There is incitement to genocide against Israelis in the pages of the New York Times this week. Or, at least, that is according to those who have previously graced the pages of The Gray Lady.
On Nov. 3, the New York Times published an op-ed by Masha Gessen titled “How to Be a Good Citizen of a Bad Country.” Following near instant criticism, the title was subsequently changed to “How to Be a Good Citizen When Your Country Does Bad Things,” although the first paragraph still ends with the line: “How can one be a good citizen of a bad state?”
The gist of Gessen’s piece is that the Jewish state is a “bad country,” and that “good citizens” must find ways to “resist” the “bad country.” Of course, those Gessen cites as models consider themselves “‘just lucky’ to have been raised differently from most Israelis” – they’re the morally righteous handful of “good citizens,” surrounded by a nation of wickedness. They’re not like those other Jews, they’re the cool Jews, to borrow the words of author Dara Horn. It seems to be Gessen’s attitude, too.
It’s moral vanity on an epic scale.
But with such grand sanctimony comes grand hypocrisy. Gessen and these supposed “good citizens” of a “bad country” promote the idea that “all [Israelis] are responsible” for the imagined evilness of their nation.
For example, Gessen cites Michael Sfard no fewer than 15 times, including for lines such as: “the criminal, felonious, unforgivable project of Gaza’s destruction is an all-Israeli project. It could not have happened without the cooperation — whether through active contribution or silence — of all parts of Jewish Israeli society.” (Emphasis added)
Ella Keidar Greenberg is quoted as declaring that her mere nationality makes her, like all Israelis, as guilty as the “soldiers” – such as her own sister – that she accuses of committing “genocide” and whom she describes as “fucking monsters.”
Such sentiments amount to incitement to genocide. Or, at least, that is according to the standards of Israel’s critics in the New York Times.
Disgraced UN inquisitor Navi Pillay at the United Nations.
In just the last few months, the New York Times’s Ezra Klein and the United Nations’s disgraced inquisitor Navi Pillay have taken to the pages of the newspaper to cite a particular speech by Israeli President Isaac Herzog as evidence of incitement to genocide, or genocidal intent, on the part of Israel.
Even Michael Sfard himself, who has accused Israel of committing “genocide,” has cited the same speech, claiming “Herzog, Israel’s moderate face, says that all Gazans are responsible for Hamas’ crimes,” and that this was a part of “stripping away the humanity of the people on the other side of the border…”
So what did Herzog say? A few days after the October 7 massacre, Herzog said during a briefing: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved.” That’s it – that’s his “incitement to genocide.”
Perhaps a tasteless remark standing alone, but one need not wonder what exactly Herzog meant, as he clarified the remark just moments later. When asked directly, at the same event, whether he had meant all Gazan civilians were legitimate targets, Herzog immediately interjected: “No, I didn’t say that. I did not say that. I want to make it clear.” One could also have gathered this from the fact Herzog’s speech also included lines like: “The IDF uses all means at its disposal in order to reduce harm to the population” and “many resources are invested in gathering intelligence and in trying to locate the enemy separately from civilian population…”
Of course, today, when truth comes second to narrative, Israel’s enemies are not interested in accurately reflecting his remarks. From Amnesty International reports to the South Africa government’s charge of “genocide” against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Herzog’s quote was dishonestly clipped out of context to suggest something his full remarks entirely contradict.
For these organizations, and for those writing in the pages of the New York Times like Klein and Pillay, Herzog’s remark about “an entire nation…that is responsible” is evidence of genocidal intent, context and nuance be damned.
And so, when the New York Times publishes a 3,000-word essay that argues “all [Israelis] are responsible” for the “bad things” the “bad country” does – a one-to-one comparison – we must apply the same standards.
Herzog declared an entire nation guilty of the atrocities carried out by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023. Meanwhile, Gessen, Greenberg, and Sfard declared an entire nation guilty of a fictitious “genocide.”
Either all or none of them are guilty of incitement to genocide.