The New York Times’s bias against Israel has been well known for quite some time. By the end of last year, however, its reporting had become so problematic that the Times’s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, finally had to weigh in. I posted here about her column, which, she said, was one that she “never wanted to write.”
One of Sullivan’s recommendations was that the Times should hire an Arabic speaking reporter. Her goal was for the Times to be able to show that Palestinian Arabs are “more than just victims,” to “examin[] what’s being taught in schools, and the way Hamas operates,” and to cover “their beliefs and governance.” In other words, to show a side of the story that has been invisible so far in the Times. The response to this recommendation seems to be Diaa Hadid, whose first byline for the Times appeared in March.
Despite a couple of articles about The Palestinian Authority’s failure to pay its electric bill and the Palestinian Arab women who harass Jews on the Temple Mount, for the most part, Hadid has simply joined the Hamas propaganda team that is the Times’s Jerusalem Bureau. This should come as no surprise, considering her background at Electronic Intifada and at the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment.
Electronic Intifada is a hate site that supports Hamas. The anti-Semitism of its founder, Ali Abunimah, has been well-documented. Abunimah is personally on record supporting Hamas. Another one of EI’s reporters proudly declares on Twitter that “Objectivity is bullshit.” Hadid wrote at least seven articles for EI between 2002 and 2003.
In January of 2003, Hadid wrote a story in EI about her own evasion of Israeli police in Jerusalem. And in April of 2002 she wrote of her own role in a protest at the Qalandia checkpoint.
“We marched to Kalandia with women leading, straight to the checkpoint, which is currently a big set of plastic and concrete blocks blocking off the main road into Ramallah, heavily guarded by armed Israeli soldiers and police.
We began to push against the blocks. I was in the front line.”
Her bio at the end of the January, 2003 story relates that “Diaa Hadid is public advocacy officer at LAW – the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment.” The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, according to NGO Monitor, was an “active participant at the Durban Conference,” the 2001 anti-Semitic hate-fest at which the modern BDS movement was conceived. The group played a “central role in the steering committee and in pre-conference organizing.” (NGO Monitor further reports that the group ceased to function when European governments withdrew their support after discovering that its Executive Director was embezzling funds.)
Clearly, Hadid was never an unbiased journalist, but brought an agenda with her to the Times from the very beginning.
Even the National Review has now taken note of her bias, with reporter Kevin Williamson generously offering to “return to the copy desk” to provide the Times with a free mark-up of Hadid’s writing:
COPY: A Jewish man died [ED: “was killed.”] early Monday morning after attackers pelted the road [ED: “pelted the road”? They were aiming at the pavement? Please clarify.] he was driving on with rocks as he was returning home from a dinner celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, the Israeli authorities said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting to discuss rock-throwing, mostly [ED: “mostly”? Which other rock-throwers were discussed at the emergency meeting?] by Palestinian youths.
The man was identified in local news reports as Alexander Levlovich, 64. His death was reported as the police and Palestinian youths clashed [ED: Is it the case that the police and the Palestinian youths “clashed,” or is it the case that the police tried to stop violent crimes from being committed? Do the police “clash” with bank-robbers or muggers?] for a second day at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, amid tensions [Who is tense about this? Are Jews experiencing “tension” over being allowed to move about freely for the purposes of having dinner?] over increased visits by Jews for Rosh Hashana. The two-day holiday began at sundown on Sunday.
The National Review is far from the first to notice Hadid’s warped writing.
One wonders whether time Times vetted Hadid at all prior to hiring her. Did she lie on her resume, or did the Times know about her past work? If she did lie on her resume, is the staff of the Times incapable of using Google? In either case, there is simply no way that the Times can make any pretense of credibility while she remains on its staff.
