NPR — a national disgrace

Alex Safian is the associate director of Camera (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America). In this piece for National Review Online, he reports on the unwillingness of National Public Radio to refer to the acts of Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel as “terrorism.” As Safian explains, NPR’s style guide, to which he links, defines terrorism as acts against “innocent victims.” It then warns its reporters not to “ape” government usage, and specifically points to the Israeli government as one that abuses the term “terrorism.” It concludes by telling journalists to judge for themselves whether the term should apply.
Using their judgment, NPR journalists routinely (and) reasonably label attacks on civilians throughout the world as “terrrorism.” But they decline to use the term when Jewish civilians in Israel are blown to pieces by Palestinian suicide bombers. One can only conclude that Israeli Jews have forfeited their “innocence” by virtue of being Israeli Jews.