Reuters Will Not Label Palestinian Terrorist Groups

Reuters is a global news agency whose stories are picked up and disseminated around the world. Its reporting is thereby magnified as it is often the only source about events in many parts of the world.

The agency has a history of actively choosing to whitewash the terrorism of Palestinian groups, opting instead to call them “militants” while simultaneously calling out other organizations.

Consider the P.K.K., the Kurdistan Working Party:

July 21, 2022: “...militants of the Kurdish PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. Ankara regards both as terrorist groups…. Cavusoglu said reports blaming Turkey for the attack were attempts by the PKK to hinder Ankara’s counter-terrorism…. ‘Following this attack, which we believe the (PKK) terrorist organisation carried out,‘”
June 29, 2022: “… it views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is also deemed a terrorist group by the United States and European Union.“
May 14, 2022: “…engaging with PKK and YPG. These are terrorist organisations that have been attacking our troops…. ‘it is unacceptable and outrageous that our friends and allies are supporting this terrorist organisation’“
April 21, 2022: “The military action was part of a long-running Turkish campaign in Iraq and Syria against militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, both regarded as terrorist groups by Ankara.“

Reuters similarly treats the terrorist group al-Shabaab in a similar fashion by clearly stating its objectives:

July 19, 2022: “…two al Shabaab terrorists were killed in action,“
April 5, 2022: “The al Shabaab group linked to al Qaeda…. Violence by the group, which aims to topple the central government and impose its own severe version of Islamic law,” didn’t specify terrorism but linked it to a well known terrorist group ad stated the groups goal to topple the government of Somalia.

Meanwhile, articles about Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas, Al-Aqsa Brigades and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are cleansed of the terrorist label and instead referred to as “militant groups” and “Islamists.”

July 24, 2022: “The Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militant group claimed the two Palestinians slain… which is ruled by Hamas Islamists.“
June 7, 2022: “…the enclave now governed by Hamas Islamists.“
May 27, 2022: “The Islamist group Hamas in Gaza has warned of another war…“
April 15, 2022: “…the armed Islamist group Hamas, which rules the enclave,“

People around the world reading Reuters are left with an impression that Hamas is somehow not out to destroy Israel, nor a designated terrorist group by the United States, European Union and many other countries. The group thereby becomes legitimized, in sharp contrast to how the media portrays other terrorist groups when it informs the world about the violent threats such groups pose.

Anti-Zionism is pervasive, and the media is an active participant in whitewashing the terrorism and genocidal aspirations of many Palestinian Arabs.