The New York Times has received the ire of the public after it chose to run an op-ed from a senior member of Hamas on Christmas Eve.
The oped, written by the handpicked Hamas Mayor of Gaza City, Yahya R. Sarraj, is titled “I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble.” Using the pages to amplify his hatred of Israel and spread what’s been labeled anti-Israel propaganda, the mayor condemned “the unrelenting destruction of Gaza — its iconic symbols, its beautiful seafront, its libraries and archives and whatever economic prosperity it had.”
On Christmas Eve, The New York Times published an opinion essay from mayor of Gaza Yahya R. Sarraj. Writing from Gaza City, Sarraj condemns Israel’s battle against the Palestinian terror group that appointed him mayor in 2019. He details the former glory of Gaza City, and laments its destruction under the same terror group that he has been faithfully serving for four years, reports The Messenger.
The New York Times saw fit to print this column from a man who backs terrorists, a column which demands that international leaders put pressure on Israel to cease its attempt to destroy the terror group that undertook a pogrom of 1,200 men, women, children, and elderly on October 7, on Christmas, a day of hope and peace.
The revitalization of Gaza that Sarraj has underseen during his time in office, which he details as small business creation, spawning new jobs, seafront improvements, recreation areas, and more, is one that has been indefinitely stopped under Israel’s retaliatory attack. Sarraj cites casualty numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry, another Hamas-backed municipal agency that uses its position for purposes of propaganda.
Sarraj almost feigns confusion when he asks “Why did the Israeli tanks destroy so many trees, electricity poles, cars and water mains? Why would Israel hit a U.N. school?” And the Times lets it stand without pointing out that Israel, unlike other forces, gave warning to Gazans prior to the launch of retaliatory hostilities, and without mention of the fact that Hamas terrorists use civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, as shields behind which they hide and let the civilians take the brunt of the attack.
According to reports about the school, “The IDF said Saturday that troops of the Kfir Infantry Brigade encountered a Hamas cell in a school in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood. The troops killed the gunmen and later found weapons and military equipment inside the classrooms.”
Footage published by the IDF shows Hamas operatives opening fire at troops from an UNRWA school in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, and a strike in response. pic.twitter.com/eNpNsTsJJ4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
Hostages released by Hamas have claimed that UNRWA teachers, who have received funds from the Biden administration, held them hostage and have been working for the terrorist group.
Before the war, Hamas published a video bragging that they had turned water pipes supplied to Palestine by the European Union into rockets to launch against Israel.
Hamas has thus far refused to give up power over Gaza to other Palestinians in return for peace.
Letting a terrorist leader publish in the pages of the New York Times forced many to recall that the same people on the editorial board of the newspaper had a meltdown when Republican Senator Tom Cotton was allowed to publish an article calling for troops to be used to end the rioting of 2020 in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
In June 2020, “The New York Times announced…that its editorial page editor had resigned after backlash from the public and the company’s own employees over a Republican senator’s op-ed that called for using military force against recent rioters.”
Cotton’s oped titled “Send the Troops In,” advocated for the deployment of the military for riots, explained Politico. “The senator described looting in New York City as “carnivals for the thrill-seeking rich as well as other criminal elements,” and wrote that leftist antifa movement had infiltrated protest marches — which an earlier Times article had called misinformation.
The column immediately drew backlash, with dozens of Times journalists voicing their opposition, tweeting the headline, caption and a form of the phrase ‘Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger.’
Nikole Hannah-Jones, who recently won a Pulitzer prize for the 1619 Project, which examines the legacy of slavery in America, tweeted: ‘I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this.’”
After initially defending the publishing of the op-ed, the Times reversed its position, apologetically claiming the column had not met editorial standards.
This is not the first time that The New York Times has published an op-ed by one of the world’s leading antisemites. In 1941, for example, the newspaper published an article, under the guise of showing America his propaganda, written by Adolph Hitler. Six months later the United States would declare war on Nazi Germany.
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