New York Times Reporters Act as Hamas Stenographers, Forget to Omit ‘Israeli Occupation Forces’

In their Dec. 16 item, “Israeli forces withdraw after besieging Gaza hospital, leaving behind bodies and destruction,” Raja Abdulrahim and Iyad Abuheweila wrote: “For a week the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia was surrounded and raided by Israeli occupation forces, who destroyed the southern part of the hospital, according to the health ministry.” (Emphasis added.)

“Israeli occupation forces” is a vilification of Israel’s military favored by anti-Israel activists along with terror organizations including Hamas. Notably, this language is not consistent with Times‘ style and practice. It indicates a total departure of journalistic norms guiding objective reporting. 

Shortly after CAMERA’s Israel office called out the paper for this egregious formulation and directly contacted an editor the word “occupation” disappeared.

But even the deletion of the telling “occupation forces” slip-up can’t conceal the writers’ devotion to amplifying Hamas talking points. The gross disparity of the journalists’ treatment of Hamas claims versus Israeli claims is striking. About the latter, they reported:

The Israeli military defended its actions, saying the hospital was being used by Hamas as a command and control center.

Some 80 fighters, some of whom Israel said took part in the Oct. 7 attack, were detained and numerous weapons were located, said a statement by the Israel military. The statement said that hospital workers “confessed” that incubators for premature babies were being used to store weapons.

The Israeli military’s claims could not be independently verified. [Emphases added.]

But the Israeli military’s supposedly unverifiable claims were not confined to a “statement.” The IDF also released video footage showing arrested Hamas fighters surrendering their weapons outside the hospital.

In addition, the IDF released footage of the weapons found in incubators.

 

First footage from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza: IDF discovering weapons hidden in incubators, RPGs, bombs, Kalashnikovs and more.

90 Hamas terrorists who were hiding in the infants department of the hospital surrendered, several admitted to participating in the Oct 7 massacre. pic.twitter.com/0OneVORkh3

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 16, 2023

Thus, according to The Times duo, Israel’s videographic evidence of weapons is not enough to verify weapons. On the other hand, when it comes to Hamas claims, the absence of video footage showing dead bodies verifies dead bodies.

Indeed, the two dictate on behalf of a Hamas sympathizer:

“This is a big crime here inside Kamal Adwan Hospital,” said a local journalist, Anas Al-Sharif posted a video on social media of the rubble at the scene. “Dozens of bodies, the bulldozer rolled over them and left,” he said in the video he posted.

As his camera panned across the rubble, flies could be seen buzzing above the upturned earth and rubble.

Note the absence of any qualification warning that the claim of”dozens of bodies” “could not be independently verified.” In other words, for Hamas, buzzing flies prove dead bodies. But for Israel, weapons don’t prove weapons.

And it’s not as if “local journalist” Anas Al-Sharif, who works for Al Jazeera, is a non-partisan source to be taken on his word regarding these matters.

Al-Sharif has not been shy about expressing his support for Hamas.

Here he is celebrating the November 2021 murder of Israeli-South African Eli Kay:

He likewise expressed his merriment at the November 2022 double bombing in Ramot in which 16-year-old Israeli-Canadian Aryeh Schupak was murdered and some two dozen more injured

Indeed, Abdulrahim’s and Abuheweila’s failure to disclose the Hamas affiliations and sympathies of supposedly neutral sources is a pattern in their relatively brief update. There are also references to the “Gaza health ministry” or “health ministry” without any indication that it is a Hamas-run entity.

Then there’s the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital about whom the Times journalists report: “Some of the hospital’s staff, including its director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, were detained, the ministry said.”

The hospital has not exactly hid the fact that its director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot is a ranking Hamas official. It took CAMERA Arabic researchers approximately five minutes to locate this 2018 post from the hospital’s own Facebook page (at left) in which “Colonel” Al-Kahlot met with his Hamas colleagues to explore opportunities for cooperation.

Yesterday, the fruits of that friendly working meeting were on full display as the Shin Bet and IDF released video footage of of Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot’s interrogation in which he detailed Hamas’ wholesale exploitation of his hospital as an operational hub including offices, hostage storage, private phone lines, and private ambulances which never carried patients.

Or, as Hamas stenographers writing for The New York Times would put it, Israeli o̶c̶c̶u̶p̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ forces issued a statement which could not be independently verified claiming that Al-Kahlot admitted his hospital was a hub for Hamas.