According to Israeli news site Ynet News, The New York Times has fired reporter Anat Schwartz.
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Thousands of people worldwide had slammed The New York Times for hiring Ms. Schwartz, a former member of Israel’s air force intelligence with a record of liking racist and genocidal social media posts against Palestinians. In addition, thousands of Freedom Forward activists had called on The New York Times to fire both Schwartz and columnist Thomas Friedman for their history of pro-Israel bigotry.
Anat Schwartz had liked social media posts that called for Gaza to be turned “into a slaughterhouse,” described Palestinians as “human animals,” and justified a “Holocaust” against Palestinians. Much of this was revealed by the popular Twitter account @zei_squirrel, before being reported widely. Prior to being hired by The New York Times, Schwartz had never worked as a journalist.
Anat Schwartz should never have been hired to work at The New York Times — let alone given the power to report on Israel / Palestine affairs.
Schwartz was hired by The New York Times to write and contribute to a series of highly problematic articles about Hamas’ alleged use of rape on October 7. These articles have since been called into question for their poor journalistic ethics, lack of evidence, and reliance on debunked sources.
In one example, Schwartz misled the family of one Israeli killed on October 7 and pressured them into granting an interview for her reporting. The New York Times article that Schwartz contributed to claimed that the Israeli family’s relative was raped. The family says this didn’t happen and has shown text messages from the time of her death that support their claim.
In the article describing Schwartz’ firing, Ynet News quoted The New York Times as describing her as an “excellent reporter.” This demonstrates that much more still needs to be done to end The New York Times‘ profound pro-Israel reporting bias. U.S. media platforms like The New York Times have a history of publishing pro-Israel propaganda while hiding Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.
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SOURCES:
1. Anat Schwartz fired by The New York Times:
- “New York Times cuts ties with Israeli reporter over alleged policy violation,” Daniel Edelson, YNet News, March 31, 2024.
2. Anat Schwartz’ support for genocidal social media posts against Palestinians:
- “New York Times ‘Reviewing’ Reporter Who Liked Gaza ‘Slaughterhouse’ Tweet,” The Daily Beast, Corbin Bolies, Feb. 25, 2024.
- “NY Times ‘reviewing’ ties with Israeli reporter who liked post urging ‘slaughterhouse’ in Gaza: report,” New York Post, Ariel Zilber, Feb. 26, 2024.
- “New York Times investigating freelancer who said Gaza should be turned into ‘slaughterhouse’,” Middle East Eye, Feb 26, 2024.
- Tweet, @Zei_squirrel, 8:39 PM, Feb. 23, 2024.
3. Questions about accuracy of New York Times articles written by Anat Schwartz:
- “New York Times Puts “Daily” Episode on Ice Amid Internal Firestorm Over Hamas Sexual Violence,” The Intercept, Daniel Boguslaw, Ryan Grim, Jan 28 2024.
- Tweet, @TalulaSha, 3:32 PM, Jan 17, 2024.
- “Between the Hammer and the Anvil: The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Exposé,” The Intercept, Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim, Daniel Boguslaw, Feb 28, 2024.
4. Anat Schwartz’ past role in Israeli military intelligence:
- “Anat Schwartz,” Wikipedia, viewed Feb 28, 2024.
5. Anat Schwarz’ lack of experience in reporting before being hired by The New York Times:
- Tweet, Ryan Grim, @ryangrim, Washington DC Bureau Chief, The Intercept, 8:11 AM, Feb. 24, 2024.
- “Anat Schwartz,” LinkedIn, accessed Feb 28, 2024.