New York Times under fire for asking if ‘Jared & Ivanka are good for Jews’
The New York Times has seemingly carelessly stepped on thin ice by issuing a piece titled ‘Are Jared and Ivanka Good for the Jews?’ … and it apparently fell through that ice by provoking a storm of criticism on social media.
A pretty long piece issued by the Gray Lady appears to be in fact another thinly veiled jab at President Donald Trump as it mostly focuses on the fact that Trump’s presidency somehow led to the rise of anti-Semitism in the US while his staunchly pro-Israel policies had not found support, even among some parts of the US Jewish community.
All these issues are carefully wrapped up in speculation on the fact that his essentially Judaist daughter and Jewish son-in-law, who both act as the president’s advisers, do not make the situation any better … including for themselves and the US Jewish community, which is divided over the whole issue.
Regardless of whether the role Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner play for the US Jews was up for debate, the New York Times’ attempt to speculate on an increasingly complicated topic of intra-ethnic relations, mixed with the already pretty-much divisive issue of Trump’s policies, apparently backfired. After all, even though the online community might be divided on some issues, it mostly agreed that the NYT piece on this issue was no good.
Many commenters said that the NYT actually does not understand the Jewish communities, as “if it is visiting Mars,” as one professor put it in a tweet. Others called the headline “disgusting” and actually accused the media outlet of anti-Semitism.
As usual, the New York Times reports on subcultures it doesn't understand as if it is visiting Mars. Believe it or not, Jewish Republicans support Trump because they generally agree with him, not because of Israel. https://t.co/AErQoyPL0O
— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) November 17, 2018
Disgusting headline from @nytimes. You’ll should go back to journalism school. https://t.co/FkZqO9GLNe
— Zachary Thomas Petrizzo (@Zach_Petrizzo) November 18, 2018
‘Deeply problematic’: New York Times asks if Jared and Ivanka are ‘good for the Jews’ The NYT's history of Antisemitic articles, Op-Eds etc. is well documented and what the NYT's Op-Ed is saying is Jared and Ivanka do not fit their idea of "Go... https://t.co/Jd69pMIfd6
— Pog (@OSINT220) November 18, 2018
The NYTimes downplayed the Holocaust for decades. Think about that when you read this headline. https://t.co/dJGG4u3blT
— Ken Webster Jr (@ProducerKen) November 18, 2018
Some ridiculed the very idea of such a piece and called it “absurd.”
This is literally the most absurd article I have ever read. Really ridiculous. https://t.co/CFI0uY9Wiv
— Noa Peretz (@noa_peretz25) November 18, 2018
This article is an absurdity. Tell me more, newspaper that published a list of Jewish populations by district to push the Iran deal, about why the Kushners are bad for the Jews. https://t.co/ifZBHczpri
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 18, 2018
Members of the US journalism community also joined the overall wave of criticism, saying the article is “beyond questionable” and calling its headline “outrageous.”
This is beyond questionable https://t.co/X7UTKZ1nEV
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) November 18, 2018
An actual and patently outrageous headline from the paper of record: Are Jared and Ivanka Good for the Jews? - The New York Times https://t.co/njed2BtNpY
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) November 18, 2018
A number of prominent members of the US Jewish community and Israeli media figures rallied to Ivanka and Jared’s defense by saying that posing the question that the NYT actually asked would be wrong.
Are Jared and Ivanka Good for the Jews? - @NYTimes - come on seriously? The woman converts to Judaism, lives an observant orthodox life, and we question if she’s... https://t.co/bgDVsHhkKF
— Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) November 18, 2018
Disagree w Trump & his family all you like, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you think it’s OK to say Jared & Ivanka aren’t Jewish enough because of their opinions, you have no right to be mad at the Israeli rabbinate for saying the same abt others.https://t.co/8mpmG5JuIZ
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) November 18, 2018
Some also said that the piece is in fact just another attack by liberals on Trump and his inner circle.
This isn't about how Jews hate Jared Kushner. It's about how liberals hate Jared Kushner. https://t.co/U7q659kc2t
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 17, 2018
Apart from the backlash the NYT received over its choice of topic, some people on social media also criticized it over an entirely different perceived bias, i.e. the lack of women in its choice of people the media quoted in its article.
Somehow @AmyChozick and @hannah_seligson did not quote ONE American woman in a long story about American Jews. Outrageous that this erasure still happens at the @nytimes We have something to say, too. https://t.co/CVOyz9pQbl
— Jane Eisner (@Jane_Eisner) November 17, 2018
Hey @amychozick - if you had interviewed a single female Jewish leader for this piece, you might have gotten a fuller picture here. Here are some suggestions: @Jane_Eisner@TheRaDR@EWilf@avitalrachel@bolidort@rtimoner@aptly_engineerd@rabbijilljacobshttps://t.co/nguYVxqfum
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) November 18, 2018
That's less than 10% of the folks quoted and she's not even living in America? This seems... unbalanced to me if you truly want to get at the question as to how American Jews feel about Jared and Ivanka. I get there are deadlines and everything, but how many women did you ask?
— (((Kerri))) 🔥 (@klberney) November 18, 2018
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