Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

154 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 1:139
how do you expect the small Palestinian Authority to do so? 54
Use of the term “terrorism”–which can be defined as “the use of violence
against non-combatants, civilians or other persons normally considered
to be illegitimate targets of military action for the purpose of attracting
attention to a political cause, forcing those aloof from the struggle to join in,
or intimidating opponents into concessions” 55 –should not depend on interpretative
consensus, but on violation of law. Arguably, there is no more
appropriate word to describe suicide bombings or other aggression against
civilians.
Yet National Public Radio likewise consistently refuses to call homicidal
attacks by Palestinian Arabs against Israeli civilians terrorism–although
it regularly uses the term to describe the activities of Al Qaeda and other
radical Islamic groups around the world. 56 NPR vigorously denies this criticism,
despite thoroughgoing documentation by various watchdog groups,
most notably the Committee on Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in
America (C.A.M.E.R.A.). 57 What NPR cannot deny is the reality of the
widespread perception in this context, including that by several members of
Congress. 58
A similar taboo appears to be firmly in place at both the Washington
Post and the New York Times, widely considered among the most respected
newspapers in the United States. Both choose to use the term “militant”
(occasionally preferring the somewhat more neutral “gunman” or “fighter”)
instead of “terrorist”–even when they refer to members of groups formally
designated as “terrorist organizations” by the United States State Depart-
54. Andrea Levin, C.A.M.E.R.A., Eye on the Media: The BBC Goes to War,
March 30, 2001, http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context’4&x_outlet’12&x_
article’335.
55. CHARLES W. FREEMAN, THE DIPLOMAT’S DICTIONARY 379
(1994). For a list of other definitions, see Alex Schmid, War Crimes Research
Symposium: “Terrorism on Trial”: Terrorism - The Definitional Problem, 37 Case
Western Reserve Journal of International Law 375 (2005).
56. Alex Safian, “NPR’s Terror Problem: When Is a Terrorist a Terrorist?,”
National Review Online, June 10, 2003, available at http://article.nationalreview.
com/?q=NGRiNGEwOWQzYjhmY2VkMThjN2M4Y2UyZDdiZDM5YmM=./
57. See http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=4&x_outlet=28&x_article
=487.
58. NPR’s longtime reporter in the region, Linda Gradstein, has often been pilloried
as overly sympathetic to the Palestinian position. At first she appeared very
willing to be interviewed for an article by the author, to talk either on or off the
record; but in the end she was constrained by her bosses back in Washington.
They’re extremely sensitive about this.