Social media erupted in outrage over an Associated Press story that seemingly paints Hezbollah terrorists as victims.
Fox News reported that the article, published in September 2024, dives into the recovery struggles of Hezbollah members injured in an Israeli air attack. Critics argue it’s a baffling attempt to humanize a group designated as terrorists by the United States.
In September 2024, an Israeli operation detonated pagers and electronic devices across Lebanon and Syria, injuring over 3,000 Hezbollah members and killing at least 30.
The Associated Press, in a piece by Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb, focused on the personal toll on survivors, interviewing six wounded Hezbollah fighters or their kin. This framing sparked a firestorm of criticism for appearing to sympathize with a terror organization.
Earlier, in April 2024, Hezbollah members Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury died in an Israeli strike on their vehicles in south Lebanon.
The AP’s September story sidestepped calling Hezbollah “terrorists,” opting for terms like “militant group” or “Shiite political party.” Such language fueled accusations of bias, as it seemed to sanitize the group’s violent history.
The AP’s choice of words, like describing Hezbollah as a “major Shiite political party with a wide network of social institutions,” raised eyebrows.
Critics, including conservative commentators, saw this as an attempt to whitewash a group responsible for deadly attacks. The omission of “terrorist” felt like a deliberate dodge to many.
“Survivors of Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah struggle to recover,” the AP wrote. That headline alone drew scorn for framing terrorists as underdogs. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck called it “jaw-dropping,” slamming the media for presenting Hezbollah as victims.
“Nothing shocks me anymore with media, but this did,” Starbuck posted on X. His quip captured the sentiment of many who felt the AP crossed a line. The article’s focus on personal stories, like a fighter losing his eyesight, seemed to prioritize empathy over accountability.
Mahdi Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah fighter, was one of the story’s focal points. Injured in the pager attack, he lost his left eye and has limited vision in his right eye, ending his football-playing days. The AP noted Hezbollah is helping him find a new job, a detail critics found absurdly sympathetic.
Sheri, ordered to the frontline on the attack day, had charged his pager and spent time with family, where phones were banned for security.
“He can no longer play football,” the AP lamented, as if that were the tragedy. Such framing left readers wondering why a terrorist’s hobbies were newsworthy.
“For a while, he could see shadows with his remaining eye,” the AP continued. This focus on Sheri’s personal loss struck critics as tone-deaf, given Hezbollah’s designation as a terror group. Amy Curtis of Twitchy mocked, “This is me; playing my tiny violin.”
Republican lawmakers didn’t hold back their disdain. Georgia Rep. Mike Collins sarcastically posted, “Won’t someone PLEASE think of the terrorists?!” His jab underscored the perception that the AP was more concerned with Hezbollah’s woes than their victims.
New York Rep. Claudia Tenney called the story a “disgrace,” praising the revocation of AP’s credentials as a wise move. “It’s an utter disgrace that this ‘news’ agency is writing puff-piece articles designed to garner sympathy for terrorists,” she said. Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy echoed her, accusing the AP of running “sob stories” for Hezbollah.
The AP’s history added fuel to the fire. In 2021, reports surfaced that the AP shared a Gaza office with Hamas military intelligence, a claim the outlet denied knowing. Conservative writer Kate Hyde snarked, “The AP never got over what Israel did to their office mates.”
AP Media Relations Director Patrick Maks stood by the story, telling Fox News Digital the outlet was unapologetic. Critics, however, saw this as doubling down on a flawed approach. The defense did little to quell the outrage on X, where users decried the piece as morally bankrupt.
The AP’s past descriptions of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “charismatic and shrewd” in his September 2024 obituary didn’t help their case. Adam Mossoff, a law professor, compared the story to a hypothetical 1944 piece lamenting Nazi SS soldiers’ struggles. “It’s a moral abomination,” he said, calling the AP’s framing indefensible.
Radio host Tony Katz flipped the narrative, noting, “The hostages held by Hamas struggle to survive.” His point highlighted what many saw as the AP’s misplaced priorities. By focusing on Hezbollah’s pain, the article ignored the broader context of their terrorist activities, leaving conservatives fuming at what they see as media bias run amok.