RUTHFULLY YOURS

HONOR for DISHONOR

I perceive Moral Equivalence to be a comparatively new phenomenon – it surely wasn’t around during World War II, when we could distinguish our enemy from ourselves. But in an era where everything is reversed – truths are interchanged with lies, textbooks spew a revised history with fabrications and omissions, people cannot discern fiction from fact or promises from deeds; and the word “Peace” describes a severely brutal culture – we seem to have lost our moral compass.  We have reached a crossroads where we can just as readily show compassion to the abductor as the hostage because, after all, both were confined in the same edifice. 

This same perverted thinking is used to compare the exchange of fire between Israelis and Gazans.  There are many who cannot differentiate between those who began the rocketfire into civilian neighborhoods and soldiers firing in self-defense to thwart further attacks.  There are those who compare civilians killed in the first assault with civilians intentionally positioned to increase casualties in order to prove increased victimization.

Our logic has been warped by a deliberate intent to support a fallacy, an evil ideology, and such is the case at the Newseum, a Washington, DC museum that contains memorabilia of special news events, exhibits, programs, education, and more.  It holds an annual Journalists Memorial ceremony dedicated to truth-seeking correspondents who have fallen in the line of their duty to report the news.  But the museum’s mission statement is somewhat innocuous.  While the staff wishes to honor journalists, there is no reference to honorable journalists.  They claim to value a free press, but the journalists need not represent a free press.  Therefore, it would appear that journalists may still be honored for engaging in dishonorable activities and for reporting inaccuracies for a tyrannical regime’s political agenda.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Newseum educates the public about the value of a free press in a free society and tells the stories of the world’s important events in unique and engaging ways.

In its prominent location on historic Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the Newseum blends 500 years of news history, up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits for a one-of-a-kind museum experience.

The Newseum is a 501(c)(3) public charity and is funded by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. The Newseum does not accept government funds.

Such were Hassam Salama and Mahmoud al-Kumi, two employees of Al-Aqsa Television (a disreputable, propagandist medium), which, along with the Islamic National Bank (INB) of Gaza, is controlled by Hamas, a Global Terrorist organization.  Executive Order 13224, dated November 2010, froze all assets of INB and Al-Aqsa, and prohibited US citizens’ conducting transactions with them.       

The men were Hamas terrorists targeted by the Israel Defense Forces during Operation Pillar of Defense (Nov., 2012).  Now considered martyrs by their society, they are not honorable photojournalists who deserve veneration, but members of a society that burns the American flag and swears “Death to America, Death to Israel” in support of tyranny against democracy.  They were killed not as journalists, but as active Hamas operatives, and Al-Aqsa’s spokesman, Mohammad Thouraya, admitted his employees were “all part of the resistance.”

Nevertheless, The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, followed by Al Aqsa, professed that these journalists were killed in the line of duty.  The former requested evidence, from Israel, to prove their terrorist involvement, despite the obvious ties to Hamas. 

Fortunately, one need not support unethical museums. Washington has an endless variety of fascinating museums from which to choose and enjoy. 

 Tabitha Korol