{"id":793426,"date":"2026-05-13T12:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/793426\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T12:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:31:21","slug":"nyt-pushes-back-on-israeli-criticism-of-column-alleging-rape-of-palestinian-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/793426\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT pushes back on Israeli criticism of column alleging rape of Palestinian inmates"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times defended a column that alleged Israeli security forces rape Palestinian inmates, as Jewish groups announced they would protest outside the newspaper\u2019s Manhattan offices on Thursday over the \u201clibels.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Times did not immediately respond to a statement by former prime minister Ehud Olmert accusing columnist Nicholas Kristof of misrepresenting his words so that they appeared to validate the allegations in the Monday op-ed<\/a>, \u201cThe Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel had slammed<\/a> the star journalist\u2019s column, calling it \u201cone of the worst blood libels\u201d in modern media and assailing its use of a report from an NGO whose leaders have been photographed alongside top Hamas officials.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry also alleged that the Times deliberately published Kristof\u2019s column ahead\u00a0of an independent Israeli report<\/a> that found Hamas had systematically used sexual violence in the onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. The Foreign Ministry claimed the Times had been approached with the Israeli report \u201cmonths ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> Wednesday, the Times said it \u201cnever passed on\u201d the Israeli report \u201cand wasn\u2019t told about its completion or the timing of its release.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cOnce the report was made public, we covered<\/a> its findings,\u201d it said, adding that the Israeli report \u201chas no bearing on Nicholas Kristof\u2019s opinion column or its publication timing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tJournalist Nicholas Kristof speaks during the Goalkeepers Conference on September 20, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n

In a separate statement<\/a>, the Times on Tuesday also denied journalist David Shuster\u2019s claim on X that there were \u201calready discussions, including up the masthead, about retracting\u201d Kristof\u2019s column over \u201cissues with source credibility and lack of evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times responded that \u201cthere is no truth to this at all,\u201d noting that Kristof was \u201ca two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe traveled to the region to report firsthand on the stories of Palestinians who suffered abuse, and his article collects accounts in the victims\u2019 own words, backed by independent studies,\u201d the Times said.<\/p>\n

Kristof\u2019s column alleged\u00a0\u201ca pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children \u2014 by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.\u201d<\/p>\n

It cited personal testimony from Palestinians, and included Olmert\u2019s comments near the end, so that they appeared to confirm what came before.<\/p>\n

\u201cOlmert told me he didn\u2019t know much about sexual violence against Palestinians but was not surprised by the accounts I had heard,\u201d Kristof wrote, before quoting Olmert as saying: \u201cDo I believe it happens? Definitely\u2026\u00a0There are war crimes committed every day in the territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tFormer prime minister Ehud Olmert speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Tel Aviv on May 22, 2025. (Ariel Schalit\/AP)<\/p>\n

Olmert, who in interviews with foreign media often accuses the current Israeli government of war crimes, said in a statement cited by The Free Press<\/a> on Tuesday that the placement of the quote was misleading and that he could not confirm the allegations in Kristof\u2019s column.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Kristof\u2019s article includes claims of extraordinary gravity: that Israeli authorities have directed the rape of children, that dogs have been used as instruments of sexual assault, that systematic sexual torture is state policy. I did not validate these claims,\u201d Olmert said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no knowledge supporting these claims as I said to Mr. Kristof. Therefore, the positioning of my quote after pages of such allegations misrepresents my views,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, pro-Israel Jewish groups EndJewHatred, Stop Antizionism, Hineni and the Movement Against Antizionism said they would hold a protest outside the Times\u2019 Eighth Avenue headquarters on Thursday following Kristof\u2019s column.<\/p>\n

\n

????NEW YORK CITY: We need YOU to come out strong this Thursday May 14th at 5PM to the NYT Headquarters at 620 8th Avenue. <\/p>\n

Call out FAKE NEWS. It\u2019s time to send a message to @nytimes<\/a> that enough is enough!@EndJewHatred<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/ufXz1SHMDi<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AUv7OTzJQ9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jayne Zirkle (@JayneZirkle) May 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Other than EndJewHatred, the organizations behind the rally are relatively new, having been established following the October 7, 2023, onslaught and ensuing surge in anti-Jewish sentiment in the US. The rally marks an early foray into organized protests for the newer groups.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cJoin us to rally and let NYT know they must stop the anti-Zionist libels! Enough is enough!\u201d the organizers said.<\/p>\n

The protest comes after anti-Zionist activists marched through<\/a> a Jewish area of Brooklyn on Monday and scuffled with residents as a local Young Israel synagogue hosted an event by a real estate group that advertises listings in West Bank settlements.<\/p>\n

Footage from the Monday demonstration showed anti-Zionist protesters hurling abuse at a reporter with The New York Times, who in turn flashed them a notepad on which he had scrawled, \u201cDid you read Kristof?\u201d<\/p>\n

Police officers could then be seen questioning the reporter, who said that given the protesters\u2019 animosity toward the Times, \u201cI think I can ask if they read the remarkable story that Nick Kristof wrote in today\u2019s paper about sexual violence against Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be interested in that. I think that\u2019s a fair question,\u201d said the reporter, who was wearing a press badge.<\/p>\n

\n

NYPD then pulled the reporter to the side and chastised him. <\/p>\n

Cop asked him he\u2019s reporting on the story becoming part of it. pic.twitter.com\/PFeBsugbjC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Timmy Facciola (@TimmyFacciola_) May 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The Jewish News Syndicate<\/a> identified the reporter as freelancer Nate Schweber, and quoted a Times spokesman confirming that Schweber was reporting for the newspaper from Brooklyn on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Times\u2019 coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has been revealing, honest and unflinching,\u201d the spokesman was quoted as saying. \u201cDespite the attacks on our coverage from opposing directions on a near-daily basis, we will not let critics or advocacy campaigns deter us from such independent reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n


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