A civil war has erupted inside the New York Times over Nicholas Kristof’s explosive column alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinians by Israeli prison guards.
Staffers at the newspaper are questioning whether some of the most incendiary claims, including an allegation that Israel trains dogs to rape Palestinian detainees, would have ever cleared the paper’s newsroom standards, according to Puck News.
The internal backlash has grown so intense that one Times journalist vented to Puck: “I am sick of being embarrassed by the Opinion section.”
Nicholas Kristof’s controversial column on alleged sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees has sparked backlash inside and outside the New York Times.
Nicholas Kristof’s controversial column on alleged sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees has sparked backlash inside and outside the New York Times.
The controversy centers on Kristof’s May 11 opinion essay, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” which included graphic allegations from Palestinian detainees who claimed they were sexually assaulted, raped with objects and abused by Israeli prison guards, interrogators and settlers.
The column immediately ignited outrage from pro-Israel critics, sparked denunciations from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and triggered threats of a libel suit against the Times.
The Times pushed back forcefully against Netanyahu’s threat to sue the paper, with spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha saying the proposed libel action was “part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative.”
She added that “any such legal claim would be without merit.”
Kristof’s column included graphic allegations from Palestinians who claimed they were sexually abused while detained by Israeli authorities.
Kristof’s column included graphic allegations from Palestinians who claimed they were sexually abused while detained by Israeli authorities.
While Times leadership has publicly defended Kristof’s reporting as “rigorously and meticulously fact-checked,” Puck reported that many newsroom journalists remain privately “suspicious” of the sourcing behind some of the column’s most graphic allegations.
No comments:
Post a Comment