NEW YORK — More than 300 writers, scholars, and public figures, including nearly 150 past contributors to The New York Times, have pledged to stop writing for the paper’s Opinion section. The signatories regected the Times of anti-Palestinian bias and complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The boycott, organized by a coalition of writers and advocacy groups, demands that the Times meet three conditions before contributors resume writing. These include addressing the systemic bias against Palestinians, retracting the widely discredited “Screams Without Words” investigation, and calling for a US arms embargo on Israel.
Prominent signatories include Rima Hassan, Rashida Tlaib, Gabor Maté, Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Rupi Kaur, Mohammed El-Kurd, Noura Erakat, Mariam Barghouti, Susan Abulhawa, and Viet Thanh Nguyen. Many of them have previously written for or been featured in the Times.
The statement argues that The New York Times has played a central role in justifying and concealing Israel’s crimes in Gaza. It stresses that the paper is reprinting “lies from Israeli officials,” suppressing Palestinian voices, and using its Opinion section to sanitize genocide through “debate.”
The signatories say the newspaper’s reporting echoes its historical failures from misreporting on Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” to downplaying genocides. They call on the Times to issue a public reckoning similar to its post-Iraq War retraction and its later reflections on the Holocaust coverage failures.
The boycott was organized by several advocacy groups, including Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The coalition’s statement reads:
“Language makes genocide justifiable. The New York Times and much of Western media helped sustain the machinery of war.”
The group argues that the Times’ influence, as the US “paper of record”, shapes global narratives that enable Israel’s actions in Gaza. They insist that without the voices of independent contributors, the paper’s Opinion section “would be worthless.”
The demands of the boycott are clear:
- A newsroom review of anti-Palestinian bias, including reforms to editorial standards, hiring practices, and sourcing methods.
- Retraction of the article “Screams Without Words,” which relied on discredited witnesses and failed fact-checking.
- An official call by the Editorial Board for a US arms embargo on Israel.
The signatories warn that until the paper meets these demands, they will not contribute essays or commentary that “grant legitimacy to a publication that launders Israel’s war crimes.”
The boycott continues to grow, with organizers inviting more writers and past contributors to join the campaign. — QNN
