[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n  \n\n  \n  \u003Cp\u003EMedia coverage of PIJ is much less subjective than with other groups. While pundits may find themselves sometimes split over Hamas and Hezbollah, which provide social services in addition to their terrorist activities, PIJ provides no such services and is solely dedicated to Israel\u2019s destruction. Further, unlike Hamas and Hezbollah, PIJ is not entangled in any government and therefore there is no need to distinguish between its armed faction and any political leadership, although there are indications that the group might be looking to develop a political role.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAsmaa al-Ghoul, \u201cExclusive: Islamic Jihad Rethinks Role in Palestinian Politics,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EAl Monitor\u003C\/em\u003E, May 9, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2013\/05\/islamic-jihad-palestine-political-civil-involvement.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2013\/05\/islamic-jihad-palestine-political-civil-involvement.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E Though Western media largely still refers to PIJ as a militant and not a terrorist organization, PIJ\u2019s single-mindedness has made it easier for the media to classify and condemn its activities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStill, while pundits widely condemn PIJ\u2019s tactics, there are some, even in Western media, who equate morally PIJ\u2019s terrorism and Israel\u2019s responses to terrorism. According to this line of thinking, as abhorrent as PIJ\u2019s actions are, they are the actions of desperate people living under brutal occupation. One example of this justification is a 2002 \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E op-ed by Muhammad Muslih, a professor of political science at Long Island University. Muslih penned the op-ed after overhearing a young Arab-American boy tell his father he wanted to become a suicide bomber and martyr in Palestine. Muslih expressed his dismay at hearing the boy\u2019s words but went on to justify Palestinian terrorism as a response to the Israeli occupation.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMuhammad Muslih, \u201c\u2018They Took Our Land, so Why Shouldn\u2019t I Kill Them?\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 26, 2002, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E He cited a PIJ leader who told Muslih the Palestinians \u201cdon\u0027t have tanks or Apaches or F-16s, but we have the determination to be martyrs.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMuhammad Muslih, \u201c\u2018They Took Our Land, so Why Shouldn\u2019t I Kill Them?\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 26, 2002, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E Muslih differentiated between Palestinian terrorism and that of Osama bin Laden, stating, \u201cThere are no bin Ladens in the Palestinian territories,\u201d and declaring that \u201cPalestinian violence is a reaction to the violence of occupation.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMuhammad Muslih, \u201c\u2018They Took Our Land, so Why Shouldn\u2019t I Kill Them?\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 26, 2002, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E And rather than clearly condemn Palestinian terrorism and call for dialogue, Muslih demanded acquiescence to PIJ\u2019s goals: \u201cThe United States should get Israel to withdraw to its borders of June 4, 1967. Then the violence will stop.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMuhammad Muslih, \u201c\u2018They Took Our Land, so Why Shouldn\u2019t I Kill Them?\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, April 26, 2002, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/04\/26\/opinion\/26iht-edmus_ed3_.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPIJ regularly made headlines during the early 2000s, when a University of South Florida professor, Sami al-Arian, was indicted for aiding the terrorist group. Despite the record of PIJ\u2019s terrorist activities, some Western media reports glossed over PIJ\u2019s record when reporting on the professor, failing to put PIJ and the charges into context. A 2006 \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E article, for example, reports on al-Arian\u2019s sentencing and lists the charges against the professor as well as the U.S. attorney general\u2019s belief that al-Arian is involved in PIJ\u2019s deadly activities, but the writer provides no background on PIJ itself.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ESuzanne Goldenberg, \u201cPalestinian Professor Sentenced for Terrorism in US,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EGuardian\u003C\/em\u003E (London), May 1, 2006, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2006\/may\/02\/usa.internationaleducationnews\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2006\/may\/02\/usa.internationaleducationnews\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E By contrast, a 2006 \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times \u003C\/em\u003Earticle on al-Arian\u2019s sentencing extensively cites the federal judge\u2019s contempt for PIJ\u2019s activities, describing what exactly al-Arian was charged with supporting.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EJennifer Steinhauer, \u201cPalestinian to Be Imprisoned Before Deportation,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, May 1, 2006, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/05\/01\/us\/01cnd-islamic.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/05\/01\/us\/01cnd-islamic.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E In a 2003 article on the attempted U.S. extradition of a British national accused of aiding PIJ in connection with al-Arian, the British\u003Cem\u003E Telegraph\u003C\/em\u003E lists PIJ\u2019s recent terrorist activities and their death toll, while citing PIJ\u2019s goal \u201cto create \u2018terror, instability and panic.\u2019 Other aims include the destruction of the state of Israel and the rejection of any form of peaceful co-existence.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EDavid Bamber and Alasdair Palmer, \u201cUS Furious as Britain Ignores Extradition Plea,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ETelegraph\u003C\/em\u003E, February 23, 2003, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/northamerica\/usa\/1422853\/US-furious-as-Britain-ignores-extradition-plea.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/northamerica\/usa\/1422853\/US-furious-as-Britain-ignores-extradition-plea.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E Further, another 2006 \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E article on the assassination of a PIJ leader credits the group for carrying out multiple recent suicide bombings against Israel.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cBlast Kills Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, March 1, 2006, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/03\/01\/world\/africa\/01iht-web.0301mideast.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/03\/01\/world\/africa\/01iht-web.0301mideast.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPIJ\u2019s singular devotion to violent jihad and destroying Israel makes it difficult for any pundit to write positively on the organization, but sympathies for the Palestinian cause still shade some coverage of PIJ, hiding the group\u2019s terrorist activities behind a veil of nationalism.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"Media coverage\/analysis of group"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]