On February 28, Hill Times ran a letter written by CJPME analyst Rose Mardikian. Initially, Rose sent this as a letter criticizing this article that the use of the word “terrorism” to describe Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 insinuated a moral judgment, which is not appropriate for a news article. While the editor remained steadfast and insisted that no changes would be made to the article, she requested an abridged version to publish as a letter to the editor. In “Avoid language that casts ‘moral judgments’ in news stories,” Rose Mardikian argues that referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization or labeling all their actions on October 7 as acts of “terror” or “terrorism” is not accurate and casts a moral judgment. While Israel’s actions both before and after Oct. 7 undoubtedly qualify as terrorism, to label one group as terrorists and not the other is a blatant double standard that favors Israel.
For Hill Times editors to continue publishing our work demonstrates CJPME’s growing legitimacy and influence in public discourse.