging of the written word is repulsive.
Exclusively for our VIPs: Welcome to ‘Pallywood,’ Where Crisis Actors, Fake News, and Media Lie About the Israel/Hamas War
As Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it. Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.”
Perhaps the Associated Press should send that quote to its journalists.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member