As the sports media, and all media, cover the events that unfolded in Israel over the weekend, it’s important that the situation be presented for what it was.
It was a terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. The individuals who crossed the border and butchered civilians were not fighters. They were terrorists.
That should go without saying. It needs to be said because one of the NFL’s broadcast partners, ESPN, has framed it as something other than a terrorist attack. Consider this passage from the ESPN.com article regarding the return from Israel of the parents of Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone: “Sal and Judy Anzalone were in a Jerusalem hotel as Israel vowed an unprecedented offensive against Hamas after the Islamic militant group’s fighters broke through the border fence Saturday and stormed into the country’s south. The war between Israel and Hamas has claimed at least 2,200 lives.”
The Associated Press, which was given a partial credited for the ESPN.com item that had no byline, used the same language, framing it as an assault by “fighters.”
It was a terrorist attack on innocent civilians. They were not “fighters.” They were terrorists who engaged in atrocities that, if part of an offensive, would constitute blatant war crimes.
To his credit, Tom Brady has spoken out on the matter. “There should be no gray area about condemning Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens,” Brady posted on Twitter/X. “No human deserves this. I’m heartbroken for all of the innocent lives lost in Israel and Gaza this week, heartbroken for the losses that are sure to follow. It’s horrifying to watch this violence continue to unfold with no indication of stopping. My family and I will continue to pray for the families that find themselves in the middle of this tragedy.”
Brady is right. For the civilians in Israel, the attack was no different than 9/11 was here. It was not a military operation. It was an act of terrorism, performed in barbaric and heinous ways. Anyone in the sports media that covers this needs to be willing to say so — or they just shouldn’t cover it.
Not everything in this day and age has two sides. What happened in Israel absolutely does not.
UPDATE 5:04 p.m. ET: The ESPN.com article has added a byline and removed the term “fighters.” ESPN.com has not, however, inserted the term “terrorist” or any variation thereof.
