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Civilization Jihad

If the West Will Not Distinguish Between Journalists and Jihadists, Why Should Anyone?

Journalists have a lot to lose if the line between themselves and terrorist-supporters is blurred. Free societies stand to lose even more.

BY Bruce Cornibe · | October 6, 2016

Journalists with integrity are essential in a free society.  They are the ones that deliver the facts to the public, which equips the public with the necessary information to make educated decisions. It is a sad fact that many journalists adhere to a biased political agenda.  However, we can still separate biased journalists from actual propagandists for terrorist organizations.  Or perhaps we can’t: the Newseum, that noted museum of journalism, doesn’t seem to make such distinctions.

This is manifested in the names of individuals on its Journalists Memorial, which include “staffers and representatives for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s state television, the Iranian mullahs’ Press TV and Hamas’ television station, Al-Aqsa TV[,]” according to the Washington Examiner. The Washington Examiner reveals two specific examples of Hamas ‘journalists’ on the memorial:

Hussam Salama and Mahmoud al-Kumi of Hammad’s creation, al-Aqsa TV, are among those listed, since their induction in 2013, as having died “in pursuit of the news.” Yet, news is not what Hamas and its TV channel are seeking to obtain.

Although Hammad only recently received his State Department classification as a terrorist, the network he founded was designated by the Treasury Department as a terrorist entity in 2008 [correction 2010] for airing “programs and music videos designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood.”

Indeed, according to a November 2012 report by scholar David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the channel and its website are “replete with violent images and exhortations to martyrdom, including explicit advocacy of terrorizing, killing, and dismembering ‘Zionists,’ whether soldiers or civilians.”

This hate speech and incitement to violence is regularly part of the “news network’s” programming. One can turn on the station and, as in one July 11, 2014 broadcast, listen to a Hamas field commander promise to give the skulls of Jews “for our children’s feet to play with at the Gaza World Cup,” as the non-profit organization Palestinian Media Watch noted.

Hammad has referred to the media as the “decisive weapon,” according to a February 2005 op-ed by terror analyst Matthew Levitt, the author of a book on Hamas. Levitt noted, “This is borne out in the Hamas charter, which highlights the importance of having ‘educators and teachers, information and media people'” to push the terror group’s agenda.

Despite, heavy criticism of the Hamas agents being honored as fallen journalists they remain part of the memorial. (Attached at the end of this article are screenshots of Salama and al-Kumi taken from the memorial’s website.) Not only were the two Hamas ‘journalists’ allegedly “part of the resistance” against the state of Israel, but were also praised in Hamas internet forums, according to The Washington Free Beacon:

Salama is identified in one post on a prominent Hamas Internet forum as ”mujahid” or martyr, as well as a “jihadi fighter.”

Al-Kumi is  identified in another forum post as a “martyr.” Pictures of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh meeting with al-Kumi’s family also are posted in the forum.

Newseum gave a response to BuzzFeed allegedly back in 2013 about why they admitted the two Hamas ‘journalists’ to the memorial, part of the reply stated:

The Newseum Journalists Memorial recognizes 2,246 journalists who died or were killed while reporting the news. To be listed on the memorial, an individual must have been a contributor of news, commentary or photography to a news outlet; an editor or news executive; a producer, camera operator, sound engineer or other member of a broadcast crew; or a documentary filmmaker.

Hussam Salama and Mahmoud Al-Kumi were cameramen in a car clearly marked “TV.” The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers all consider these men journalists killed in the line duty.

 

So, if ISIS had some ‘journalists’ in a car marked “TV” and they were killed in the same fashion, would they be inducted as well? Since when do we give credibility to terrorist organizations? Furthermore, ones that use their own civilians as human shields and ignore general rules of war?

The Newseum claims that it “promotes, explains and defends free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.” Apparently, free expression includes hatred and genocidal threats spewed by organizations that intentionally murder the innocent. First Amendment freedoms can be twisted to mean just about anything when a postmodern lens is used to interpret current events. For example, some Afghani locals viewed the Taliban as “freedom fighters” when they fought against the so-called American “occupation” – even though the Taliban is one of the most oppressive groups in the world, especially against women. Who are we in the West to say that they were wrong?

This is what happens when our perceptions become divorced from objective truth. Then we end up finding ourselves, unable to make sound judgements about different cultures and the ideas they espouse.  As one can see in the West this ultimately leads a civilization down a path of destruction because it has no foundation to stand on. As the West plays with words and meanings, it emboldens an Islamic civilization that is all too ready to provide clarity and stability.

Backgrounders

The Brotherhood in Europe

Many Brotherhood their leaders immigrated to Europe because the group was suppressed in Egypt following their attempt to overthrow the Nasser government. Foolishly, the CIA saw them as a partner in the Cold War against a godless Soviet Bloc.

A History of Violence & Jihad

“Allah is our objective; the Koran is our law; the Prophet is our leader; jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” (The Brotherhood's Motto)

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