1y ago

Why BBC doesn't call Hamas militants 'terrorists' - John Simpson

www.bbc.co.uk Why BBC doesn't call Hamas militants 'terrorists' - John Simpson

It's simply not the BBC's job to tell people who to support and who to condemn, writes the BBC's World Affairs editor.

I guess not strictly news - but with all of the vitriol I have seen in discussions on the Israel situation, that have boiled down to arguments over wording, I feel that this take from the BBC is worthy of some discussion.

Mods, feel free to remove if this is not newsy enough.

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174 comments

This is hardcore and I respect the shit out of it
- No, it's announcing their cowardice. They use 'terrorist' for any other non-Israel/Palestine attack (9/11, London Bridge, 7/7, etc) so the entire argument is invalid.
  The lawyers told them not to because everyone's scared of being called anti-semitic, that's all
  
  I approve of it. Terrorist is a loaded term designed to draw an emotional response from the reader. Every nation could be called a terrorist organization. Any rebellion could be called terrorists. It's not a useful term. It's especially not useful in this case because the number killed by Israel is so much higher than Hamas.
  Terrorist is generally just a term used to describe those without power using the tools of their oppressor against them. Fear and violence are only "allowed" to be used if you're the one with power, for whatever reason. It's stupid.
  Domestic attacks and attacks against allies will be called terrorist attacks obviously, because they see value in supporting the status quo.
  
  Well sure, I agree. But the BBC isn't taking the moral high ground here. They have previously and will again use the word 'terrorist' to evoke an emotional response for international attacks.
  It's a decision that senior lawyers are criticising - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/11/bbc-not-calling-hamas-terrorists-ofcom-top-lawyers/
  Interestingly, on their Bitsize page, they describe the Palestinian Liberation Front as a terrorist group, which is true. The mere fact that they have a page on 'terrorism' indicates that they don't take a moral position against the word, just against calling Israel (and Israeli factions/allies) terrorists - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy7nqhv/revision/1
  
  The lawyers told them not to because everyone’s scared of being called anti-semitic, that’s all
  Honest question, how would labelling the Hamas as terrorists get them to be called anti-semitic?
  Anti-semitic, as far as I know, means "against Jews" both in academics and colloquially. Hamas aren't Jews.
  Maybe you meant something like islamophobe instead?

174 comments