The New York Times, which has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the publishing of misinformation, was harshly criticized for publishing an op-ed from the mayor of Gaza City, who was appointed by Hamas in 2019.
Unwittingly or not in his attempt to claim that Israel had destroyed Gazans’ lives and culture, Mayor Yahya R. Sarraj gave the lie to the constant claim from Palestinian supporters that Gaza had been an “open-air prison” before the Israeli response to Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7.
“As a teenager in the 1980s, I watched the construction of the intricately designed Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City, named after one of Gaza’s greatest public figures, and its theater, grand hall, public library, printing press and cultural salon, Sarraj wrote, also mentioning its “iconic symbols, its beautiful seafront, its libraries and archives” as well as its public zoo.
Sarrak quotes the Gaza Health Ministry, which has historically lied about casualties, about the number of deaths from the Israeli response.
Sarrak has not condemned the October 7 massacre, David Strom pointed out at HotAir, adding, “He also doesn’t mention, no less condemn, the keeping of hostages in his city, nor the fact that the city is riddled with Hamas tunnels, which exist for the sole purpose of providing a military base for the terrorist group of which he is a part.”
It was pointed out that while the times had no qualms about publishing an op-ed by a member of the terrorist group Hamas, the the Times suffered an internal revolt after Senator Tom Cotton published an op-ed in 2020 calling for sending in U.S. troops to rescue American cities from the BLM riots:
Remember when the @nytimes journalists lost their minds and a chief editor had to resign because they ran an op-ed by a sitting US Senator?
Well now the New York Times is running opinion pieces written by Hamas.
Are their journalists outraged? 🤔
NYT showing their true colors! pic.twitter.com/aXpwGKngKn
— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) December 25, 2023
After Cotton’s piece was published, the Times issued a widely criticized statement avowing that it should never have been published, saying in part, “After publication, this essay met strong criticism from many readers (and many Times colleagues), prompting editors to review the piece and the editing process. Based on that review, we have concluded that the essay fell short of our standards and should not have been published.”
Former New York Times writer Adam Rubenstein offered a few thoughts about the Hamas mayor article:
A few thoughts on the Hamasnik Op-Ed in the Times.
1) The essay, by an Hamas-appointed mayor, takes as fact claims by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, without disclosing that fact. Seems elementary to disclose that.
2) It mentions a "deadly attack" by… pic.twitter.com/XW81BYFbbN
— Adam Rubenstein (@RubensteinAdam) December 25, 2023
Other blasts at the Times included:
The @nytimes published a guest essay by Gaza City's Mayor. The problem? Hamas appointed him, and The Times failed to mention it.https://t.co/P1hcI1Oqb4
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 26, 2023
The New York Times is an evil corporation with the blood of genocide victims all over its printing presseshttps://t.co/cNDDqpb8zX
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) December 25, 2023
Flashback: Remember the time that the editor of the New York Times had to resign for allowing a US Senator’s Op-Ed to appear in the paper? Will the editor have to resign for running a Hamas leader’s op-ed in the paper? https://t.co/OfArYIdXsL pic.twitter.com/I0O7tUdw8W
— @amuse (@amuse) December 25, 2023
Oh, nothing to see here. Just @nytimes publishing an op-ed by Hamas appointed mayor of Gaza, Yahya Sarraj.
I wonder, would NYT also publish an op-ed from Al-Qaeda justifying 9-11? Of course not, but there is no red line to this paper's Jew hatred. pic.twitter.com/pLAVgo9sn3
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) December 25, 2023
Three days after the murderous Hamas attack October 7, the Times, which has a history of anti-Israel reporting, changed a story, initially calling the Hamas murderers “terrorists,” then changing that to “gunmen.”
In a story titled, “Hamas Leaves Trail of Terror in Israel,” the Times initially wrote, “As Israeli soldiers regain control of areas near Gaza that came under attack, they are finding evidence seen in videos and photos and confirmed by witness accounts of the massacre of civilians by Hamas terrorists.” Later, the Times changed the word “terrorists” to “gunmen.”
In the mid-twentieth century, the Times buried the Holocaust so it didn’t make the front pages, as described in “Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper.” In April 2019, the paper published a cartoon depicting former President Trump as a blind man wearing a skullcap while being led by Netanyahu, who was depicted as a dog on a leash with a Star of David collar.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs researched 107 editorials on Israel and Jews published in the Times since 2016; David Bernstein, president and CEO of the organization, accused the Times of “a decided institutional bias” against Israel. Roughly a decade ago, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) published a pamphlet titled “Indicting Israel: New York Times Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict,” that delineated the Times’ consistent bias against Israel.