To Whom It May Concern ! Massacre: The deliberate and relentless slaughter of a large number of non-combatants. The term massacre is often loosely used by news media, yet it is an act that is extremely particular. Definition of the term is based on an analysis of its use historically, as opposed to simply relying upon a dictionary definition. When employed, the term should discriminate between cases where victims were killed systematically and cases in which they were killed incidentally. A prescient example comes from the case in which approximately 300 people were killed when an American missile struck a bunker in Iraq. This strike occured in a situation in which no evidence suggests that the American military was cognizant of civilian presence inside the bunker. Although a massive number of people were killed, it could not appropriately be called a massacre. Journalists should also discriminate between cases where the killing was instantaneous and indiscriminate, and cases where the killing was elongated and discriminate. The shelling of an industrial district resulting in the death of nearby residents would not be described as a massacre. On the other hand, the case of Baruch Goldstein entering the Abraham Mosque in Hebron and unloading a number of machine gun cartridges on the worshipers, killing scores of people in 1994, would constitute a massacre. Stay safe, Rami M. Almeghari, an English-language media trainer and journalist, based in Gaza.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 22:39:41 +0000
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