On April 15, The Intercept published a story on a New York Times internal memo that directed Times journalists to “restrict” their use of the words “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” in their news coverage of Palestine. Additionally, the memo instructed journalists to refrain from using “occupied territory” in reference to Palestinian land and, in most cases, from using the word “Palestine” all together. 

They cannot even describe the areas where displaced Palestinians reside as “refugee camps,” even those recognized as such by the United Nations.

This attempt at “objectivity” by the Times is tone-deaf at best. It’s incredibly despicable.

This memo has effectively minimized what Israel has been doing to Palestinians not only since Oct. 7, but for decades since the Nakba, much of which occurred during 1948, but spanned from 1947 to 1949. Moreover, it minimizes the displacement, bombing, trauma, and overall lived experience that Palestinians have endured and continue to face. 

It also presents an all too common issue plaguing large Western media outlets: their preferential treatment of Israel in reporting. 

It’s been 194 days since Israel began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. At least 33,899 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, over 76,664 have been injured, and more than 8,000 are missing. In the West Bank, 468 Palestinians have been killed and 4,750 injured. 

Yet, Western media’s approach to reporting on the Palestinian genocide has not changed. Much of it remains the same as it did on Oct. 7. I would even argue that now, more than ever, it seems as though these outlets are more concerned with preserving Israel’s image than reporting on how Israel is blocking aid from getting into Gaza, the price hikes to get out of Rafah and into Egypt, the deplorable living conditions of Palestinians, daily bombardments, or the  immense starvation and malnourishment in Gaza right now, just to name a few.

In excluding words and phrases from those that journalists can use to refer to the atrocities in Palestine, and perpetuating the narrative that all of this started on Oct. 7 (let us not forget that it did not), Western media’s approach to Palestine coverage is both hypocritical and shameful.

Identifying just one example of this hypocrisy, The Intercept reports that words like “slaughter,” “massacre” and “horrific” were used by three major outlets, including the Times, “almost exclusively for Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, rather than for Palestinian civilians killed in Israeli attacks.”

As a journalist, it pains me to see these news outlets, typically held in high regard, to have such high disregard for this atrocity. 

Can we really call it “inflammatory language” when it accurately depicts the egregious violence and human rights violations Israel is committing? 

What else are we to call a literal genocide?