Israel Matzav

This Ongoing War: 10-Aug-06: Reacting to a "Thwarted" Terrorist Plot That Remains "Imminent"

At This Ongoing War, Arnold and Frimet make the connection between the terror plot exposed in London overnight, and what's going on here in Israel:

This Ongoing War: 10-Aug-06: Reacting to a "Thwarted" Terrorist Plot That Remains "Imminent":

The words 'militants' or 'activists' appear nowhere in any report. 'Terror' or 'terrorist' or 'terrorism' feature prominently in all reports. Appropriate for us to remind our friends at the BBC and the British media not to lose sight of the BBC's guidelines, online here, which provide: 'TERROR: We must report acts of terror quickly, accurately, fully and responsibly. Our credibility is undermined by the careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgements. The word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding. We should try to avoid the term, without attribution. We should let other people characterise while we report the facts as we know them.'

If you're watching BBC World on television right now, you'll get the message immediately. No matter what the BBC's guidelines say, on screen right now and for the past hour, in gigantic white letters on a bright scarey red background are the words TERROR PLOT. And rest assured, the word TERROR is not in quote marks. (And neither should it be.)

...

We note that the words "Islamic" and "Moslem" have not been mentioned in any of the reports. This is good, right and proper. What possible connection would anyone imagine there might be between Moslems and a massive threat of terror? The last thing on anyone's mind.

I assume that last paragraph is sarcastic :-) Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:46 PM