On Tuesday, the Associated Press’s Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb published an article that highlighted the survivors of Israel’s explosive pager attack on the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. Though the highly advanced strike was designed to reduce unintentional casualties to a minimum, there were a few civilian injuries and casualties. While it is important to show sympathy for the unintended victims of the attack, the AP seemed to forget there was a difference between that and sympathizing with a terrorist group.
Discussing the effects of the attacks on civilians, the reporters wrote:
Hezbollah, also a major Shiite political party with a wide network of social institutions, has acknowledged that most of those wounded and killed were its fighters or personnel. The simultaneous explosions in populated areas, however, also wounded many civilians like Jaffal, who was one of four women along with 71 men who received medical treatment in Iran. Hezbollah won't say how many civilians were hurt, but says most were relatives of the group's personnel or workers in Hezbollah-linked institutions, including hospitals.
Even as the AP explained that nearly every single person wounded or killed was actively involved or at least related to Hezbollah in some way, they threw out some shady numbers to inspire sympathy for the situation.
By saying the attacks “wounded many civilians like Jaffal, who was one of four women along with 71 men who received medical treatment in Iran,” the AP made it sound as though those men and women were all civilians. In reality, this number was unrelated to the number of civilians injured, a statistic they acknowledged was really unknown.
However, judging from the selection of interviewees, the number of civilian casualties must have been low. One of the six people they spoke to was not really an average civilian, but an active-duty Hezbollah fighter.
Recounting his recovery, the AP described: “He can no longer play football. Hezbollah is helping him find a new job. Sheri realizes it's impossible now to find a role alongside Hezbollah fighters.”
Playing football and committing acts of terrorism; two entirely unequivocal things the AP highlighted the man was no longer able to do. Luckily, his terrorist group was there to help get him back on his feet and find a way for him to remain involved.
This injury to an active soldier did not validate what he was fighting for. He was a terrorist, and Israel’s pager strikes were designed to target only active members of Hezbollah.
The AP instead emphasized how many thought “the attack may have violated international law, calling it indiscriminate.” But when even Hezbollah acknowledged that nearly every injury was to members, their argument didn’t seem to hold much water.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with showing sympathy for the unintentional victims of an attack. But it’s important to sympathize with the people, not their movement like the AP did.
