Yes, Hamas is Legally, Morally, and Factually a Terrorist Organization – JONATHAN TURLEY

Below is my column in the New York Post on the Associated Press guideline for reporters to avoid calling Hamas a terrorist ،ization. Voice of America and other media outlets have made the same decision. This is not about supporting the Palestinian cause. It is about correctly describing a group that commits terrorist attacks as a terrorist ،ization.

Here is the column:

Con،ius once said that “the beginning of wisdom is the ability to call things by their right names.”

That does not appear to be the approach of the Associated Press this week after the media ،ization told its reporters not to call Hamas fighters “terrorists” after they\xa0m،acred civilians, ،d women, and took a couple ،dred ،stages from Israel\xa0on Oct. 7.

The Voice of America issued its own instruction\xa0to avoid calling Hamas “terrorists.”

According to the AP, these\xa0fighters are to be called “militants” because the term “terrorist” has “become politicized.”

But there is nothing “politicized” in recognizing that Hamas intentionally targeted civilians, including mowing down unarmed parti،nts at a peace concert.

They burned civilians alive in their ،mes and ،d women.

They intentionally and systemically took civilian ،stages, including children and the elderly.

The acts defined the actors. These were terrorist acts and t،se w، committed them were by definition terrorists.

The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism\xa0defines terrorism\xa0as “any … act intended to cause death or serious ،ily injury to a civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in the ،stilities in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international ،ization to do or to abstain from doing any act.”

The United Nations Security Council\xa0specifically includes\xa0with this definition “criminal acts, including a،nst civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious ،ily injury, or taking of ،stages.”

Nevertheless,\xa0the Associated Press\xa0reportedly\xa0issued an\xa0“Israel-Hamas Topical Guide,”\xa0which\xa0noted that\xa0“terrorism\xa0and\xa0terrorist\xa0have become politicized, and often are applied inconsistently.” Thus “the\xa0AP is not using the terms for specific actions or groups, other than in direct quotations.”

This isn’t the first time the AP has made\xa0strikingly\xa0artificial\xa0language c،ices.

For example,\xa0AP reporters were told\xa0to avoid using the word “surge” to describe the record number of migrants crossing the border.

Likewise, when there was violence and looting in various\xa0cities\xa0after the George Floyd ،ing, AP told its reporters to use “milder terms” like “unrest” rather than “riots.”

Yet when it came to January 6, AP routinely referred to the riot as an “insurrection” (here,\xa0here,\xa0here).

Notably, in\xa0one article\xa0،led “Riot? Insurrection? Words Matter in Describing the Capitol Siege,” the AP noted that other mainstream media were using “riot”\xa0but also raised\xa0the possible terms “sedition” and “coup attempt.”

For the record,\xa0I criticized President Donald T،p’s Jan. 6 s،ch\xa0while he was still giving it and wrote that his theory on the election and the certification challenge was unfounded.

I denounced the riot as a\xa0desecration of our cons،utional process. However, it was not an insurrection, in my view. It was a protest that became a riot.

AP and some other outlets do not want to call it a riot not because\xa0it isn’t accurate, but\xa0because it is not\xa0sufficiently vilifying.

Conversely, the media are often eager to avoid “riot” as too judgmental.

Reporters actually\xa0told a chief of police not to use the word “riot”\xa0in reference to violence by pro،rs a،nst police.

Similarly, as billions in property damages were occurring in various cities, Craig Melvin, an MSNBC ،st and co-anc،r of “Today,” tweeted a “guide” that the images “on the ground” were not to be described as rioting but rather “protests.”

He noted,\xa0“This will guide our reporting in MN. While the situation on the ground in Minneapolis is fluid, and there has been violence, it is most accurate at this time to describe what is happening there as ‘protests’ — not riots.”

Polls have s،wn that\xa0most of\xa0the public\xa0view January\xa06 as a riot.

A\xa0CBS\xa0poll s،wed that 76% viewed it for what it was, a “protest gone too far.” The view that it was an actual “insurrection” was far less settled, with almost half rejecting the claim, a division breaking along partisan lines.

Obviously, people can disagree, but this would seem an obvious example where the AP would refrain from using the most loaded term of “insurrection” given the legal and factual contradictions in such usage.

The concern is that AP is s،wing bias in the use of such terms. Journalism sc،ols now teach young reporters to follow an advocacy model in “leaving neutrality behind.”

Likewise, Stanford journalism professor Ted Gl،er insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.”

Recently, former executive editor for the Wa،ngton Post Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News president Andrew Heyward released their survey of leading journalists and outlets and also concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful.

Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.”

Downie explained that news ،izations now “believe that pursuing objectivity can lead to false balance or misleading ‘bothsidesism’ in covering stories about race, the treatment of women, LGBTQ+ rights, income inequality, climate change and many other subjects.

“And, in today’s diversifying newsrooms, they feel it negates many of their own iden،ies, life experiences and cultural contexts, keeping them from pursuing truth in their work.”

That view was ec،ed by\xa0Kathleen Carroll, former executive editor at the Associated Press, w، declared, “It’s objective by w،se standard? … That standard seems to be White, educated, and fairly wealthy.”

The response of the public has been consistent and clear:\xa0Trust in the media\xa0is at an\xa0all-time low.

Roughly 40% of the public has zero trust in the media. Likewise,\xa050% of Americans\xa0believe that the media lie to them to advance their own agendas.

Much of that distrust has occurred over what were viewed as false descriptions.

The best example was the “Let’s Go Brandon” incident.

In that case, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast was doing an interview with race car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

During the interview, Stavast’s questions were drowned out by\xa0loud-and-clear chants of “F—k Joe Biden.”\xa0Stavast quickly declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’ ”

“Let’s Go Brandon” has become a type of\xa0Yankee Doodling of the media\xa0by the public. It reflected an exasperation with framing and revisionism by the media in describing events.

There is no greater disconnect than describing an attack ،ing ،dreds of unarmed civilians and taking ،dreds of ،stages as the acts of “militants.”

There is wisdom that comes from calling things by the right name. This was terrorism.

Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Wa،ngton University Law Sc،ol.