The Times Sanitizes Hamas

The Hamas Brand of 'Armed Resistance' -- Jerusalem, 2003

The front page of the New York Times today contains a feature story on the Hamas takeover of a town on the West Bank. But this is not the Hamas that is known and loved by all for its sacred mission of mass-murdering civilians. According to Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief Stevie Erlanger, this is an "armed resistance" group.

Erlanger used the term twice in his article, thereby adopting terrorist terminology that sanitizes this murderous group. To Erlanger, Hamas's bloodlust is not an oft-proven fact, proudly hailed by Hamas wherever its slimy presence is evident, but is nothing more than just an allegation -- how it is "regarded by Israel and the United States."

The group's tactics -- suicide bombings targeting women and children and rockets fired into civilian areas -- are nowhere mentioned in the story.

Erlanger is, of course, the author of the infamous error-filled puff-piece on a Jerusalem hotel keeper, which ran the other day. Still no correction of those errors, or of Erlanger's earlier article conveniently "forgetting" Palestinian obligations under the Road Map for Peace.

Yoo hoo! Empty Suit! Wake up, Barney. Get off the divan. I want to hear how you're going to excuse this latest example of your employer's longstanding, blatant anti-Israel bias.

UPDATE: Timeswatch's take on Erlanger's latest atrocity.

UPDATE: IRIS today on another Erlanger piece on a poor, poor Palestinian boy being innocently slain by the brutal Israelis -- ignoring how Palestinian children are being systematically used as cannon fodder by being given real-looking phony guns, in the hope of provoking Israeli troops to fire. The aim is to get sympathetic press coverage from a brainless pro-Palestinian hack -- and in this case, it worked beautifully.