Palestinians in suicide bomber outfits in 2002. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Palestinians in suicide bomber outfits in 2002
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The Times op-ed compared corona quarantine to a military curfew on Palestinians in 2002, omitting the reason for the curfew: rampant suicide bombings that killed Israelis in staggering numbers.

This week, the New York Times published an op-ed by anti-Israel activist Raja Shehadeh that exploited the coronavirus pandemic to promote a grossly distorted vision of recent history to demonize the Jewish state, while pretending Palestinian terrorism never existed.

The op-ed draws a false equivalence between Americans currently under lockdown orders due to the threat posed by COVID-19 and Palestinians under an IDF-administered military curfew in 2002.

Shehadeh never mentioned that Israel imposed the curfew in 2002 to thwart a brutal wave of violence during which Palestinian terrorists indiscriminately murdered innocent Israelis, including infants and young children.

Gilead Ini of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) sounded the alarm over this shameful sleight-of-hand on the part of Shehadeh and the New York Times.

Ini noted, “It is a flagrant distortion of history — a stark example of terrorism denial — to claim that, in 2002, ‘only Palestinians were under threat’ while normal life’ continued in Israel. That year was the single deadliest in history for Israelis in terms of terrorism deaths, as a campaign of Palestinian suicide bombings targeted Jewish civilians.”

Ini continued, “Life was turned upside-down for Israelis, many of whom wouldn’t dare enter a restaurant or city bus. The curfews imposed on parts of Judea and Samaria, which the op-ed focuses on, was the direct result of a Palestinian terror campaign, which the op-ed dishonesty ignores, and which claimed over 400 Israeli lives that year alone.”

Among the crimes perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists in 2002 was a suicide bombing that killed 11 Jewish civilians, including two infants, a three-year-old, a seven-year-old, and several other children.

“Five 18-year-old Jews were shot dead in Gush Katif. A 9-month-old infant was among the dead in an attack along the Mediterranean coast. Seven passengers on a bus were killed by a suicide bomber in the north of Israel. Sixteen Israelis were killed while dining in a Haifa restaurant. And 30 mostly elderly Jews, including Holocaust survivors, were slaughtered while celebrating Passover in a Netanya hotel,” Idi added in the rebuttal he penned for CAMERA.

Why would the New York Times permit such a slanted version of history under the guise of coronavirus commentary? This shameful, false depiction of events should not go unchallenged.

Protest the New York Times’ distortion of history and denial of Palestinian terrorism!

1. Complain to the NY Times about these historical distortions at: nytnews@nytimes.com

2. Send the NY Times a letter to the editor demanding a printed correction by writing to this address: letters@nytimes.com