Sunday, May 26, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
In its most recent edition, the newspaper featured an interview with Rashid Khalidi, professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. Khalidi described how the New York Times is in his view irredeemably biased against Palestinians. He says it is the New York Pravda, but at least Pravda made no pretense of objectivity. He says that it acts as a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda. "Whatever is happening, a story gets released by Israel and fed to this outlet, such that this is the story that hits the front page — rather than whatever it is Israel wants to cover up."
This is completely opposite of the truth, of course. Researchers at Bar-Ilan University did a study of top New York Times headlines since October 7 and found that the overwhelming majority of the stories were empathetic to Palestinians and were critical of Israel far more than Hamas.
But Khalidi's criticism of the New York Times as biased against Palestinians is absurd from another perspective.
He has possibly published more op-eds in the New York Times about the Middle East than anyone who is not on the newspaper's payroll and not named Peter Beinart.
I count 12 op-eds that he has authored over the years, including one after October 7. That is a huge number. World leaders don't get as many opportunities for unfiltered writing to such a large audience as Rashid Khalidi.
In addition, he also wrote several mini-opinion pieces where he was solicited together with others on their thoughts about a specific story. He has written book reviews and his own books have been prominently reviewed in the newspaper. He is regularly interviewed by the newspaper, and quoted by columnists. Moreover, his writings are often recommended by the NYT as essential background material for people interested in the conflict. His name has been mentioned in 135 New York Times pieces.
I cannot think of anyone on either side of the conflict who has been treated with this much respect by the New York Times. If anyone is in a position of privilege in spouting anti-Israel propaganda at the New York Times, it is Rashid Khalidi.
His whining that the Times doesn't offer any pro-Palestinian views is ludicrous on its face. Given that he knows how often he is featured in that paper, this can only be regarded as intentional propaganda.
