Following a weekend in which pressure steadily grew on Washington D.C.’s Newseum to rescind a planned memorial for two Hamas terrorists, the journalism museum this morning announced that it was reevaluating its decision. The statement noted that “further investigation” will take place.

The controversy stems from a posted announcement, discovered by The Weekly Standard on Thursday, indicating that the museum would celebrate two operatives from Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV as journalists killed in the line of duty. The station is actually a designated terrorist organization that regularly airs programs, including children’s shows, calling for the murder of Jews. The two men were slain last November during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. They had allegedly painted “TV” on the top of their car. Concerns over the Newseum’s decision continued through late Thursday.

Journalists, analysts, and human rights groups continued to blast the museum throughout Friday. Buzzfeed revealed in the morning that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies was considering relocating its annual conference from the museum to another location.

Observers were particularly concerned about the museum blurring distinctions between legitimate journalism and terrorism conducted with the pretense of journalism, the result being to endanger working journalists. The American Enterprise Institute raised identical concerns, noting that blurring the lines was “doing more to endanger journalists in conflict zones than any army or rebel group has in a long time.”

The museum stumbled throughout the day in addressing journalists’ concerns. For most of the morning it declined to provide comments, before standing by its decision.

The controversy became particularly pitched on social media, where the museum was broadly criticized. The Washington Post expressed opposition, which was echoed by observers spanning the political spectrum. The scandal spread to Israeli and British outlets.

By Sunday top human rights organizations – including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League – had firmly expressed their opposition. The Newseum’s announcement putting the honor on hold came early Monday morning.

[Photo:  Photos o’ Randomness / Flickr]