Responsible news reports should either convey both
positions, or neither.
Myth 2: Yassin
was an impotent old man
BBC profiled Yassin as "a frail man who could
barely see. His voice was thin and quavering." The
Evening Standard prominently quoted the UK Foreign Secretary, who
said "he did not believe that Israel
would benefit from the killing of an old man in a wheelchair."
Actually, Yassin was in a wheelchair since age 12, when
a sporting accident left him paralyzed. It's self-evident, therefore,
that being wheelchair-bound never hampered Yassin's ability to
orchestrate unprecedented terror ― he founded
Hamas in 1987 and proved perfectly capable of building the
organization to its current strength from a sitting position.
Moreover, Yassin has had enough wherewithal in the recent years to
direct dozens of heinous terrorist attacks, leaving Yassin's hands
drenched in Israeli blood. After his death, the
New York Times recognized Yassin's "towering stature" ― despite his
physical handicap.
HonestReporting encourages readers to check that articles present this essential
information on Yassin's terror record.
AP completely omitted any reference to Yassin's connection to
terrorism until the final sentence of their report, and then only
referred to Israel "blaming" Yassin for "inspiring" Hamas bombers.
Myth 3: Yassin
was a 'spiritual leader' who deserved immunity
AFP, like most agencies, described Yassin as "the
Islamist movement's spiritual guide," which suggests to a western
audience that Yassin operated in a peaceful, contemplative realm aside
from the violence, and was therefore unfairly targeted by the IDF.
BBC went so far to say Yassin was "a
powerful inspiration for young Palestinians disillusioned with the
collapse of peace hopes,"
and BBC correspondent Zubeida Malik described Sheikh Yassin as
"polite, charming and witty, a deeply religious man." (as reported in
the London Times, March 23, 2004).
CNN calls Yassin a spiritual leader
(unquoted), but then puts scare quotes around Israel's reference to him as
a
"terrorist."
Actually, Yassin's brand of 'spirituality' is the very ideological and
emotional fuel that drives Palestinian (and worldwide Islamic)
terrorism, the plague of our age. Yassin continually called for suicide
terrorism as a religious obligation, and even said about
himself that "the day in which I will die as a shahid [martyr] will
be the happiest day of my life." (Al-Quds, July 26, 1998)
As Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman
Mark Sofer
said:
[Yassin] was not a spiritual leader. This term does
injustice to the term 'spiritual leader' and an insult to real
spiritual leaders. He was a terrorist mastermind.
Myth 4:
Israel's strike creates a western threat of Islamic terror
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American
flag burning at Hamas rally, 2001
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After Hamas released a statement that threatened radical Islamic
retaliation beyond Israel's borders,
AP called this an 'unprecedented' threat, triggered by Israel:
