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Top New York Times Editor Says His Paper Prompted US Pause of Arms to Israel
Israeli soldiers fire mortar shells, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near Israel’s border with Gaza in southern Israel, Jan. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
The executive editor of the New York Times, Joseph Kahn, is boasting that his newspaper is responsible for the Biden administration’s decision to stop sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
Kahn also recently disclosed a $62,500 gift from his family charitable foundation to the Harvard Crimson, a student-run newspaper that has endorsed the movement to boycott, sanction, and divest from Israel and that also calls for Harvard to divest from weapons manufacturers and give amnesty to student anti-Israel protesters.
Kahn’s comment about the bombs came in an interview with the New Yorker magazine that was published online this week.
Asked, “can you talk a bit about how you’re thinking about AI [artificial intelligence] positively?” Kahn replied that the Times “visual investigations team” had used artificial intelligence “in this big investigation about the use of two-thousand-pound bombs by Israel in Gaza, identifying craters and identifying remnants of weapons and quantifying the strikes that actually had a real result in having the US restrict the sale of two-thousand-pound bombs to Israel.”
In a Dec. 2023 column for The Algemeiner, I wrote about the Times project, which was published both in print and video: “The policy goal is clear: to cut off Israel’s arms supply. ‘But the US has not stopped supplying weapons to Israel,’ the Times narrator says at one point, implying that is what the US should do.”
And after US President Joe Biden disclosed, in a CNN interview in May 2024, that he was pausing the shipments of the weapons to Israel, I wrote another column asserting that the New York Times “laid the groundwork for Biden’s decision.”
Now Kahn is validating the two Algemeiner columns, essentially describing the Biden policy decision — widely denounced in the American Jewish community and by pro-Israel lawmakers from both political parties — as a positive result of Times journalism.
The New Yorker reporter also grilled Kahn about a donation from his family charity to Planned Parenthood. Kahn indicated another family member was responsible for it and said, “I’m not making any donations to political organizations, full stop, and I have not in the past, ever.” He said it wouldn’t be appropriate for a New York Times employee to make such a donation: “I would say no, particularly if they’re at all involved in the coverage of those things, and I would not give to those organizations, whether I support them or not.”
The Kahn Charitable Foundation’s tax return for the year ended June 30, 2023, filed Nov. 10, 2023, lists $17 million in assets and Joe Kahn and a bank as the two trustees. Dwarfing the $6,000 donation to Planned Parenthood is a $62,500 gift to the Harvard Crimson. The Crimson just wrapped up a $15 million capital campaign in connection with its 150th birthday. Capital gifts are often payable over five-year terms, so it’s possible that the $62,500 is the first of a quarter-million-dollar commitment to the Crimson by Kahn, who was president of the paper as an undergraduate several years before I was.
The Crimson endorsed BDS with an editorial in April 2022, before the start of the year covered by the Kahn Charitable Foundation’s tax return. The Crimson‘s website lists Kahn as a member of the 150th campaign committee. The Crimson gift is the fourth largest of the 43 gifts listed on the tax return. Many similar foundations avoid such detailed disclosures by routing money through donor-advised funds.
In the New Yorker interview, Kahn also expressed pride in the New York Times‘ coverage of the war in Israel and Gaza: “There are very passionate views on opposite sides of this conflict,” he said. “The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza has been an absolutely vital part of the coverage that we’ve had. The displaced people, the civilian casualties caught up in the conflict have been a constant focus for us. On the other side of the equation, the trauma of October 7th, the shock of what was the largest attack on Israeli soil that Israelis had experienced, the mobilization to defeat Hamas, have also been an important story for us, and we’ve tried to tell it fully. And it’s really true that there isn’t that large a slice of the audience that’s neutral on these issues. But I’m immensely proud both of the news that we’ve done day to day — and this is a huge news story every day, every cycle — but also of the investigative work that we’ve done.”
Kahn has been talkative to the press lately. In another recent interview, with Semafor’s Ben Smith, he said, “I’m not an active Jew.”
Ira Stoll was managing editor of The Forward and North American editor of The Jerusalem Post. His media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.
The post Top New York Times Editor Says His Paper Prompted US Pause of Arms to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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How Reuters and Getty Images Platform a Gaza Photojournalist Kissed by Hamas’ Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
On October 7, 2023, Gazan photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah held a grenade in one hand and a camera in the other, documenting Hamas’ massacre inside Israel. His exposure by HonestReporting, which brought to light a cozy photo of Eslaiah and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, led to the end of his employment at CNN and the Associated Press.
Yet more than a year later, his work was still being offered for sale by Reuters and stock photo agency Getty Images, along with other compromised photojournalists in Gaza. (Getty only removed his work last week after an initial version of this story was published on HonestReporting’s website — and it remains available on Reuters).
Hassan Eslaiah (r) with former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (l)
An HonestReporting investigation revealed that the two media companies have been distributing the tainted content in collaboration with state-run Turkish agency Anadolu — an arrangement that seems to enable their profit without liability. Both companies have a global reach, with Reuters as one of the world’s largest news agencies and US-based Getty Images as one of the world’s largest image licensing companies.
Their databases also present images by Anadolu freelancers Ashraf Amra and Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, who Reuters officially distanced itself from after HonestReporting’s investigative team exposed Amra’s close relations with former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and his shared call with Abu Mostafa to invade Israel.
One of Abu Mostafa’s images, which is still for sale on the Reuters platform, has, according to Anadolu, been used as evidence in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Unethical Content Distribution
Reuters partnered with Anadolu, which also collaborates with AFP and DPA to distribute its content, back in 2019. Reuters said that “these partnerships will help us create the most comprehensive collection of real-time, multimedia news content anywhere in the world.”
Anadolu’s partnership with Getty Images started in 2013, with Getty’s Senior Director of photography for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa saying at the time: “I am very excited at the prospect of seeing the Anadolu Agency represented by Getty Images around the world … I believe that the Anadolu Agency and Getty Images will benefit greatly from this partnership.”
Indeed, the partnership proved useful not only for the companies, but also for the compromised Gazan photojournalists who can no longer work directly for Western media.
Currently, Reuters offers for sale over 200 Anadolu photos by Hassan Eslaiah (spelled Hasan Eslayeh on their platforms). Most of the photos show Hamas’ hostage release ceremonies, including the barbaric handover of terrified Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud amid a mob of terrorists (which other Western media also picked up):
Eslaiah’s easy access and proximity to the action isn’t surprising. He enjoyed the same conditions on October 7, 2023 when he infiltrated with Hamas into Israel:
And here is footage of Eslaiah after he crossed into Israel and took photos of a burning Israeli tank. He then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.
Note that he is not identifiable as a member of the press. But AP & CNN deemed it acceptable to use his services. pic.twitter.com/fA0VI2df2i
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 8, 2023
The fact that Eslaiah was fired from CNN and AP after we exposed him in November 2023 seems not to have affected his livelihood, with Reuters and Getty Images distributing his propagandist material under the cover of the partnership with Anadolu.
And until last week, Getty Images had no qualms about charging $175-499 dollars for each photo, presumably also including a cut for Anadolu and Eslaiah himself.
Reuters keeps the pricing confidential, but adds a disclaimer distancing itself from the content. The disclaimer seems like a cop-out because on its collaborations page, where Anadolu is listed, Reuters praises its partners’ “compelling content.”
In other words — Reuters and Getty Images make a profit, while abdicating responsibility for spreading the manipulative photos of a Hamas sympathizer, whose pockets are presumably also lined.
Platform for Manipulation
The same business model also seems to work for Gazan photojournalists Ashraf Amra and Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa. Reuters officially cut ties with them after we exposed in January 2024 that Amra was honored by former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and hosted an Instagram Live with Abu Mostafa in which they called on Gazans to infiltrate into Israel on October 7.
Here’s Amra getting a kiss from Haniyeh in 2023 and receiving an honor from the unlamented Hamas leader in 2012. pic.twitter.com/VdWXN6wB32
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 23, 2025
But as Anadolu contributors, Amra and Abu Mostafa are both featured on the Reuters platform — Amra with over 5,000 photos and Abu Mostafa with over 300. On Getty, Amra is less prominent but over 150 photos of Abu Mostafa are offered for sale, including video clips.
These photos don’t just sit in the databases. Reuters and Getty are among the world’s largest digital distribution platforms used by thousands of media clients worldwide.
Recently, Getty clients like The Times of London and the Daily Express were happy to buy Amra’s Anadolu photo showing the moment when Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov “kissed” the head of his Hamas captor:
CNN did the same with Amra’s Anadolu photos of Israeli hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy via Getty Images.
And last year, Anadolu weaponized one of Abu Mostafa’s photos — still on sale in the Getty Images and Reuters platforms — as evidence at the ICJ case accusing Israel of committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
According to Anadolu, the photo “shows the mass burial of the Fatayer family members in a designated area in Gaza due to the lack of available space in some cemeteries.”
Fayq’s photo in Getty Images database
Fayq’s Photo in Anadolu website
Fayq’s Photo in Reuters Database
Sadly, the court didn’t know the photo was taken by a “journalist” who was thrilled by the massacre of Jews and called on Gazans to infiltrate the border, to enjoy the abduction of “settler” women.
But more Reuters and Getty’s own responses, it may be time for US Attorney General Pam Bondi to take an interest. In December 2023, following HonestReporting’s exposure of photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7, 14 state attorneys general wrote a letter to The New York Times, AP, CNN, and Reuters calling them out for using hires with ties to Hamas and reminding them that providing material support to terrorists and terror organizations is a crime.
The letter even specifically mentions the case of Hasan Eslaiah and ends by calling on the media outlets to “ensure that you are taking all necessary steps to prevent your organizations from contracting with members of terror organizations. We urge you in the strongest terms to take care that your hiring practices conform to the laws forbidding material support for terror organizations.”
Despite whatever action may be taken, these propagandists have found a deceitful way to continue spreading their lies to the international media.
And the international media can, for at least the time being, enjoy the “goods” without getting their hands dirty.
UPDATE
Within a few hours of publication of this article on HonestReporting’s website, Getty Images, to their credit, removed all content that was flagged by HonestReporting, including a Ramzi Adel video that called Jews “dogs,” and content from Hassan Eslaiah, Ashraf Amra, and Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa.
The same cannot be said for Reuters, however, which gave us the following statement referring to the Connect platform it operates: “Reuters Connect is a commercial marketplace with content from more than 100 news organizations, allowing media customers the option to select the content that is most relevant to their news cycle. This content is clearly labeled and is not endorsed by Reuters.”
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post How Reuters and Getty Images Platform a Gaza Photojournalist Kissed by Hamas’ Sinwar first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Authority Pays February Terror Salaries — Abbas Continues ‘Pay-for-Slay’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in Ramallah, in the West Bank March 14, 2024 in this handout image. Photo: Palestinian president office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Last week, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced that it is paying February’s monthly “allowances.”
Two similar announcements appeared, as can be seen in the chart below — with the PA Postal Service laconically announcing the payments in general and the “PA employees’ salaries” Telegram channel noting that these were the monthly payments for “Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners”:
| Palestine Post, Facebook page, March 5, 2025 | “PA employees’ salaries”, Telegram, March 5, 2025 |
| “Palestine Post announces the beginning of payment of the monetary allowances tomorrow morning, Thursday, March 6, 2025, at the main post offices and through the ATMs … The allowance payments in the Jenin and Tulkarem districts will be made through the nearest payment center in the other nearby districts due to the security situation.
#PalestinePost” |
“Palestine Post: The payment of salaries to the families of the Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners begins on Thursday morning [March 6, 2025]. In Jenin and Tulkarem, the payment will be made through the nearest payment center in the adjacent other districts.” |
While the Palestine Post announcement did not mention for whom the payments were in particular, the employees’ channel understood that these payments were for terrorists — the Pay-for-Slay payments that the PA had said it had stopped.
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) is certain that these are terror salaries, because the PA postal service never made payments for the PA prior to April 2021. The postal service started making payments only after PA banks closed 35,000 terrorist bank accounts, following PMW’s warning to the banks that their continued acceptance of the PA terror rewards would constitute a violation of Israeli law, and expose them to civil and criminal liability:
The decision to pay the prisoners’ salaries through the post office branches was … after the banks refused to accept the salary sheets of the prisoners and released prisoners due to the Israeli threats (i.e., PMW’s warning letters) to harm and sue them.
[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, April 5, 2021]
From that first terror payment in April 2021 through August 2024, the PA postal service announcements explicitly said that the payments were for the “Martyrs, prisoners and wounded,” just like the current post in the PA employees’ salaries’ Telegram group.
After August 2024, the announcements became more general, possibly due to international condemnation when PMW exposed these continued payments.
PMW has verified that the postal service made no announcements of any payments of any kind before April 5, 2021, the month the PA moved the terror salaries from the banks to the postal service. In other words, the only payments the postal service makes are terror rewards, which continued this month.
The payments made by the PA postal services are proof that the Pay-for-Slay payments to terrorists continue, despite Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential decree changing certain structures, as anticipated by PMW.
Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Authority Pays February Terror Salaries — Abbas Continues ‘Pay-for-Slay’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Smotrich Says Defense Ministry to Spur Voluntary Emigration from Gaza
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
i24 News – Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday that the government would establish an administration to encourage the voluntary migration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
“We are establishing a migration administration, we are preparing for this under the leadership of the Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] and Defense Minister [Israel Katz],” he said at a Land of Israel Caucus at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. “The budget will not be an obstacle.”
Referring to the plan championed by US President Donald Trump, Smotrich noted the “profound and deep hatred towards Israel” in Gaza, adding that “sources in the American government” agreed “that it’s impossible for two million people with hatred towards Israel to remain at a stone’s throw from the border.”
The administration would be under the Defense Ministry, with the goal of facilitating Trump’s plan to build a “Riviera of the Middle East” and the relocation of hundreds of thousands of Gazans for rebuilding efforts.
“If we remove 5,000 a day, it will take a year,” Smotrich said. “The logistics are complex because you need to know who is going to which country. It’s a potential for historical change.”
The post Smotrich Says Defense Ministry to Spur Voluntary Emigration from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.