By Tabitha Korol
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 when 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
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