Leaked memo shows the New York Times telling journalists not to use the word ‘Palestine’

The New York Times is helping erase Palestine through instructing reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” when reporting on Israel’s assault on Gaza, which is literally part of Palestine.

140 of 193 United Nations (UN) member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.

New York Times: manufacturing consent

The New York Times is manufacturing consent for further colonisation of Palestinian land and resources.

The memo, leaked to the Intercept, also told staff not to use the term “refugee camps” for areas of Gaza.

That’s despite the fact most Gaza residents are refugees from elsewhere in Palestine, which is because Zionist colonisers took over 78% of Palestine in 1948 through displacing and killing residents

This was facilitated by British colonisers who controlled Palestine.

The New York Times memo also revealed instructions from editors to “avoid” the term “occupied territory” when talking about Palestinian land.

That denies reality. Israel has presided over a military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank since 1967.

The memo restricted the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”. On 15 October 2023, over 800 scholars and practitioners of international law warned that Israel may carry out a genocide in Palestine.

And in January, the International Court of Justice found it “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide.

Israel has now also displaced over 75% of Gaza’s people and destroyed 70% of homes. This could well be described as ethnic cleansing.

A New York Times newsroom source told the Intercept the memo was “apologetic… to Israel”.

The anti-Palestinian coverage is not new.

In an analysis published in 2007, scholars Howard Friel and Richard Falk found the New York Times gave prominence to the killing of Israelis over the killing of Palestinians, while ignoring the Israeli government human right’s violations against Palestinians

The bias is an issue in the wider US media. In November 2023, over 750 US journalists signed an open letter holding their newsrooms:

accountable for dehumanizing rhetoric that has served to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestinians

Unworthy victims

Academics Noam Chomsky and Edward S Herman note in their 1988 content analysis of US mass media that outlets treat victims as either worthy or unworthy.

In mass media portrayal, a worthy victim is one who suffers under a regime unfriendly to the US, while an unworthy one falls victim to the US itself, an ally or client state.

It seems the New York Times treats Palestinians as unworthy victims with Israel as a US ally. The US gives $3.8bn in military aid to Israel per year.

The erasure of a people is illegal under international law. The New York Times should stop participating in it.

Featured image via the Telegraph – YouTube