Quaker group pulls ad over NYT's refusal to call Gaza 'genocide'
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The organization called the NYT's refusal to publish its ads an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth, accusing it of choosing silence over accountability.
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A Palestinian looks at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on January 8, 2025. (AP)
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker peace advocacy group, announced on Monday that it canceled a scheduled ad in the New York Times after the paper declined to let it describe "Israel's" actions in Gaza as genocide.
"The refusal of The New York Times to run paid digital ads that call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth," said Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary for the AFSC, in a press release.
"Palestinians and allies have been silenced and marginalized in the media for decades as these institutions choose silence over accountability. It is only by challenging this reality that we can hope to forge a path toward a more just and equitable world."
The group alleged that a New York Times advertising representative suggested using the word "war" instead of "genocide."
According to the AFSC press release when the group refused, the New York Times responded with an email that read, in part, “Various international bodies, human rights organizations, and governments have differing views on the situation. In line with our commitment to factual accuracy and adherence to legal standards, we must ensure that all advertising content complies with these widely applied definitions.”
'If not genocide then what?'
The AFSC cited organizations such as the Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and various Palestinian human rights groups, all of which have characterized the Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide.
"New York Times Advertising works with parties submitting proposed ads to ensure they are in compliance with our acceptability guidelines," a spokesperson for the New York Times said in response to questions from the Guardian.
"This instance was no different, and is entirely in line with the standards we apply to all ad submissions."
The AFSC has been supporting humanitarian efforts in Gaza and lobbying in the US for a "permanent cease-fire, full humanitarian access, release of all who are held captive, and an end to US military funding for Israel."
The group also highlighted an ad by Amnesty International in the Washington Post over the weekend, which described "Israel's" aggression as genocide.
The New York Times has previously run advertisements using the term. In 2016, it published an ad from the Armenian Educational Foundation thanking Kim Kardashian for opposing the denial of the Armenian genocide. In 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain co-signed a letter advertisement in the New York Times calling out the genocide in Darfur.
The Times’ advertising guidelines state that its “advertising space is open to all points of view” and that submissions may be subjected to fact-checking, while it reserves the right to reject an ad if it is found to be deceptive or inaccurate.
Read next: How language used in American media facilitates genocide
