New York Post editorial board accuses NYT of downplaying antisemitism: Paper does 'not want you worrying'
The New York Post editorial board scolded crosstown paper The New York Times on Wednesday, accusing the Gray Lady of downplaying antisemitism.
Antisemitism has been on the rise across America since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, but the Post doesn’t believe the Times is adequately covering it. The Post editorial board published a scathing piece headlined, "The Times keeps making excuses for antisemitic outrages," which put a harsh spotlight on coverage.
"Oy, does The New York Times not want you worrying about rising antisemitism," the Post editorial board wrote.
"For the second time in a week, it jumped on a shocking local story (of the kind it normally wouldn’t even report, given how scarce its local coverage is) to ‘clarify’ that things aren’t really all that bad," the Post continued before citing a recent Times report on New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks visiting a school where hundreds of students threatened a Hillcrest High School teacher for expressing support for Israel. The terrified teacher reportedly had to hide in a locked office.
"The Times took the opportunity to ‘explain’ that it wasn’t so bad, citing Banks’ own damage-control remarks slamming the ‘notion that these kids are radicalized’ (as if he has any way to know) and insisting the teacher ‘was never in direct danger’ (that’s the standard now?), that the war is a ‘very visceral and emotional issue’ and many Hillcrest kids ‘feel a kindred spirit with the folks of the Palestinian community’ — as if any of that excuses the ‘protest,’" the Post editorial board wrote.
"To condemn ‘the mounting online backlash against students at the school,’ the Times trots out lefty Queens Borough President Donovan Richards to make ridiculous ‘defenses’ such as: ‘To speak of every child in this school as antisemitic is simply wrong,’" the Post continued, mocking a line in the Times report that stated Richards also called the situation "powder keg waiting to explode" because the Department of Education had not addressed the war in the Middle East head on.
"Seriously? Some statements from the top educrats are all it takes for the kids to behave?" the Post snarked. "Sorry: Going after a teacher for her personal views is far beyond the bounds, and school during the school day is no place for any protest."
The Post editorial board then noted the piece came only six days after "an even more egregious piece of work" by the Times.
Last week the Times published a piece, "Did a Cafe’s Pro-Israel Stance Cause a Staff Revolt? It’s Complicated," which downplayed a viral story of a coffee shop owner saying workers quit because he supported Israel.
The Post editorial board wrote: "That was aimed directly at debunking The Post’s scoop on the travails of Caffè Aronne, and consisted almost entirely of reporting what the staff who’d walked out had to say days after the events in question. (Surprise: They insisted their motives for quitting without notice were pure as the driven snow.)"
The Post then conceded "everything" is complicated "but it sure is strange how the Times keeps on stressing the ‘complications’ that happen to play down antisemitic and anti-Israeli outrages."
The scathing piece ended with a shot at the Times for inaccurately reporting that Israeli airstrikes caused an explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds last month. Israel denied the claims and presented evidence that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was behind the blast. U.S. intelligence confirmed that Israel was not behind the explosion.
The Times soon released a lengthy editor’s note apologizing for its reliance on unverified claims by Hamas.
"When it comes from the same folks that rushed to share Hamas’ lies about a supposed Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital, you start to wonder about that ‘All the news that’s fit to print’ motto," the Post editorial board wrote.
The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, the Times was accused of "both-siding" the viral videos of anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters tearing down posters of civilians taken by Hamas.
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Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.