Foreign secretary’s call comes after group releases video of British-Israeli hostage it says died after being wounded in Israeli airstrike

David Cameron has urged the BBC to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, reviving an accusation that the corporation shies away from a valid description of the Islamist group that is holding Israeli hostages.

The UK foreign secretary told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the organisation should reconsider its guidelines in light of a video released by Hamas showing the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell, who the group said had died in Gaza.

Hamas released a statement on Saturday saying the 51-year-old had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike a month ago. The video showed him with a black eye.

  • Atin@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Hamas are every bit as much a terrorist organisation as Isis, the IRA, FARC, Red Army faction, Al Qaeda or UDF have been.

    • homura1650@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      None of which are called terrorists by the BBC.

      The BBC has a long standing policy against calling people/organizations terrorists.

      Their position in this case says nothing about how they view Hamas. The position of those complaining about it says a lot about how they view the role news organizations.

      • Atin@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Meh, if you commit acts of terrorism, you are a terrorist. We have nouns for a reason.

        • PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk
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          6 months ago

          “Terrorist” always seems to rely more on your political affiliation than it does your actions. I have always hated the word.

          Its only purpose is to make people angry

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago
          • Hamas: A population largely under the age of 18 who have been ruthlessly bombed, sniped, and starved for months while they are bottled up at the southern border in a concentration camp

          Terrorists

          • The IDF: Leveraging sophisticated AI tools to assassinate entire families, demolishing whole city blocks in a fit of religious zeal, systematically kidnapping and torturing dissidents and journalists, infiltrating foreign governments to assassinate democratically elected leaders, and spreading a toxic ideology of hatred and bigotry in hopes of terrorizing their regional rivals into compliance with their demands.

          Not Terrorists

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Hamas is comparable to the IRA but not the rest.

      The big difference is that organisations like ISIS try to take over other countries whereas Hamas is resisting colonists of their own country.