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AFP Headline, Hamas-Style

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AFP reports:

Hamas’s military wing said Wednesday one of its members was involved in an attack in the occupied West Bank, in what was thought to be the first such acknowledgement since a wave of violence began in October.

This is AFP’s headline:

 

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Why, having determined in the story that the statement came from Hamas’s military wing, does AFP attribute it in the headline to a party? AFP has distinguished Hamas’s military wing from its political wing in the story text, yet its headline implies otherwise.

Having presented a terror organization as a political group, AFP further downplays terror by referring to a terrorist as a “fighter.” We are unfortunately all too accustomed to seeing the term “militant” used to describe terrorists but “fighters” is possibly even worse, erasing any indication of the extremism of the subject and possibly even alluding to some sense of nobility involved in violent acts.

A request for an amended headline has been sent to AFP.

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With overall responsibility for HonestReporting’s content and output, Simon was part of the HonestReporting team from November 2005 to 2020, following several years working in a variety of non-profit organizations, including the Jewish Agency and the Board of Deputies of British Jews prior to immigrating to Israel in 2001 from London. In Israel, Simon has worked for BICOM and as Managing Editor of NGO Monitor as well as serving for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and a MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics.

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