Daniel J. Pipes

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"Freedom fighters"? Even they refer to themselves as "terrorists"!

Reader comment on item: [Beslan Atrocity:] They're Terrorists - Not Activists

Submitted by alvin_day (Israel), Oct 4, 2004 at 22:08

Those who say avoiding the term "terrorist" makes news items neutral, must have their tongues deep in their cheeks. It is clear that the term "terrorist" is cleansed in order to protect the one side which employs terrorism. The proposition that by removing the term, news items become "neutral" is ridiculous, since they are given other names which have their own connotations. Thus, the news item is still telling you how to view these people. It is not 'being neutral'!

An an aside, not only have various Palestinians referred to their terrorist groups as "terrorist" groups (although they do this for Western consumption, when they wish to be seen to be against these terrorist actions) but it is clear that Arafat himself views Palestinian actions as terrorism!

Arafat himself, recently, called for the Palestinians to "terrorise your enemy"!
(http://wcco.com/topstories/topstories_story_136084956.html)

The idea that he simply felt like reading the Koran to his people and his fingers just happened to alight on to this particular command is particularly ridiculous.

Thus, even the pathetic argument that "we can't call them terrorists because they call themselves freedom fighters" simply flies out the window!

Truth will only triumph when people cherish it. Currently, there are too many people who don't.

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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