One Man’s Terrorist is Another Man’s Clown

A highly misleading Newsweek story began with the absurd headline, “Israel Extends Palestinian Clown’s Detention Without Trial.” Yes, that’s the actual headline.

The Palestinian man in question, Mohammed Abu Saha, 24,  does perform as a clown, and it is certainly amusing to see Newsweek present the “Palestinian Circus School” as a legitimate source on security issues.

People give great weight to headlines, sometimes not even reading past the headline at all. And if you only skim headlines on Facebook or Twitter, you wouldn’t know that Saha was detained because he is also an accused member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally recognized terror organization.

Even so, Newsweek still couldn’t bring itself to use the word “terrorist,” instead calling the PFLP a “political group,” and saying that “Israel classifies PFLP as an extremist organization.” (Emphasis added).

This is a blatant misstatement: Israel does not classify the PFLP as an “extremist” organization.  An extremist organization could mean any group on the far end of a political spectrum, while a terror organization carries out an agenda through violence against civilians.

This is why Israel classifies the PLFP as a “terror” organization, as does Canada, the European Union and the United States. The PFLP’s “General Command” is also so designated by the United Kingdom.

In short, almost the entire Western world labels the PFLP a “Terror Organization” and calls its members “Terrorists.”  Yet Newsweek was was so eager to avoid using the T-word that the magazine committed clear journalistic bias, specifically misleading terminology. 

Why does Newsweek go to such great lengths to avoid calling terrorism what it is? Why create the impression that Israel had arrested an innocent clown at random? It almost seems as if Newsweek had a specific agenda to defend Mohammed Abu Saha, rather than presenting all the facts and allowing news readers to draw their own informed conclusions.

Saha’s not the only clown in this story, but Newsweek’s antics are no laughing matter.

For an in depth discussion of misleading terminology, take a look at our video:

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Featured image includes Illustrated circus magician vector designed by Freepik;