'They are not fighters, they are terrorists,' the Anti-Defamation League leader said
ADL leader calls out MSNBC's coverage of Hamas, while on MSNBC
Jonathan Greenblatt implored MSNBC to get 'the story right,' objecting to the language used to describe Hamas terrorists during their morning network coverage of the conflict in Israel.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt chided MSNBC for their coverage of the deadly Hamas terror attack against Israel, bluntly asking while appearing on the network, "Who's writing the scripts?"
Greenblatt was a guest on Monday's "Morning Joe," where he was asked for his reaction to the terror attack and ensuing war. After saying he was saddened by the conflict, he also confessed to being angry at how some media outlets were "sanitizing" the brutality of the atrocities against Israelis.
"I must say, I love this show, and I love this network," he said to the MSNBC "Morning Joe" panel. "But I’ve got to ask, who’s writing the scripts? Hamas, the people who did this, they are not fighters, Jonathan [Lemire]. They are not militants. I’m looking right at the camera, they are terrorists. It is a barbarian who rapes and brutalizes women, who kills children in front of their parents and then brings them over to Gaza."
Greenblatt said these terrorists filmed their grotesque crimes against innocent civilians. He described videos circulating of Hamas celebrating while burning an elderly woman alive and parading around bleeding women they had just raped.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called out MSNBC's coverage of the Hamas terror attack on Israel. (MSNBC/Screenshot)
Greenblatt objected to arguments from those defending Hamas's actions as justified.
"So while they say this is an escalation, it was bound to happen, I’m sorry, this was a massacre that was planned. It was destined to happen," he argued.
Greenblatt begged the network and their liberal listeners to "get this story right" because of the magnitude of the conflict.
"Please stop calling this a retaliation. This is a defensive measure against an organization that is committed to one thing: Killing Jews. Not a peaceful resolution of a conflict. But murdering Jews," he bluntly stated. "And if you’re wondering if I’m exaggerating, please, I beg of you, everyone watching, and everyone at this network: Just watch the footage."
Earlier in the program, NBC foreign correspondent Richard Engel referred to "Hamas fighters" during some of his live coverage of the conflict from Israel. MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire also mentioned "Hamas militants" during his coverage, although he also noted "terrorists" attacked the Israeli people.
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Over the weekend, MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Ayman Mohyeldin sought to contextualize the attack as linked to Israeli wrongdoing. Velshi said there should be more "nuance" around the issue and not to forget "Israel’s inhumane treatment of the Palestinians who live under Israeli occupation."
"What we are seeing today is the deadly consequences of failed policies," Mohyeldin said at one point, according to Mediaite. "Failure on the American administration’s part to change course, to take a different course of action with how we deal with the Palestinians and the Israelis. Failure on Israel’s part. Failure on the region’s part to not be able to say this is an issue that matters."
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is harshly critical of media outlets he believes equivocate on the war in Israel. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/AP)
On Sunday, the ADL leader criticized some U.S. media outlets' treatment of the terror attack, in a blistering thread on X.
"Commentators must stop dignifying them as ‘militants’ and stop lauding their crimes as ‘spectacular’ – they are agents of death with an agenda of savagery and there is no excuse for those who apologize for their crimes or glorify their actions," he wrote in part.
"There are some issues in public life that might prompt impassioned debate, then there are moments of unmistakable moral clarity that demand unequivocal, universal condemnation. This is one of those moments. It is good vs. evil. That’s it," he added.
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Fox News' Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
