Terrorism Advocacy

I'm still thinking about Steven Erlanger's piece for the New York Times "Voted in, Hamas Sets a West Bank City Astir" One of the things that I find objectionable is this:

Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction and is regarded by Israel and the United States as a terrorist group, is fielding candidates in the Palestinian local and parliamentary elections.

Hamas does not 'advocate' Israel's destruction.

They do not argue that Israel should be destroyed.
They do not plead that Israel should be destroyed.
They do not support that Israel should be destroyed.

What Hamas does is randomly kill Israelis.
And has been know to kill the occasional Palestinian Arab.

But Hamas runs--and wins--in Palestinian elections.
And maybe it doesn't sound quite right to call elected officials 'militants'--especially now that the media has made the word 'militant' synonymous with 'terrorist'

So now Hamas 'advocates' Israel's destruction:

USA Today
"Israel tightened the screws on the Palestinian Authority as Abbas walks a fine line in his dealings with Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction."

Reuters
"Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, made significant inroads in last month's West Bank municipal elections."

ABC News
Israel tightened the screws on the Palestinian Authority as Abbas walks a fine line in his dealings with Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction

and even Islamic Jihad...

Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
Islamic Jihad advocates armed struggle for the liberation of Palestine

Of course there are exceptions:

The Scotsman
Speaking at Israel's foreign ministry in Jerusalem, Mr Straw sought to soothe his hosts' concerns that the meetings could signal a shift from the British and European Union position that Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction and has spearheaded a devastating suicide bombing campaign, is a terrorist organisation.

Yahoo
Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.

What happened to the good old days when the media reported the news instead of doing PR?

See: Hamas: The NYT Train of Thought

Technorati Tag: Israel and media bias.