New York Times Mocked for claiming terror boss was 'gifted orator'

 

The New York Times has been slammed for publishing an article claiming Hezbollah terror boss Hassan Nasrallah was a 'gifted orator' who wanted 'equality' for all religions. The article, titled 'Protesters Mourn Nasrallah's Death Around the World', was uploaded onto the website on Saturday and quickly began receiving a flurry of backlash, criticism, and mockery across social media.

The short article piled praise onto the Hezbollah terror boss, who the NYT claimed was a 'powerful orator' who was 'beloved among many Shiite Muslims', in part for providing 'social services' in Lebanon. It also stated Nasrallah 'maintained that there should be one Palestine with equality for Muslims, Jews, and Christians'.

But the terror leader notoriously believed in the destruction of the Jewish state and his Iran-backed militant organization carried out several deadly attacks on Jews around the world. Although he often claimed to be anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic, Nasrallah was quoted in a Times article from May last year chillingly saying: 'If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide'.

Nasrallah, 64, was killed in a major aerial bombardment by Israeli forces in Beirut on Friday - in an incident that came as a huge, almost unthinkable shock across the globe. 'The Times readership is now down to liberal elites, politicians, Communists and Islamists,' one X user wrote in response to a post highlighting portions of the article viewed nearly 250,000 times. 'This is so embarrassing. How does anyone take the NYT seriously anymore?' another user asked.

Confirming Nasrallah's death on Saturday, Hezbollah pledged to keep up its fight against Israel. They said: 'The leadership of Hezbollah pledges... to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people.'

More than 20 Hezbollah members were also killed alongside their boss Nasrallah in Friday's airstrike, Israel said. Among those 'eliminated' include the head of Nasrallah's security unit, Ibrahim Hussein Jazini, and Samir Tawfiq Dib, who the IDF described as 'Nasrallah's long-time confidant and adviser'. 'Due to their proximity to him, they served a significant role in the day-to-day operations of Hezbollah and Nasrallah in particular,' the IDF said.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby (pictured) said Israel's airstrikes had 'wiped out' Hezbollah's command structure, but he warned the group will work quickly to rebuild it. 'I think people are safer without him walking around,' Kirby said of Nasrallah during an appearance on CNN today. 'But they will try to recover. We're watching to see what they do to try to fill this leadership vacuum. It's going to be tough. Much of their command structure has now been wiped out.'