On June 3rd, 2020 The New York Times published an Op/Ed by U.S. Senator Tom Cotton called “Send in the Troops,” calling for the deployment of military troops to restore order in cities wracked by violence in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The newsroom erupted, and the Times attacked Senator Cotton and declared that it should never have published the piece. In the wake of the controversy, Times editor James Bennet was forced out. Bari Weiss resigned, eventually to start her wildly successful Free Press.

Reporters at the Times spoke in apocalyptic terms about how the publishing of the piece made them “unsafe,” as if publishing the words of a sitting US Senator expressing an opinion shared by much of the country was an act of violence. Ironically, they were doing so in defense of actual violence that left several people dead in its wake.

Over the weekend, the Times published an Op/Ed from the Mayor of Gaza City in a completely unsurprising move.

A few thoughts on the Hamasnik Op-Ed in the Times.

1) The essay, by an Hamas-appointed mayor, takes as fact claims by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, without disclosing that fact. Seems elementary to disclose that.

2) It mentions a "deadly attack" by… pic.twitter.com/XW81BYFbbN

— Adam Rubenstein (@RubensteinAdam) December 25, 2023

The Mayor, Yahya R. Sarraj, was appointed by Hamas in 2019 to run the city.

Yes, the very same Hamas that launched the vicious attack on Israelis on October 7th–attacks that the Mayor hasn’t condemned. He also doesn’t mention, no less condemn, the keeping of hostages in his city, nor the fact that the city is riddled with Hamas tunnels, which exist for the sole purpose of providing a military base for the terrorist group of which he is a part.

As far as I can tell, the newsroom at the New York Times hasn’t erupted, and the Times is quite happy to have published this piece of propaganda written by a terrorist supporter who apparently approves of rape, murder, and kidnapping.

He is, after all, not a Republican.

One irony of the piece is the implicit admission that the description of Gaza as an “open-air prison” or concentration camp is a falsehood. In fact, before the attacks on Israel, Gaza City was a prosperous place.

Today is the first time that the @NYTimes admitted that Gaza had luxury residences, restaurants, resorts, banks and parks – after Israel destroyed them for being Hamas hideouts.

Before today, Gaza was nothing but a huge awful refugee camp per the NYT. pic.twitter.com/ES19mSQdWB

— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) December 21, 2023

This is one of the great tragedies Mayor Sarraj is mourning. The beautiful culture and new architecture of the city has been ruined by the war.

OK, I agree that this is indeed a tragedy, but by admitting that the city was actually pretty nice, doesn’t the Mayor admit that the excuse for attacking Israel in the first place was total BS? Open-air prisons don’t have luxury resorts and promenades.

𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲…
Remember before 7 October when they told us again and again that Gaza was an Open Air Prison, a concentration camp, literally the Warsaw Ghetto?
If you continue to believe their lies, it's on you. #TheGazaYouDontSee #October7massacre… pic.twitter.com/RQBeTtJbCI

— Imshin (@imshin) December 22, 2023

The Times, which placed a long explanation for why Senator Cotton’s Op/Ed didn’t deserve to be published, actually had the gall to hand its pages over to a Hamas propagandist to ask this ridiculous question:

Why can’t Palestinians be treated equally, like Israelis and all other peoples in the world? Why can’t we live in peace and have open borders and free trade? Palestinians deserve to be free and have self-determination. Gaza’s emblem is the phoenix, which rises from the ashes. It insists on life.

The question answers itself, of course. It’s not just the Israelis who blockade Gaza–Egypt does as well, and of course, no Arab country wants any refugees from Gaza. The reasons are easy to understand: Gaza is run by the evil Hamas, and far too many of its citizens embrace Hamas.

Nobody wants to open their borders to terrorists. It’s that simple.

The Times was not wrong to publish the piece, although it deserves a thoroughgoing counterpoint. I am not afraid of the speech of even evil people as long as others are given the space to rebut. I am less afraid of free speech than the Times, which repeatedly inveighs against misinformation.

Given their professed standards, the Times clearly doesn’t see Hamas’ point of view as “misinformation.”

After all, they aren’t Republicans, who never should be published.