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Headline Fail: Terrorists as “Political Prisoners”

Reporting on the likely release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as part of moves to revive peace talks, The Independent publishes this headline: In the article, The Independent states that most of the prisoners…

Simon Plosker
July 28, 2013
12:00 am

Reading time: < 1 minutes

Reporting on the likely release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as part of moves to revive peace talks, The Independent publishes this headline:

In the article, The Independent states that most of the prisoners are serving sentences for “violent offences.”

So what makes these “political prisoners?” This is a term commonly used to describe those who are jailed by repressive, non-democratic regimes as prisoners of conscience or political opponents.

It does not usually refer to prisoners who have carried out acts of terror or violent criminal acts.

Unless The Independent believes that it is a legitimate form of political protest for Palestinians to murder Israeli women and children.

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Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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