More New York Times Journalistic Malpractice: Bias For Israel As Usual

More New York Times Journalistic Malpractice: Bias For Israel As Usual

"A front-page New York Times article by Greg Myre" misleads readers. As FAIR points out, "had Myre taken the journalistically obvious step of interviewing independent experts on international law and human rights" readers would have known that Israel was
not exempt "from its legal duty to minimize civilian casualties."

"In fact, Myre incorrectly wrote that Amnesty "did not address the accusation that Hezbollah hid its militants among Lebanese civilians." Though Amnesty's initial September 14 report stated that it did not have enough evidence to take a position on that subject, the group treated the question extensively in its recent November 21 report (readily accessible on the Internet), which pointed out that, under the Geneva Conventions, Hezbollah's actions do not release Israel from its obligations under international law."

In attempting to cover for Israel and hide the facts, Myre mislead NYT readers when he selectively quoted Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth by omitting the lead paragraph of Kenneth Roth's op-ed which undermined Myre's case.

Kenneth Roth wrote, "Why did so many Lebanese civilians lose their lives to Israeli bombing? The government line is that the IDF was doing the best it could, but these deaths were the result of Hizbullah hiding its rockets and fighters among civilians. But that assertion doesn't stand up to the facts." Roth also wrote that "under international humanitarian law, just as Israeli abuses in Lebanon did not justify reprisals against Israeli civilians, so Hizbullah's war crimes did not justify Israel shirking its duty to protect Lebanese civilians."" - New York Times on Israeli War Crimes
No independent analysis of pro-government spin

ACTION: Please ask the New York Times to revisit the issue of war crimes in the war in Lebanon, providing reporting on the relevant international law. Also ask the Times to correct the record on Amnesty International's stance on Israel's responsibility toward civilians.

CONTACT:
New York Times
Byron Calame, Public Editor
public@nytimes.com
Phone: (212) 556-7652

New York Times Corrections
nytnews@nytimes.com