Israel Matzav

When a terrorist writes an op-ed

Simon Wiesenthal Center director Rabbi Marvin Hier takes the New York Times and Washington Post to task for last week's op-eds by Ahmed Yousef.

There is a world of difference between quoting someone in a news story, be it Hitler or bin Laden, and giving him a byline and conferring legitimacy upon him in the nation’s most respected newspapers. If the criteria is simply because it was an important story then, I assume, that if the mass murderer at Virginia Tech left behind a diatribe explaining his actions, it also would have been worthy of a byline.

The facts are that Hamas has been responsible for the worst kind of mass murder and maiming deliberately directed against thousands of unsuspecting, innocent civilians – men, women and children - on busses, in shopping malls and in restaurants. To confer upon their leaders an aura of respectability is obscene and irresponsible.

Let us not forget that, like Hamas, Hitler also sought election through the democratic process. But, once he took power, he made it clear that, just like Hamas, his god was the bullet, not the ballot.

Newspapers have every right to inform their readers about what’s happening in the world, including statements by dictators and despots. But what they don’t have the right to do is to allow people like Dr. Joseph Mengele, who experimented on victims at Auschwitz, to write an editorial about his experiences there, even if it could be argued that he had something important to say.

The best way to lower the standards of journalism is to have terrorists as fellow contributors.

Why is it that the media cannot understand the difference between reporting what is newsworthy and giving evil a byline?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:58 PM