On April 27, a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) was published accusing Israel of committing the crime of apartheid. Virtually from the second the 60,000-word paper was released, The New York Times and other news organizations covered HRW’s “explosive” charge against the Jewish state extensively.
In contrast, another report has gained virtually no coverage from international news outlets. Also released on April 27, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual summary found that antisemitic incidents remained at historic high levels across the United States in 2020. This seeming lack of interest from the world’s most widely read news organizations is especially curious since the ADL’s Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents was reported on by local news media.
Seemingly, The New York Times, whose slogan is “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” does not consider the increasingly precarious nature of American Jewish life to be a story worth telling. Perhaps this is because illuminating the US’ antisemitism problem would draw unwanted attention to the rampant antisemitism afflicting Palestinian society?
Instead, the agenda-driven editorial board, which meets at the New York Times Building on 620 Eight Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, would rather focus on yet another report put out by Human Rights Watch, Inc. that perpetuates the Palestinian victimhood narrative blaming all the ills of Palestinian society on Jews living in Israel.
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New York Times’ Antisemitic Blindside?
One argument that is impossible to sustain is that The New York Times is unaware of rising antisemitism. This is especially true since some violent incidents have recently taken place not far from NYT headquarters. As HRW’s report was being prepared for its worldwide launch by the “newspaper of record,” Jewish media reported on a rash of antisemitic attacks taking place in New York. In a matter of a few days, seven incidents occurred at Jewish institutions including Chabad of Riverdale, Young Israel of Riverdale, the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, and the Riverdale Jewish Center.
⚠️In connection to an ongoing investigation of vandalism of synagogues in @NYPD50Pct,
we need help to identify the individual seen in⬇️video on W. 235th St., by Henry Hudson Pkwy, Sat., April 17th at 7:45PM. ☎️1-800-577-8477@NYPDShea @NYPDDetectives @TheCSSorg @JCRCNY @ADL_NYNJ pic.twitter.com/LBVPhZXl0T— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) April 29, 2021
According to one report, this spasm of violence is “…sending alarm bells across Jewish neighborhoods in all boroughs, and some are concerned that the spike in antisemitism is only getting worse.” Local political leaders decried the attacks, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowing on April 25 to “take swift action against the perpetrators” of the “vile acts.”
Yet, The New York Times is apparently oblivious to acts of racial and religious-based violence taking place in its own backyard.
In this vein, HonestReporting gauged The New York Times’ coverage of both the Human Rights Watch and Anti-Defamation League reports.
Between April 27, the date when ADL’s Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents was published, and May 2, the news organization mentions the report but once. Meanwhile, other ADL-related stories – those that have to do with the status of other targeted minority groups in the United States – were reported on 53 times during the same time period.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch report appeared a whopping 62 times in The New York Times.
And The New York Times is not alone in its dearth of coverage. A review of CNN, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, MSN, MSNBC, NBC and ABC found that while the ADL appears in 160 news items and broadcasts between April 27 and May 2, there are a grand total of 5 allusions to the antisemitic incidents report or antisemitism in general.
In comparison, Human Rights Watch and its apartheid charge against Israel appeared 78 times during the same period.
Related Reading: As Antisemitism Mutates, Is Media Coverage Failing to Evolve?
Why is the New York Times Burying the US Antisemitism Story?
Turning a blind eye to rising Judeophobia in the United States is making it acceptable. On university campuses throughout the United States, Jewish students are increasingly being subjected to antisemitic harassment. American Jews, who comprise a mere 2 percent of the population of the US, are several times more likely to be the target of a hate crime. This has been documented by the FBI. “The fact that such a small percentage of the population has such a large percentage of hate crime incidents, that should be worrying for all of us,” said Ira Forman, former State Department antisemitism envoy from 2013 to 2017.
And the modern variant of this ancient plague couches its genocidal hatred as opposition to ‘apartheid’ Israel.
Enabled by uncritical news organizations such as The New York Times, Human Rights Watch has effectively diminished the import of antisemitism, allowing Palestinians to indulge their notorious Jew-hatred – one that manifests itself by blaming the Jewish state for all of their misfortune.
The concept of systemic racism is on full display inside the Palestinian Authority. For one thing, the Palestinian National Charter continues to call for Israel’s elimination by military means. And to this day, the Palestinian leadership is indoctrinating children with the belief that they will one day “return” to Israel. It is common for maps in Palestinian textbooks to show all of Israel as “Palestine.”
Indeed, the Anti-Defamation League found that Palestinians in the West Bank are, on the whole, one of the most antisemitic people in the world, with more than 90 percent of them harboring racist attitudes towards Jews.
Related Reading: Media Blackout as PLO Commits War Crimes — Days After Abbas Calls for its Removal from US Terror List
More than at any other time in recent memory, hatred in America is on the top of everyone’s mind. But while The New York Times has done a commendable job reporting on racism as it pertains to a list of other targeted groups, it has omitted the targeting of American Jews.
The message is painfully clear: American Jews do not qualify as a targeted group in the eyes of some reporters. Such a journalistic oversight has dire consequences: it will make it possible for antisemitism in the United States to spread, while not holding Palestinian society accountable for its own systemic bigotry.
Featured Image: CC BY-SA Adam Jones
