300+ writers boycott NYT Opinion, cite persistent anti-Palestine bias
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Over 300 writers and activists condemn NYT's Palestine coverage, as calls grow to end "Israel's" media blackout in Gaza and uphold press freedom.
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A sign for The New York Times hangs above the entrance to its building, May 6, 2021, in New York (AP)
More than 300 prominent writers, academics, and public intellectuals have pledged to boycott The New York Times Opinion section, citing what they describe as persistent anti-Palestinian bias.
The coalition, identifying itself as a group of “writers of conscience,” includes figures such as Rima Hassan, Rashida Tlaib, Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Kaveh Akbar, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Elia Suleiman, and Rupi Kaur.
The signatories also include nearly 150 former Times contributors, alongside Palestinian solidarity organizations such as Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), and the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC).
The group outlined three core demands:
- A comprehensive review of anti-Palestinian bias in the newsroom, including the creation of new editorial standards for coverage related to Palestine;
- The retraction of the controversial investigation “Screams Without Words;"
- A public call from the Editorial Board for a US arms embargo on "Israel".
Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, who was assassinated months after raising these concerns, had warned: “Language makes genocide justifiable. A reason why we are still being bombed after 243 days is because of The New York Times and most Western media.”
In their collective statement, the writers emphasized their moral obligation to support Palestinian journalists: “We owe it to the journalists and writers of Palestine to refuse complicity with the Times and to demand that the paper account for its failures. It is essential that it can never again manufacture consent for mass slaughter, torture, and displacement.”
The boycott emerges amid broader calls for accountability in mainstream media reporting on "Israel’s" genocide in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and injured since October 7, 2023.
FPA demands Israeli court to allow int'l journalists access to Gaza
Last week, an organization representing international media in "Israel" and the Palestinian territories said on Wednesday it hoped "Israel's" Supreme Court would approve its petition for the immediate access of journalists to Gaza.
"Israel's" Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition from the Foreign Press Association on Thursday, a petition that seeks to secure access to Gaza for journalists. Since "Israel" launched its war on Gaza in 2023, it has banned international media from entering the enclave, allowing only very few international journalists in controlled visits alongside Israeli troops.
"For over two years, Israel has blocked foreign reporters from going into the territory, greatly hindering the media's ability to cover this devastating conflict," the FPA said in a statement published prior to the hearing scheduled for 9:00 am (6:00 GMT).
FPA chairperson Tania Kraemer stated in the announcement, "We are pleased to finally have our day in court and hope the justices will swiftly approve our request to enter Gaza," adding, "It is high time for Israel to lift the closure and let us do our work alongside our Palestinian colleagues."
Soon after the war broke out in October 2023, the Foreign Press Association began its petition for independent access to Gaza; however, these pleas fell on deaf ears.
'Israel' tries to bury the truth in Gaza
At the time, Antoine Bernard, the director for advocacy and assistance at Reporters without Borders, said that while "Israel" has prevented foreign reporters from entering Gaza, its forces have killed more than 210 Palestinian journalists in the territory.
"The result is an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public's right to reliable, independent, and pluralistic media reporting," Bernard said.
"The result is an unprecedented violation of press freedom and the public's right to reliable, independent, and pluralistic media reporting," the RSF director stated, emphasizing that "the Supreme Court has the opportunity to finally uphold basic democratic principles in the face of widespread propaganda, disinformation, and censorship, and to end two years of meticulous and unrestrained destruction of journalism in and about Gaza."
"No excuse, no restriction can justify not opening Gaza to international, Israeli, and Palestinian media," Bernard further added.
Read more: 'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine
