NYT SOFT-PEDALS TERRORIST'S TRUE CHARACTER

Soft-Pedaling the Past of an Anti-Israeli Terrorist
Today's NYT has a front-page story from Jerusalem by Greg Myre on convicted anti-Israeli terrorist Marwan Barghouti's announcement (from prison) that he's running for president of the Palestinian Authority.

But the Times refuses to call the terrorist Barghouti a terrorist. It even puts the word in quotation marks as if it's a possibly dubious Israeli claim, although Barghouti was convicted of five counts of terrorism by an Israeli court: "In the 1990's, Mr. Barghouti maintained contacts with the Israelis, who viewed him as a future leader with potential. But that changed with the second intifada. Now the Israelis routinely describe Mr. Barghouti as a 'terrorist,' and if he were to win the Palestinian election, it seems unlikely that Israel would work with him, even from his prison cell."

Not until the 22nd paragraph does Myre bring up why Barghouti is in prison in the first place: "In contrast, Mr. Barghouti made his reputation with impassioned speeches to young Palestinians clashing in the streets with the Israeli security forces in the current uprising, which began in September 2000. He insisted he was just a politician. However, Israel said he orchestrated many of the attacks by Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a militant faction linked to Fatah. Al Aksa members have been reluctant to talk about the specifics of Mr. Barghouti's role, but they clearly have viewed him as a much-admired leader. Mr. Barghouti was arrested in April 2002 near Ramallah. Israel charged him with involvement in 26 killings, and he was convicted in five of the deaths."

The Times demonstrated similar soft-pedaling concerning Barghouti's terrorist history two weeks ago in a story from former Jerusalem bureau chief James Bennet.