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BBC refuses to label Hamas...as 'terrorists'

Excerpt from:

THE BBC AND THE MIDDLE EAST, AN ANALYSIS, DECEMBER 2002

TREVOR ASSERSON

The State Department and the UK Government classify Hamas and Islamic Jihad as terrorist organisations Palestinians have used the word 'terror' to describe attacks on Israeli civilians The BBC has failed to change its policy toward use of the word “Terrorist.”

The BBC frequently shows partiality in its choice of language. Most notably the BBC has failed to change its policy toward use of the word “Terrorist.”

The Terrorism Act 2000 defines “terrorism” as:

“the use or threat of…. serious violence against a person… where the use or threat is designed to influence the Government or to intimidate the public… and is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause”

Terrorism Act 2000 S.1 (1) and (2) [42]

The U.S. Department of State has defined ‘terrorism’ as:

“ premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.”[43]

The Department of State and the U.K. Government classify Hamas and Islamic Jihad as terrorist organisations’.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Jack Straw have both referred to Palestinians responsible for attacks on Israeli citizens as Terrorists.[45]

The EU has added a number of Palestinian groups to its terrorist black list. These include Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Palestine Liberation Front, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, The Abu Nidal Organisation and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.[46]

The BBC refuses to label Hamas and Islamic Jihad as 'terrorists', instead using the term 'militants', 'hard-liners', or 'radical'.

The BBC refers to bombings of Israeli civilians as 'attacks' or 'suicide bombings'.

When suicide bombers killed 26 Israeli civilians in attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, the word 'terror' was used by the BBC only when describing Israel's retaliatory attacks on Palestinian targets.

"Such misappropriation is absurd when even Palestinian moderates in Jerusalem describe the suicide bombers as 'terrorists'."

Iain Duncan Smith, Chairman of the Conservative Party

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