And a special "Yasser" Award goes to . . . .

Christiane Amanpour
(born: January 12, 1958 - died: ?)

Our newest recipient of the coveted "Yasser" Award for Yellow Journalism and a hearty "Hearst" handshake . . . . !

There are certain times in one's life where one just has to admit one's mistakes and try to correct them.

This is one of those times.

In an earlier posting (see "Pallywood" ) we bestowed the coveted "Yasser" Award for Yellow Journalism on the Reuters Wire Service for its coverage or, rather, non-coverage, of the Palestinian celebrations following 9/11 and the physical assault its field crew made on an AP news team in an attempt to stop the AP team from filming the riotous street festivities that might show the Palestinians in an unfavorable light.

We still stand by that award . . . credit where credit's due, we say . . . but after viewing Ms. Amanpour's magnificent performance as an apologist for Islamic terror in her program "G-d's Warriors" broadcast on C.N.N., we have to acknowledge her unrivalled virtuosity at distorting and warping the truth.

We certainly hope this doesn't adversely affect Ms. Amanpour's career since we do so enjoy handing out these awards. If her latest performance is anything to judge by, we'll be handing her quite a few more.

In the first segment of a three part program, Ms. Amanpour tackled "G-d's Jewish Warriors" as the equivalent of Islamic terrorists and we must say that with the little factual material she had to work with, she certainly spread herself on a grand scale.

In the course of the program, Ms. Amanpour focused on isolated incidents where Jews had attacked Arabs and stretched it out of all proportion to the extent that she made it seem as if these were daily incidents. What she didn't mention, of course, was that ALL Jewish attackers have been arrested, tried, convicted and jailed for their crimes.

Mohammedan terrorists? Irrelevant to Ms. Amanpour . . .

Ms. Amanpour went on to re-write history in an attempt to minimize the Jewish nation's claim to its holiest site, the Temple mount.

While Amanpour interviewed the Muslim Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who offered an Islamic perspective on the importance of the Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque to Mohammedans, no Jewish religious figure was interviewed to discuss the unparalleled spiritual significance of the Temple Mount to Jews.

In a WorldNetDaily article, Aaron Klein states, "Amanpour's feature also claimed a visit to the Temple Mount by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2000 instigated the Palestinian intifada which began that year, even though multiple intifada planners and Palestinian leaders admitted the violence was pre-planned and that Sharon's visit was used as an excuse.

The intifada was launched after Arafat returned from U.S.-mediated peace talks at the Camp David presidential retreat during which the Palestinian leader turned down an Israeli offer of a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

“Whoever thinks the Intifada broke out because of the despised Sharon’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque is wrong…This Intifada was planned in advance, ever since President Arafat’s return from the Camp David negotiations,” admitted Palestinian Communications Minister Imad Al-Faluji to an Egyptian daily newspaper.

Arafat himself spoke of planning the intifada months before Sharon’s visit, as did Marwan Barghouti, a jailed Palestinian parliament member and one of the chief architects of the intifada.

Multiple senior terror leaders involved in intifada admitted during numerous WND interviews Sharon’s visit to the Mount did not spark the intifada."

But then, apparently, Ms. Amanpour knows more than the planners of the Intifada.

Ms. Amanpour's minimizing the tsunami of Islamic terror around the world while magnifying beyond all recognition the isolated incidents of Jewish extremism have become her trademark. Her contempt for the Jewish state and her blatant bias for Mohammedan perspectives in the Middle East have contributed in no small measure to the growing disaffection of viewers around the world for C.N.N. and its coverage of this region.

I would have to say that her piece de resistance in this program was her characterization of Islamic suicide bombers as "noble".

In her own words, "To the West, martyrdom has a really bad connotation (?!?) because of suicide bombers who call themselves martyrs," Amanpour stated. "Really, martyrdom is actually something that historically was quite noble, because it was about standing up and rejecting tyranny, rejecting injustice and rejecting oppression and, if necessary, dying for that."

So, we can assume that for Ms. Amanpour, a Mohammedan suicide bomber who slaughters tens of innocent people is "noble" while a Jew or Christian who resists or attempts by force to prevent such atrocities is a "terrorist".

What Ms. Amanpour has failed to grasp, what has failed to penetrate the solid ivory between her ears is the fact that in the Judeo-Christian tradition "martyrdom" meant, and still means, being willing to give up your own life in the face of extreme persecution. It has NEVER meant taking the lives of tens of innocent people with you. That particular perversion is uniquely Islamic . . .

If old William Randolph was alive today, I believe he'd be on bended knee before this woman, hat in hand, awestruck by her total lack of morals or ethics. He really does pale into insignificance compared to her. And, knowing W.R. Hearst, that's definitely saying something.

As for her opinion on the responsibility of the media to be objective, she has publicly stated, "There are some situations one cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice." So . . . she pitches in on the side of the terrorists !

Bad grammer and syntax aside, that statement alone would qualify her for the "Yasser" Award which her collection at home so sorely lacks.

There's really so much to critique in Ms. Amanpour's presentation, I just don't have the time, the energy or the inclination to nit-pick her voluminous journalistic travesties.

But again, in closing, we certainly hope this incredible spectacle of Hearst-quality yellow journalism doesn't affect her future career . . . we can always use her material for more articles.