While the euphemisms ‘militant’, ‘fighters’, ‘gunmen’ or simply  ‘Islamist’ are usually employed by the media to describe Hamas, the CBC’s Middle East correspondent Sasa Petricic (pictured) got it right today. In his report, “Islamists Hold All the Cards in Egyptian Elections”, Mr. Petricic commented on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in his report and noted the following:

“It still worries many in the West. After all, several terrorist movements, including al-Qaeda and Hamas, trace their roots to the Brotherhood. And yet, this organization is really the best those Western voices can hope for from Egyptian democracy right now”.

Indeed, rather than ‘militants’, Hamas is a terrorist group outlawed by Canada, the US and the European Union. Militants are individuals who are engaged in warfare or combat. They do not necessarily target civilians.  Specifically targeting civilians is what terrorists like Hamas do, having launched more than 8000 rockets on the Israeli civilian population since 2005, accompanied with calls to genocide. We hope CBC continues to call Hamas by its proper name.