A group of writers accuses the New York Times of complicity in the genocide in Gaza.

The group Writers Against the War on Gaza (Wawog) has accused The New York Times, the most influential newspaper in the United States, of complicity in Israel's genocidal war on the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip for nearly two years.

“The New York Times is complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” the group said in its statement Wednesday. “It serves as a mouthpiece for American imperialism and shapes the elite consensus on foreign policy. Times editors advised reporters to avoid “inflammatory terms” like “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “occupied territories”—and even avoid mentioning the word “Palestine.” Headline writers manipulated the English language and used linguistic tricks to obscure the US and Israeli perpetration of atrocities and blame Palestinians for their own oppression. Reporters also spread the lies of the Israeli military.”

“The Times’s commitment to Zionism is systemic and generational,” the statement, seen by Al-Quds, says. “For decades, critics of U.S. foreign policy have offered critical analyses of the newspaper’s bias. This dossier draws on that body of criticism and adds to it by exposing the material and ideological ties that bind many of the Times’s top editors, journalists, and executives to the occupation and apartheid. The employees covered in this dossier are individually and structurally motivated to cover up war crimes. Enabling these individuals to frame the discourse around Israeli genocide is an indictment of the entire New York Times organization.”

It's worth noting that, like many major media outlets, The New York Times has come under intense scrutiny for its coverage of the war on Gaza, with many human rights activists and analysts accusing it of providing cover for Israeli war crimes.

The dossier, published Wednesday, argues that the New York Times' coverage can be explained by the extensive material, financial, and ideological ties between a number of current and former employees of the newspaper and the Israeli state or military.

The dossier also revealed other levels of ideological and material ties, including ties to pro-Israel lobby groups and think tanks. The dossier alleged that New York Times news editors instructed reporters to avoid what it called "inflammatory terms"—including "genocide," "ethnic cleansing," and "occupied territories," and even to avoid mentioning "Palestine."

While the "Writers Against the War on Gaza (Wawog)" file so far mostly covers the physical links to the occupation and apartheid, it also includes and discusses the ideological links of the New York Times, its reporters, and writers.

The organization added that its findings, drawn from the Mondoweiss and Electronic Intifada archives, as well as interviews with Palestinian journalists, demonstrate "how the Times's much-vaunted code of conduct constitutes a racist double standard."

The Wowg collective, comprised of writers and creatives, emerged in the weeks following the Israeli bombardment of Gaza following Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The group routinely held protests outside the New York Times building in Manhattan, and sometimes in its lobby.

The group has been referring to the newspaper as the "New York Times War Crimes" as a way of expressing its complicity in the war crimes committed in Gaza.

As of Friday, July 18, Israel had killed 58,765 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, most of them women and children. More than 140,000 civilians were injured, most of them women and children. Research centers, such as the British Lancet Center, believe that the death toll is double the figure reported by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as a result of Israel's war on Gaza, which several countries, in addition to numerous international human rights organizations and experts, now classify as genocide.

In Wednesday's filing, Waugh described the New York Times' deep entanglements with Israel as fueling the paper's biased coverage.

Wawog said that omitting journalists' ties to Israel—whether personal or immediate family—in their profiles on the New York Times website contradicts basic principles of journalistic ethics. He added that "The New York Times will provide a megaphone to those who clearly pledge allegiance to the Zionist project, demonstrating its commitment to and support for Israel's genocidal fantasy." Media analysts and human rights groups have repeatedly accused mainstream media outlets of contributing to the whitewashing and distortion of Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Many observers have argued that media coverage of Israel's war on Gaza, as well as the Student Movement for Palestine in the United States, has not only been inaccurate but has bordered on journalistic malpractice. Western media outlets, in particular, have been sharply criticized for opaque headlines and their overt use of the passive voice in recounting the killing of Palestinians. The statements have also supported human rights advocates' concerns about the use of language and terminology.

The Intercept, a research center, concluded in a January 2024 study that the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times' coverage of Israel's war on Gaza showed persistent bias against Palestinians, disproportionately covered anti-Semitism in the United States, and downplayed racism against Palestinians and Muslims after the events of October 7, 2023.

Similarly, in October 2024, several BBC and CNN journalists told Al Jazeera English's "Listening Post" that their newsrooms routinely failed to hold Israeli officials accountable. The journalists, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused senior editors of attempting to downplay Israeli abuses in news coverage.

While the WAWOG dossier details several editorial staff members who served in the Israeli military or have children who do, it also includes those who consistently produce what WAWOG describes as lies and justifications for war crimes. The dossier states, "Palestinians and their allies have suffered from silence and marginalization in the media for decades, as these institutions have chosen silence over accountability. Only by challenging this reality can we hope to forge a path toward a more just and equitable world."

According to the file, the newspaper's most sympathetic journalists and columnists, who justify what Israel is currently doing in its war against the Palestinians, are:

Meredith Kopit Levien, Joe Kahn, Thomas Friedman, Isabel Kershner, Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman, Natan Odenheimer, Adam Rasgon, Jodi Rudoren, David Leonhardt, Bret Stephens, David Brooks, Myra Noveck, David Halbfinger.