Newseum takes terrorists off honoree list

As those who read Ian's linkdumps know:

The famed Newseum, the museum of journalism and news located in Washington, D.C., has found itself in the middle of a major argument over the honouring of two dead Hamas terrorists that some claim were simply journalists in the Palestinian territories.

The Newseum plans to add Mahmoud Al-Kumi and Hussam Salama to its "Journalists Memorial" which honours those killed while reporting the news. But the two men were cameramen for Al-Aqsa, Hamas's propaganda network, and thus qualify as Hamas operatives and therefore terrorists.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Jordan, Japan, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

"Mahmoud Al-Kumi and Hussam Salama were Hamas operatives and cameramen for Hamas’ Al-Aqsa television network, which regularly features programming that encourages and praises attacks on Israeli civilians. The IDF targeted Al-Kumi and Salama on Nov. 20," says the Israel Defense Forces website. Palestinian media confirm that the two men were indeed Hamas operatives.

There was a large backlash from many quarters, pointing out that honoring terrorists is hardly honorable. Even if they were not actively fighting (and that is by no means a given,) there should be a difference between a legitimate journalist and someone who peddles terrorist propaganda.

Even though it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference.

The good news came this morning:

A few minutes ago, the Newseum’s manager of media relations sent out this statement:

Serious questions have been raised as to whether two of the individuals included on our initial list of journalists who died covering the news this past year were truly journalists or whether they were engaged in terrorist activities.

We take the concerns raised about these two men seriously and have decided to re-evaluate their inclusion as journalists on our memorial wall pending further investigation.

Terrorism has altered the landscape in many areas, including the rules of war and engagement, law, investigative and interrogation techniques, and the detention of enemy combatants. Journalism is no exception.

To further our First Amendment mission to provide a forum where all may speak freely, the Newseum will establish a new initiative to explore differing views on the new questions facing journalism and journalists.

The names of the two Al-Aqsa TV ‘journalists’ have also been removed from the Newseum website.

I previously discussed how terrorists use journalists as cover here.

Now is a good time to repost my video about one of Al Aqsa TV's programs, Pioneers of Tomorrow, with its curiously short-lived mascots: