Hundreds of Writers Boycott NYT over Anti-Palestinian Bias, Demand Accountability

By Staff, Agencies

More than 300 writers, scholars, and public intellectuals have announced a collective boycott of the New York Times Opinion section, citing entrenched anti-Palestinian bias and unethical reporting. The group pledged to withhold contributions until the newspaper addresses three specific demands aimed at restoring journalistic integrity and accountability in its coverage of the “US–'Israeli'” war on Gaza.

The signatories—describing themselves as “writers of conscience”—said they will not contribute to the Opinion pages until the Times takes responsibility for “its biased coverage” and commits to “truthfully and ethically reporting on the war.” The coalition, grounded in a call for moral clarity, denounced the paper’s “decades-long practice of acting as a bullhorn for the Israeli government and military,” and its “persistent anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian biases.”

The statement, signed by influential figures including Rima Hassan, Rashida Tlaib, Sally Rooney, Tareq Baconi, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Greta Thunberg, Elia Suleiman, and Rupi Kaur, reflects growing outrage among intellectuals and artists. Nearly 150 of the signatories are former Times contributors, joined by organizations such as Writers Against the War on Gaza [WAWOG], the Palestinian Youth Movement [PYM] and the Palestinian Feminist Collective [PFC].

The group outlined three core demands:

• A comprehensive review of anti-Palestinian bias in the newsroom and the creation of new editorial standards for coverage on Palestine.

• The retraction of the discredited investigation “Screams Without Words.”

• A public call by the Times Editorial Board for a US arms embargo on the “Israeli” entity.

The boycott statement opens with the words of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, who warned, “Language makes genocide justifiable. A reason why we are still being bombed after 243 days is because of The New York Times and most Western media.” Shabat was later assassinated by “Israeli” forces, a tragic reminder of the peril faced by journalists in Gaza.

In their concluding remarks, the writers stressed their duty to stand in solidarity with Palestinian journalists:

“We owe it to the journalists and writers of Palestine to refuse complicity with the Times and to demand that the paper account for its failures. It is essential that it can never again manufacture consent for mass slaughter, torture and displacement.”

The boycott is more than a protest—it is a demand for transparency, justice, and ethical journalism in the face of what the signatories describe as a “manufactured narrative of war.”

The “Israeli” entity launched its devastating assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in retaliation for intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. Despite its declared objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing all captives, the entity was ultimately forced to accept a ceasefire after failing to achieve its goals.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, “Israel’s” war has martyred 68,527 Palestinians—mostly women and children—and injured 170,395 others, underscoring what the writers call “a catastrophic failure of truth” in Western media narratives.