New York: More than 300 writers, scholars, and public figures have refused to contribute to the New York Times Opinion section, accusing the paper of aiding Israel’s genocide in Gaza through biased reporting. The signatories, which include around 150 past NYT contributors, announced their collective boycott to demand accountability from what is considered America’s “paper of record.”
Prominent names such as Rima Hassan, Rashida Tlaib, Sally Rooney, Rupi Kaur, Greta Thunberg, Gabor Maté, and Mohammed El-Kurd signed the statement, calling the boycott a moral duty. The group says the NYT’s coverage has repeatedly downplayed Israel’s war crimes and distorted Palestinian suffering.
The signatories argue that the newspaper has a long history of aligning with U.S. foreign policy and spreading misinformation. They accused the NYT of suppressing critical voices, employing journalists with ties to the Israeli military, and treating genocide as a “matter of opinion.”
Their joint statement, supported by groups like Writers Against the War on Gaza and the Palestinian Youth Movement, lists three demands. First, the NYT must review its anti-Palestinian bias and revise its editorial standards. Second, it must retract its “Screams Without Words” report, which they say spread false claims about Hamas and sexual violence. Third, the editorial board must call for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel.
The statement concluded that withholding contributions is the only way to challenge the NYT’s role in “manufacturing consent for mass slaughter” and to restore journalistic integrity.
