The New York Times has come under fire again for hiring freelancers with a history of anti-Semitic social-media posts.
Weeks ago, the paper severed ties with producer and fixer Fady Hanona, who repeatedly espoused anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hostility and spoke favorably of Adolf Hitler.
The watchdog site HonestReporting’s investigation of Hanona uncovered social-media posts calling for the killing of Jews “wherever they are: children, elderly people and soldiers.” Hanona wrote: “The Jews are sons of the dogs, and I am in favor of killing them and burning them, like Hitler did to them. I would be extremely happy.” The post was accompanied by two smiling emojis.
The Times claimed it had only engaged with Hanona “in recent weeks” and was no longer doing so.
Now, HonestReporting has uncovered similar posts by two more freelancers.
Palestinian filmmaker Soliman Hijjy, who contributed to the Times between 2018 and 2021, shared a photo of himself with a caption that roughly translates as “in a state of harmony as Hitler was during the Holocaust.” In a 2012 Facebook post, Hijjy wrote: “How great you are, Hitler.” The Times has published Hijjy’s work covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Freelance photographer Hosam Salem, who appears to be actively contributing to the Times, has expressed support for the terrorist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
According to HonestReporting, Salem expressed joy over the 2014 Har Nof massacre in Jerusalem, in which two Palestinian terrorists murdered four rabbis, including three Israeli-Americans, at a synagogue before killing a Druze police officer. Salem also praised Hamas’s capture of the body of IDF soldier Oron Shaul, who was killed in 2014’s “Operation Protective Edge.” Additionally, he applauded Hamas terrorism and “called for more violence” after an attack killed two IDF soldiers in Judea and Samaria.
As recently as last year, Salem reportedly eulogized Gazan suicide bombers Mohammed Salem and Nabil Masoud, whose 2004 attacks on the Israeli port city of Ashdod killed 10 Israelis and led to the cancellation of a summit between the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.
According to HonestReporting, a Times spokesperson said the paper was looking into the two freelancers’ social-media history.
