A scandal triggered yesterday by a Weekly Standard expose today expanded to engulf Washington D.C.’s Newseum, a museum dedicated to showcasing the history of journalism. Yesterday the Weekly Standard revealed that the Newseum would be honoring two Hamas terrorists as journalists killed in the line of duty. The honorees were not journalists but worked for the Hamas propaganda outlet Al-Aqsa Television, which is a Hamas front designated by the Treasury Department:

Also designated today is Al-Aqsa Television, a television station financed and controlled by Hamas. Al-Aqsa is a primary Hamas media outlet and airs programs and music videos designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood. “Treasury will not distinguish between a business financed and controlled by a terrorist group, such as Al-Aqsa Television, and the terrorist group itself,” Levey said.

Buzzfeed subsequently revealed that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies was considering pulling the organization’s annual policy summit from the venue due to the Newseum’s decision. The article quoted Cliff May, the organization’s president, expressing hope that there had been a “misunderstanding.”

The museum, however, stumbled answering critics. Throughout Friday morning the organization refused to answer questions, including to the Washington Examiner and Tablet Magazine. The irony of a museum dedicated to journalism boxing out journalists was not lost on pundits.

Eventually the museum released a statement defending the decision to honor the terrorists to the Washington Free Beacon. The article included a statement by the human rights watchdog Simon Wiesenthal Center blasting the museum:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which combats anti-Semitism, said the Newseum has made a “shameful decision” to honor the terrorists. “Duct Tape on car with the letters TV does not a journalist make,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center’s associate dean. “A shameful decision based on a falsehood that besmirches the true heroes of journalism who died while pursuing their mission of seeking and reporting the Truth.” “What would the legitimate martyred journalists like Daniel Pearl say as their heroism and humanity is debased and degraded?” Cooper asked.

In early afternoon the Washington Examiner published an expose on the Hamas which included a video in which an Al Aqsa children’s show showcased a Jew-eating rabbit.

[Photo: NativeForeigner / Wiki Commons]