The terrorist shootings and bombings that murdered over 100 people in Paris on Friday were carried out by the group known as ISIS (Islamic State), but there was little discussion of Islam in the front-page coverage of the massacres in Saturday's New York Times. Downplaying Islamic terrorism is a pattern at the Times, as shown by the paper's coverage of the massacre by Islamic terrorists of the staff of the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo newspaper.
While there was not (yet) absolute proof of ISIS involvement by the Friday edition deadline, the Times still demonstrated an unseemly reluctance in Saturday's print edition to talk seriously about the probable identification of the terrorists, despite their own reporting that witnesses heard shouts of "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") inside the Bataclan concert hall, where the largest massacre occurred -- and in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre by Islamic extremists in Paris back in January.
Saturday's Times contained only spotty mentions of the highly relevant words "Islam," "ISIS," "Islamic State," or "Muslim."
The lead story, "Paris Attacks Kill More Than 100, Police Say; Border Controls Tightened," by Adam Nossiter and Rick Gladstone, waited nine paragraphs before indirectly hinting:
The casualties eclipsed by far the deaths in Paris during the massacre at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and related assaults around the French capital by Islamic militant extremists less than a year ago....There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Twitter erupted with celebratory messages by members and sympathizers of the Islamic State, the extremist group based in Syria and Iraq that is under assault by major powers, including the United States, France and Russia.
In "Chaos and Horror Echo in the City Once Again" by Liz Alderman and Jim Yardley, it took until paragraph seven to broach the subject of radical Islam. Yet the reporters had no trouble labeling the "far-right" in France:
The attackers’ names, or whether they are linked to radical Islamist groups, are not yet known. But some witnesses described militants shouting “God is great” in Arabic before opening fire.
France was already in a foul temper, with the economy stagnant and far-right politicians stoking anti-immigrant sentiment, especially Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front. Ms. Le Pen has mocked Mr. Hollande as weak and stirred French nationalism by vowing to close borders. With regional elections scheduled for Dec. 16, Ms. Le Pen seems certain to keep rising in the polls.
The third front-page story on the massacre, "Inside Sold-Out Concert Hall, A Siege and 'a Scene of Carnage'" by Adam Nossiter and Andrew Higgins, had zero identifying labels for the terrorists.
As evidence mounted and Islamic State claiming responsibility, the New York Times more forthrightly identified the group as the perpetrator of the evil in Sunday's edition. Over a banner headline noting France calling the attacks an "Act of War," the Times bluntly explained:
Three teams of Islamic State attackers acting in unison carried out the terrorist assault in Paris on Friday night, officials said Saturday, including one assailant who may have traveled to Europe on a Syrian passport along with the flow of migrants.
But some of the paper's evasive habits stuck. In Sunday's "Brand-New Fright As Europe Strains With Migrant Tide," Alison Smale and Rick Lyman reported from Berlin and emphasized a possible threat of "right-wing...extremism," while lamenting the closing of European borders against the mass of incoming migrants. That decision resulted from thenews at least one of the terrorists is thought to have entered France with the surge of migrants from Syria:
For months, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have literally marched their way into Europe, fleeing war, poverty and hunger, arriving in such huge numbers that they set off uncommon displays of compassion -- and outright acts of fear.
Even before the attacks in Paris on Friday, some of the most welcoming of Europeans were beginning to lose patience. Borders were closed, benefits cut, warnings issued in Arabic to stay away.
But on Saturday, French officials revealed what could prove to be a turning point in the debate over migration: One of the attackers was carrying a Syrian passport and, perhaps more ominously, may have entered Europe along the migrant trail.
Poland moved first to shut the door.
....
On Saturday, conservative politicians from Slovakia and populist and nationalist leaders in Western Europe, like Marine Le Pen in France and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, swiftly used denunciations of the Paris violence to bolster their calls for keeping migrants out and borders shut.
In Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has opposed refugee quotas, announced tightened security on his country’s borders, particularly the one with Ukraine, and insisted that “everyone who illegally crosses borders must be seen as a security threat.”
After the Paris attacks, he said, his government would watch for signs of right-wing extremism, as well as other forms. He added, “I hope that the events that took place open the eyes of some people now.”
Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s minister of social protection and a member of a small right-wing party in the governing coalition who has opposed the niqab, or full-face veil, worn by some Muslim women, said on Facebook that Estonians must face a “harsh reality” and that “Europe is at war.”
....
He said the police would be watching not only known sympathizers of extreme Islamist groups, but also of right-wing groups. Germany has recorded more than 500 attacks on shelters for migrants this year.
Among the Times' sprawling terror coverage over Saturday and Sunday, the Times has only made a single print mention of Obama's already infamous interview on ABC's Good Morning America asserting that ISIS had been "contained," in paragraph seven in a page A18 story from Washington.
