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October 12, 2001/Tishri 25, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 5
The name of terrorismEditorialTerrorism is "the use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate and subjugate," according to Webster's dictionary. At issue is whether the events of Sept. 11 are best characterized as "terrorist attacks." The head of global news at Reuters says "no." In an internal memo, Stephen Jukes explains: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. ... It adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."Yet what happened Sept. 11 has demoralized and intimidated our nation. A Florida man dies of anthrax; another is exposed. Are they victims of a diabolical attack? Will a sneeze ever again just be a sneeze? Can we safely open our mail or dine at our favorite salad bar? At Sky Harbor Airport, a man is arrested with plastic utensils in his socks, trying to board a passenger flight, and claims he was acting in self-defense. The fruitless search for another man fleeing Sky Harbor security personnel shuts down for hours the largest terminal in one of the nation's busiest airports. Clearly, some people feel intimidated, demoralized and fearful in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Responsible journalism demands using words that most accurately describe reality. "Terrorist attack" describes what happened Sept. 11. Jukes, in the name of "objectivity," is hiding behind vocabulary and semantics. He further explains his decision as intended to protect his staff: "Our people are on the front lines, in Gaza, the West Bank, and Afghanistan. The minute we seem to be siding with one side or another, they're in danger." When a reporter enters a dangerous arena, the reporter is in danger. Period. Consider the journalists who attempted to report the Oct. 12, 2000, lynching of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah on the West Bank. The Palestinians threatened, punched and kicked them, then confiscated their film. Eschewing the word "terrorist" to describe what they saw, filmed and experienced would not have protected them. A terrorist by any other name is still a terrorist. |
