FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26th, 2024

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WAWOG | press@wawog.com

WRITERS AGAINST THE WAR ON GAZA PICKET NEW YORK TIMES’ EXECUTIVE EDITOR JOE KAHN’S HOME, DEMAND PAPER RETRACT “SCREAMS WITHOUT WORDS” AND CALL FOR AN ARMS EMBARGO

New York, NY | Protesters gathered outside New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn’s home in the West Village tonight to protest the paper’s coverage of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Between chants, speeches, and banging pots, the protestors made their three demands known:

1. Retract the widely debunked “investigation” “Screams Without Words.” The December 28th report––which claims that Hamas used systematic sexual violence during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood––has been deployed to defend Israel’s aggression in Gaza and ignore Israeli soldiers’ rape and torture of Palestinians. Reporters from Mondoweiss, Electronic Intifada, and the Intercept have meticulously uncovered the many falsehoods in the Times’ story. The paper’s refusal to retract it exposes an allegiance to Israel’s misinformation campaign and flies in the face of true journalism.
2. Write an editorial calling for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel. In November, WAWOG demanded that the Times call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. After the murder of over 40,000 Palestinians, the wounding of 100,000 more, and the forced displacement of over two million people, it is clear that a ceasefire is not enough. Gaza has been completely destroyed, with the UN projecting that it will take 100 years to rebuild. The International Court of Justice has also declared the Israeli occupation unlawful and ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide. The Times’ Editorial Board must demand that the U.S. place an immediate arms embargo on Israel.
3. Investigate anti-Palestinian bias in the Times coverage of the war on Gaza. Since October 7, the Times has provided cover for the Zionist genocide at every turn: sanitizing the entity’s war crimes, writing in the passive voice to invisibilize Israel’s responsibility for commiting daily massacres, and parroting IOF propaganda. A WAWOG data analysis found that the newspaper quoted Israeli and American sources more than three times as often as Palestinian ones between October 2023 and March 2024. This finding reflects systemic racism within the Times newsroom that must be investigated.

As the executive editor of the Times, Kahn is responsible for every story the newsroom publishes, including all of its Gaza coverage (which is compiled here). Under his leadership, the paper published "Screams Without Words," the single most harmful piece of Times propaganda since its “investigation” into Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was used to justify America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The picket in front of Kahn’s home is one in a series of actions that have targeted the Times. The most recent, on March 14th, included an early morning blockade of the paper’s printing press, the occupation of their Midtown lobby, and the release of a new edition of the New York War Crimes, titled "Stop The Presses! Free Palestine!" WAWOG has continued its critique of the Times’ coverage online through Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and the website, newyorkwarcrimes.com.

Since November, WAWOG has targeted the Times for its role in the ongoing genocide, naming it an imperial tabloid and the house organ of the American war machine. Kahn and the editorial board are no longer merely complicit in the murderous campaign that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians; they are accountable for mass death and the destruction of Gaza.