American media experts ask New York Times to review its “Hamas Rapes” story
As many as 64 American media experts and journalists have asked The New York Times to do an external review of its story related to the fabricated claims of Hamas and other Palestinian Resistance fighters’ involvement in sexual violence on Oct 7.
[File photo for representation.]
Washington: As many as 64 American media experts and journalists have asked The New York Times to do an external review of its story related to the fabricated claims of Hamas and other Palestinian Resistance fighters’ involvement in sexual violence on Oct 7.
In a letter, addressed to Arthur G. Sulzberger, Chairperson of The New York Times Co., and copied to executive editors Joseph Kahn and Philip Pan, the journalism professionals, who included Christians, Muslims and Jews, expressed their concerns over New York Times reporting and its failure to do enough to correct itself.
The New York Times is one of leading publications in the United States. Its reporting on Gaza war, which the critics say is pro-Israel, is being used to justify the Israeli war crimes against the Palestinians, and also to encourage Police crackdown on student activists protesting against Israel in over 40 universities and the American funding of the Zionist war.
The NYT story which the American journalists want the publication to review is titled “Screams Without Words: Sexual Violence on Oct. 7” that ran on the front page of the newspaper on Dec. 28 last year.
It is one of the several news reports by various media organizations that have been used by the Israeli government to counter criticisms of the brutal nature of its near-seven-month military offensive in Gaza, during which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of the homes, businesses, schools, mosques, churches and hospitals in the besieged enclave have been destroyed, displacing more than a million people, many of whom now face famine, according to Arab News.
“The Times’ editorial leadership remains silent on important and troubling questions raised about its reporting and editorial processes.
“We believe this inaction is not only harming The Times itself, it also actively endangers journalists, including American reporters working in conflict zones, as well as Palestinian journalists (of which, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports, around 100 have been killed in this conflict so far)”, the American journalists wrote in the letter.
Mohammed Bazzi, an associate professor with the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, told Arab News the letter demanding an “external review” of the story is “a simple ask.”
“This story, and others as well, did play a role in allowing the Israeli military to take action beyond acceptable military practices and dehumanize Palestinians. Such dehumanization was on display before Oct. 7", Bazzi said.
“In the Western media there seemed to be far less sympathetic coverage of Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza as a consequence of these stories,” he said.
Bazzi further said that the Western media has contributed to the dehumanization of Palestinians more than any other section of the international media, while at the same time humanizing the Israeli victims.
Bazzi, among others, said The New York Times has addressed “only a handful of many questions” about its story and needs to do more to present a more accurate account of what happened on Oct. 7.
The journalists also accused The New York Times of relying for the said story on freelancers with little experience of ground reporting and questionable relationships.
Soon after the story was published, Hamas rejected it describing the Palestinian militants as “freedom fighters” and “dignified” who strictly adhere to the Islamic principles in the war against the occupation.
“Our fighters are freedom fighters and dignified, and cannot commit such shameful acts. Our Islamic religion, national values, and societal culture do not accept such disgraceful acts”, Dr Basem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau, said.
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