The network coined the euphemism “civic sparring” to describe the often-heated conflicts that take place in the suburbs of New York City when Hasidic Jewish communities – often insular, with large numbers of children, and wary of outsiders – begin expanding, sometimes at the expense of families already living in the area, who may lose control of local government and schools.

NBC didn’t stop at coining the cringeworthy term, however. It suggested “some fear the recent violence” – a mass stabbing at a Hanukkah celebration inside a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York; a shooting that killed three in a Jersey City kosher market; a recent spate of street attacks in New York City – “may be an outgrowth of that conflict” in a since-deleted tweet on Thursday. 

Many accused the network of victim-blaming, comparing it to other popular blame-transfer mechanisms favored by MSM. “Her dress was too short,” one user snarked. “Or too long in this case,” another commented, slyly referencing Hasidic dress which outfits women in full-length skirts and other ultra-modest looks.  

“Civic sparring” joins an ever-growing sea of mainstream media euphemisms devised to insulate readers and reporters both from uncomfortable realities – in this case, the idea that diversity might not always be our strength, and that communities with dramatically different values might not do well living on top of each other.

After drowning in angry replies, NBC removed the “civic sparring” tweet, regretting the “error” and promising another, non-offensive message to follow.

Instead, they placed their foot deeper in their mouth – though admittedly, just tweeting the article’s headline. “Anti-Semitism grows in Jewish communities in NYC suburbs” made it sound like the Jewish communities were the ones being antisemitic. Social media had other suggestions.