“The refusal of The New York Times to run paid digital ads that call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth.”
A Quaker peace advocacy group, The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), has canceled planned advertising with the New York Times after “the paper refused to allow an ad that referred to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
The ad read: “Tell Congress to stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza now! As a Quaker organization, we work for peace. Join us. Tell the President and Congress to stop the killing and starvation in Gaza,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The refusal of The New York Times to run paid digital ads that call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth,” said Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary for AFSC.
“Palestinians and allies have been silenced and marginalized in the media for decades as these institutions choose silence over accountability. It is only by challenging this reality that we can hope to forge a path toward a more just and equitable world,” she stressed.
‘War’ Instead of Genocide
The group explained that after receiving the text for the ad, a representative from the advertising team suggested that AFSC use the word “war” instead of “genocide.”
AFSC said “war” held “an entirely different meaning both colloquially and under international law.”
We’ve canceled planned advertising with The New York Times after it refused to allow an ad referring to Israel’s genocide in #Gaza.
Joyce Ajlouny, AFSC’s General Secretary, called the refusal “an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth.” https://t.co/gDfNmDEOSH pic.twitter.com/vozqR3SiQ7
— AFSC (@afsc_org) January 8, 2025
When the Quaker group rejected the suggestion, the New York Times Ad Acceptability Team sent an email that read in part: “Various international bodies, human rights organizations, and governments have differing views on the situation. In line with our commitment to factual accuracy and adherence to legal standards, we must ensure that all advertising content complies with these widely applied definitions.”
Rights Groups’ Confirmation
The group pointed out that many human rights organizations, legal scholars, genocide and holocaust scholars, and UN bodies “have determined that Israel is committing genocide or genocidal acts in Gaza.”
Month after month, the world has watched as Israel treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them. pic.twitter.com/CcbvtP6XxK
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) December 5, 2024
This includes US-based organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights and the University Network for Human Rights, international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and several Palestinian human rights groups, it said.
It noted that the New York Times “regularly looks to several of these organizations as sources for its own reporting.”
Washington Post Ad
The group also highlighted that in the same week that the New York Times rejected AFSC’s ad, the Washington Post ran an advertisement from Amnesty International that used the language of genocide.
‘US has Power to End Genocide’ – Coalition of Doctors Demand Arms Embargo on Israel
“The suggestion that the New York Times couldn’t run an ad against Israel’s genocide in Gaza because there are ‘differing views’ is absurd,” said Layne Mullett, Director of Media Relations for AFSC.
“The New York Times advertises a wide variety of products and advocacy messages on which there are differing views. Why is it not acceptable to publicize the meticulously documented atrocities committed by Israel and paid for by the United States?” Mullet added.
Previous Use of ‘Genocide’
AFSC said it had been supporting humanitarian efforts in Gaza since 1948 and currently has staff in Gaza, Ramallah, and Jerusalem.
“Our courageous staff members in Gaza witness daily horrors and continue to provide vital support despite Israel’s relentless attacks on their homes and families,” said Ajlouny.
She emphasized that the group’s ad campaign “aims to shed light on these atrocities while urging people in the U.S. to pressure the President and Congress to halt weapons shipments to Israel and advocate for an end to the genocide.”
Gaza Genocide Embodies Unmatched Cruelty – Not Worthy of Celebrations
According to the Al Mayadeen channel, the New York Times has previously run advertisements using the term “genocide”.
In 2016, the channel reported, the paper published an ad from the Armenian Educational Foundation thanking Kim Kardashian for opposing the denial of the Armenian genocide. In 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain co-signed a letter advertisement in the New York Times calling out the genocide in Darfur, the report added.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
