The other day the Newseum bowed to political pressure and struck from its list of 90 fallen journalists in 2012 two Palestinian cameramen who were killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza last November. They worked for Al-Aqsa TV, which is affiliated with Hamas.

At the Newseum’s “Journalists Memorial Rededication Ceremony” on Monday for the improved list of 88 dead journalists– video here– NBC’s foreign correspondent Richard Engel (who was kidnaped by a pro-government Syrian militia last December and later released) was honored. Engel spoke and brought up the exclusion of the Gazans (at about 15:00).

As my tipster notes, “He refuses to condemn Newseum’s capitulation to Israel lobbyists, and weirdly verges into a tribute to Syrian journalists committed to the overthrow of Assad. Also says ‘journalists are not supposed to have causes.’ Really?” Engel’s remarks:

So the question is Why do we do it? Why take the risks? Is it for fun, for adventure? No. Is it for the money? There are certainly easier ways of making a living than doing this. We do it to understand the world and how it changes. The world tends to move like the earth’s plates. Tensions build and then suddenly they snap with violent political change. And we go to where the cracks are to see how the plates are fitting together. We do this so innocents have a voice. We do it to show TV pundits, those studio jockeys, that they’re usually wrong. We do it because we’ve decided this is what we want to do with our slice of time on this planet. Many of you may know there has been some controversy surrounding this event. And if you don’t mind I’d like to address that. Specifically there have been some critics who oppose the inclusion of several people who were killed while working for a Hamas-run television station and state televisions that broadcast propaganda. I frankly agree, there is a distinction, and that several of the people on this list aren’t strictly journalists, but -political activists who worked in the media. And just because you carry a camera and a notebook doesn’t make you a journalist. A journalist has the responsibility to seek the truth, no matter what it is, even if the story hurts your cause. Journalists shouldn’t have causes. They should have principles and beliefs. But this is where it gets tricky. Because who gets to draw the line? Several reporters on this year’s lists were Syrians who worked for media outlets that were actively trying to topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Were they pure journalists? No. But they wanted to bring down a dictator with words and images, and that dictator silenced them. They certainly died trying to do something noble. They were speaking out against oppression. They died trying to quench a thirst for freedom.

It is interesting to note Engel has a cause of his own: the Syrian rebels. Speaking of which, NPR’s Kelly McEvers– who is also a journalist– is fervent about the Syrian rebels too. She even took on an NPR anchor publicly over who he was interviewing about the rebels…

P.S. Here is Steve Walt on Engel’s “blameless” picture of American and Israeli actions in the Middle East.