New York Times Reporters ‘Exasperated’ by Column Claiming Israeli Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners, ‘Suspicious’ of Sourcing

Journalists at the New York Times are reportedly “miffed” that an opinion writer at the paper, Nicholas Kristof, published a column with the inflammatory allegation that Israeli officials trained dogs to rape Palestinians, a claim that the reporters doubt would have survived the newsroom’s fact-checking standards. Last week, the Times published a column by Mr. Kristof that sought to expose a “pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence” against Palestinians.” Mr. Kristof interviewed several Palestinians who allege that they were abused by Israeli security officials. The column was quickly denounced by critics who questioned the credibility of interviewees, noting that some of them had histories of widely sharing anti-Israel viewpoints or propaganda.In particular, one claim —that Israel had trained dogs to rape detainees — has received intense scrutiny as it was attributed to an anonymous “Gaza Journalist,” and the op-ed did not cite any official investigations into that claim. Instead, it cited reports from groups that have repeatedly made unfounded claims against Israel. Critics have noted that dog trainers have said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to train dogs to carry out repeated, targeted attacks of sexual violence. Staffers at the Times have reportedly expressed frustration and embarrassment with Mr. Kristof’s column. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that “many Times journalists told me they remain suspicious of Nick’s sourcing for the most incendiary allegations” and doubt that the allegations would have survived the “standards of the newsroom rather than Opinion.” They are also “mildly miffed” at the Pulitzer-eager columnist for bringing scrutiny on the paper in a piece that should have been in their jurisdiction.“Above all else, many seemed exasperated by what they viewed as another instance of the Times brand being undercut by the actions of another department that, they feel, is not held to the same standards,” Mr. Byers wrote. Some journalists said that “the piece should have been in their jurisdiction,” Mr. Byers wrote. One Times staffer reportedly told him, “I am sick of being embarrassed by the Opinion section.”Israeli officials have firmly denied the allegations, with Israel’s Foreign Ministry calling the piece “one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press.” A former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said that his comment was mischaracterized to make it seem as though he was validating the allegations when he was quoted as saying he was “not surprised” to hear them. Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to sue the Times. Law professor and legal analyst Jonathan Turley wrote that a defamation case could be hard to prove because the “biggest problem with a defamation claim is that this ‘blood libel’ sounds a lot like a ‘group libel.’ Such lawsuits are very difficult to maintain outside of small, readily identifiable groups.” Mr. Turley, however, noted that while the Times has an advantage in court, “the driving force behind the lawsuit may not be a verdict but discovery. Israel wants to put the Times under a spotlight and expose its methods and sources.”Israeli officials also accused the Times of strategically publishing Mr. Kristof’s column to take attention away from the publication of a report detailing Hamas’s “systematic sexual violence” on October 7, 2023, and during the up to two year-long captivity of 251 hostages.Amid the criticism of Mr. Kristof’s piece, the Times has stood by its columnist, insisting that the allegations were “corroborated with other witnesses” and that “details were extensively fact-checked” and “independent experts were consulted.” While Mr. Kristof’s column was published on May 11, no news articles have advanced the piece by corroborating the allegations.Mr. Byers reported that the Times’s “leadership” feels that since the paper has previously reported allegations of abuse against Palestinians, it does not “need to have the newsroom rereview Nick’s work.”The Times did not respond to The New York Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

New York Times Reporters ‘Exasperated’ by Column Claiming Israeli Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners, ‘Suspicious’ of Sourcing

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