Haniyeh was recently assassinated in Tehran. Despite his monstrous deeds over the decades, some prominent media lamented the passing of what they called a “moderate.”

Likewise, many media attempt to whitewash Hamas terrorists and the group itself, which is designated by the United States, Canada, the UK, EU and Japan as a terrorist organization. Strikingly, mainstream media doggedly avoid the label, preferring to call Hamas terrorists “fighters,” “militants,” or “gunmen.” Encyclopedia Brittanica says that Hamas is merely a “militant Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movement,” avoiding the terrorist designation.

But the word terrorism means something. It describes violent acts directed at innocent civilians to achieve a political or military objective. It’s the precise word for what Palestinians—and especially Hamas—do on a daily basis.

Indeed, Palestinians have honed their terrorism tactic over decades to a gruesome, deadly skill, which they’ve used to kill and injure thousands of Israelis in suicide bombings of public buses, restaurants and religious events.

But Hamas has taken terrorism to new levels—from their targeting of some 10,000 rockets at Israel’s civilian centers, to the barbaric October 7^th massacre, in which they mutilated, raped and kidnapped some 1,500 innocent children, elderly, mothers and fathers.

When a media organization chooses not to describe such acts as terrorism—but rather to use words like “resistance”—they are lying. But more than lying— under the cover of “journalism,” they promote a radical-left political line, which in Hamas’s case is justification to kill Jews as part of a global Islamist jihad.

Indeed, much media coverage of Hamas supports the terrorist group’s false narrative that they are a liberation movement fighting for Palestinian independence, rather than for the Islamic state they clearly describe in their official charter.

The media’s whitewash of Haniyeh, Hamas and its savage terrorist minions openly serves to support campus radicals who call for genocide in Israel “from the river to the sea.” These media lies also falsely excuse the Biden administration’s restrictions on weapon shipments to Israel and its calls for an immediate ceasefire, preventing Israel’s destruction of Hamas.

Haniyeh was no “moderate”: For 30 years he developed an organization of monsters. While media in the 1930s often made excuses for Adolf Hitler’s aggression, they never called him a moderate. But that’s exactly what the BBC and the Washington Post called Haniyeh. CNN called him a “moderating force,” while the Wall Street Journal described him as “the strongest voice advocating for a cease-fire.” Yet, Haniyeh bore responsibility for all Hamas’s evils—from expelling the Palestinian Authority from Gaza in 2007, to throwing members of the Fatah ruling party from rooftops and bombing Israeli population centers, to the October 7 mass murder. He is also an undisputed war criminal for headquartering Hamas military forces in and under civilian residences, schools, hospitals and mosques. No wonder the U.S. named him a “specially designated global terrorist.”

The media disguise Hamas as if they are not terrorists at all. Indeed, Al Jazeera describes the group’s genocidal acts as “armed resistance,” as does PBS, which used the same term to describe Hamas in an article published just three days after the October 7^th massacre.

The BBC justifies not calling Hamas terrorists, saying. “It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn—who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.” This moral agnosticism is arrogant nonsense. The dictionary definition of terrorism is not subjective, does not take sides: The term applies unequivocally to Hamas’s actions, which are evil.

The Hamas charter clearly defines itself as a genocidal terrorist movement. Its preamble reads, “Israel . . . will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” It continues, “There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.” Furthermore, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” Hamas doesn’t only advocate “armed resistance.” It advocates armed genocide.

Hamas has the blood of thousands of innocents on their hands. Even before October 7, Hamas terrorist attacks have killed thousands of Israelis and citizens of other countries. The terrorist group purposely targets civilians with suicide bombings, shootings, stabbings, car rammings, and thousands of rockets launched at Israeli communities.

Hamas ruthlessly oppresses their own people. Though Gazans are oppressed by the cruel tyranny of the Hamas dictatorship—with no civil liberties, no rule of law, arbitrary arrests, torture, oppression of women, theft of humanitarian aid, use of human shields—the media unconscionably ignore these conditions. Nor do they mention that Hamas repeatedly provokes war against Israel and is responsible for tens of thousands of war dead in Gaza.

The media’s whitewash of Hamas and their crimes encourages the “ceasefire hoax.” Media coverage of Hamas promotes the terrorist group’s false narrative that they are fighting for Palestinian self-determination—and the lie that Israel is responsible for Gazans killed in the war that Hamas started. These myths also support the Biden Administration’s pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire and its cutting off weapon supplies.

More than harming Israel, the media cover-up of Hamas’s monstrosities betrays the United States.  Only a tiny minority of nations have democracies as strong as Israel’s, no nation so consistently supports U.S. security interests on the ground in the Middle East and in international forums, and few nations engender so strongly the political and religious values on which the United States was founded.  Any narrative that portrays Hamas as the “good guy” and Israel the “bad guy” is not just false, it betrays the U.S.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that whitewashing the evil of the Hamas terrorist group is not only a travesty and an injustice against the Jewish state, it’s a betrayal of America’s interests and values. As surely as Hamas opposes Israel, it’s also a proxy of global jihadist Iran and as such, also viciously wishes death to the United States.

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,

James Sinkinson, President

Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.      The riots, vandalism and illegal trespassing on American college campuses have sharpened the knives of the Israel haters. It’s become clear that the “pro-Palestinian” protesters are purely anti-Israel and support the genocide of Jews “between the river and the sea.” Scandalously, we’ve also seen hard evidence that university administrators are willing to ignore or openly support the antisemitic hate speech and harassment of Jewish students—though they would never permit such behavior against other minorities. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of Jewish students and hate-free campuses need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Stop Terrorism on Campus”—calls for four actions to eliminate campus outlaws and to restore rights to all students. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME recently published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Mercury News. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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