Former NYT staffer blasts Gray Lady for ‘twisting’ facts about Israeli hostage digging own grave
A former New York Times staffer on Monday slammed the Gray Lady for “twisting” the facts about how it framed a story about an emaciated Israeli hostage being forced to dig his own grave.
The liberal broadsheet — which was forced to amend a front-page article featuring an image of a supposedly starving child in Gaza — published a video on Saturday about Israeli Evyatar David being held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, without using the horrific photo of his skeletal frame.
The video ran with the headline, “Hundreds Protest in Tel Aviv After Hostage Videos Surface From Gaza,” and claimed, “The circulation of videos created by Hamas showing Israeli hostages living in dire conditions incited families to protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand a cease-fire and the return of their loved ones.”
Yaakov Ort, who spent 35 years at the Times working in its creative services division, ripped his former employer over the false premise that the majority of Israelis were protesting to demand a cease-fire.
“This is an appalling twisting of the facts, and mindful, heartless concealment of the truth: Rather than running a photo of hostage Evyatar David being forced to dig his own grave by Hamas terrorists, and writing about the actual reaction of million of Israelis to seeing it, the foreign desk and photo desk ran a photo of a relative handful of protestors in Tel Aviv,” Ort wrote on his Facebook page.
Ort, who is now a senior editor at Chabad.org., said that he has never publicly chastised his former colleagues but was aghast at the editiorial decision.
“If The Times had a Jerusalem bureau that reported the thoughts, communications and actions of the vast majority of Israelis, they would have told readers that the reaction of millions to this and other photos and videos of the physical and psychological torture of our children is not fear or protest, It is horror, rage and resolve,” he wrote
“The symbolism of the photo is so apt, since digging our own graves is exactly what the current Times news, editorial and op-ed page writers and editors, and those justifiably fearful of the Islamic street in the the West are arguing daily that we should do. Guess what? We won’t.”
The Times did not respond to requests for comment.
David, 24, was abducted in one of the bloodiest scenes of Oct. 7. at the Nova rave in southern Israel, where more than 350 people were massacred by Hamas terrorists. David’s family said in a statement to The Times that he had become a “living skeleton, buried alive” in Hamas tunnels.
Ort’s outrage comes after the Times amended a story it had published containing a shocking image of a child purportedly suffering from starvation in Gaza.
In an editor’s note buried in last Tuesday’s edition, readers learned Mohammed Zakaria al Mutawaq — the Gazan boy “diagnosed with severe malnutrition” and pictured in the article — suffers from “pre-existing health problems.”
“We recently ran a story about Gaza’s most vulnerable civilians, including Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who is about 18 months old and suffers from severe malnutrition,” a spokesperson for the outlet said in a statement.
“We have since learned new information, including from the hospital that treated him and his medical records, and have updated our story to add context about his pre-existing health problems,” the rep continued.
“This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation.”
The image of Mohammed — shown with a gaunt face and his spine protruding from his back as his mother held him — went viral, with many using him as the poster child for starvation in the Palestinian enclave amid Israel’s war against Hamas.
Days after The Times published images of Mohammed, pro-Israel group HonestReporting noted on July 27 that the boy’s older brother, Joud, is standing in the background, appearing in far better condition.
Mohammed’s mother told CNN that her son suffers from a “muscle disorder” for which he receives specialized nutrition and physical therapy.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
