What did the world's media call the murderers of four Israelis in Eli this week?
Almost all called them "gunmen."
And also Haaretz.
Outside of mainstream Israeli and Jewish media, I could only find Fox News using the word "terrorist."
There are two things that are strange about this.
One is that the EU and US State Department didn't hesitate to call the attack "terrorist."
If the major Western governments consider these attacks to be terror attacks, why does the media have such a problem with it?
The standard answer we always hear is a variant of "one person's terrorist is another person's 'freedom fighter." But the media uses the word "terrorist" in other contexts.
June 18, New York Times: "Dozens of Students Killed in Terrorist Attack on Ugandan School"
June 12, NBC News: "U.S. forces are operating in Syria to fight the Islamic State terrorist group."
June 22, CBS News: "Adel Daoud, man convicted of terrorism plot in Chicago's Loop, to be resentenced"
February 2, BBC: "Four guilty of helping jihadist in terror attack"
Clearly, there is no reluctance to call some people or groups "terrorist." But when it comes to Palestinians or even Hamas, the mainstream media falls back on euphemisms like "militant" or "gunmen."
Clearly, there is no reluctance to call some people or groups "terrorist." But when it comes to Palestinians or even Hamas, the mainstream media falls back on euphemisms like "militant" or "gunmen."
What makes Palestinians different?
The rules are always different when Israel is involved, and Jews being murdered is no exception. There is no controversy about this: Hamas freely admits that its goals are terror. But to the media, there are always mitigating circumstances for Arabs murdering Jews.
It's a clear double standard for Israel, saying that Israeli Jews being massacred is not quite as bad as others murdered in terror attacks. There is a small amount of Jewish responsibility for being killed.
