(GoRealNewsNow.com) – The New York Times has come under intense fire after their fateful decision to publish an op-ed by the Hamas-appointed Mayor of Gaza City that has ignited a firestorm of criticism, especially among conservatives and other supporters of Israel.
This comes in a political environment already heated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s controversial social media post about Israel.
Mayor Yahya R. Sarraj’s piece, which paints a bleak picture of life in Gaza and blames Israel for widespread destruction and loss of life, has been met with accusations of bias and spreading hate.
Critics argue that giving a platform to a figure appointed by Hamas, an organization designated as a terrorist group by the United States and other countries, is tantamount to endorsing anti-Israeli sentiment and, by extension, anti-Semitism.
Arsen Ostrovsky, an International Human Rights lawyer and self-described Zionist, expressed, as many others did, his frustration on social media by tweeting, “I wonder, would NYT also publish an op-ed from Al-Qaeda justifying 9-11? Of course not, but there is no red line to this paper’s Jew-hatred.”
The backlash is intense, with comparisons made to the hypothetical publication of extremist viewpoints and accusations of the New York Times having a bias against Jews. Social media users have expressed dismay, questioning the editorial decision-making at the Times and accusing it of lacking moral judgment.
This controversy is set against the backdrop of a previous incident involving former op-ed page editor James Bennet.
Bennet was forced out following staff outrage over his decision to publish a piece by Sen. Tom Cotton advocating for a military response to Black Lives Matter and Antifa demonstrations. Bennet later acknowledged in a column for The Economist that The New York Times has a liberal, and possibly illiberal, bias.