Adaere's Journal: AP now calling Hamas terrorists 'activists'?

Maybe I just hadn't noticed that Associated Press is doing this until now.

Here's the story and the quote in question.

"Hamas activists fired mortars and homemade rockets at Israel, causing no injuries or damage. At one point, Israeli troops spotted two cars carrying Hamas activists driving away from rocket launching sites."

I thought an activist was someone carrying a sign or protesting something, not shooting mortars at people, or in this case, shooting at an entire country (I guess Israel is easy to hit, huh?).
Is this the policy at AP now? Terrorists are going to be called "activists"? When did this start?
So ends my morning rant.

not quite

[turg]

An activist is someone who takes action, tries to bring about change. I don't think merely protesting makes one an activist.

dictionary.com says that an activist isone who engages in activism, and they have two definitions for activism: (1) "The use of direct, often confrontational action, such as a demonstration or strike, in opposition to or support of a cause" and (2) "a policy of taking direct and militant action to achieve a political or social goal"

Most print media have a policy of using the least-in

Re:not quite

[Adaere]

I guess my problem is that the way activist is most often used refers to someone who does the opposite kind of activism, trying to save people's lives, not kill them.

A cursory search reveals the following examples:

• Missing Chinese Activist Wins Award [aegis.com]

  BEIJING -- A missing Chinese AIDS activist who reportedly has been detained by China's secret police was named the recipient Thursday of a health award given by U.S. and Canadian groups. Wan Yanhai, who was last seen Aug. 25 in Beijing, is being recogniz