The New York Times has been blasted for its reporting on the recent terrorist attack in Jerusalem that killed seven Israelis and wounded three others—with critics saying the newspaper’s headline, which incorrectly stated the attack occurred in “East Jerusalem,” implies that the murders were justified because they took place over the Green Line (Israel’s pre-1967 border).
“Here’s the New York Times reporting that Jews were murdered and they had it coming,” tweeted former head of speechwriting and Israel’s Mission to the United Nations Aviva Klompas.
International human rights lawyer and CEO of the International Legal Forum Arsen Ostrovsky called that the coverage was “obscene.”
International CEO and co-founder of StandWithUs Roz Rothstein condemned the NYT headline as shameful, while HonestReporting put out a statement criticizing the publication for its minimization and complicity with this terrorist attack on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“This is what we mean when we say the media is complicit,” tweeted HonestReporting. “Shame on the New York Times for trying to minimize and excuse a terrorist attack that left 8 Jewish civilians dead, at their synagogue, on Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
The paper inaccurately labeled the attack as taking place in an “East Jerusalem” synagogue.
“Breaking News: A gunman killed at least five people at an East Jerusalem synagogue after a deadly month in the occupied West Bank,” tweeted the publication in its initial coverage of the terrorist attack.
The terrorist attack took place in the Neve Ya’akov neighborhood, which is located on the northern border of Jerusalem, rather than beyond the Green Line in the eastern part of the city.
“Shame on you,” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon tweeted in response to the New York Times story. The article was also criticized by other members of Israel’s diplomatic corps.
“I strongly condemn the New York Times for gaslighting this terror attack by referring to it as east Jerusalem,” tweeted Deputy Counsel General of Israel to the Southeast U.S. Alex Gandler. “This is Jerusalem, this is the quiet neighborhood [where] I grew up. I don’t expect much from reporting based on ideology, but at least some sense of truth is needed.”
