New York Times Defends Kristof Column on Alleged Palestinian Sexual Abuse in Israeli Prisons

The New York Times backed one of its opinion writers Tuesday after he published a piece alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinians by Israeli prison guards, soldiers, settlers, interrogators and even dogs.

The statement followed claims by journalist David Shuster that the paper was discussing a retraction of columnist Nicholas Kristof's article amid backlash from readers and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "Hearing from longtime friends @nytimes there are already discussions, including up the masthead, about retracting @NickKristof column. Issues with source credibility and lack of evidence. No indications the Kristof sourcing mistakes were deliberate. Still problematic," Shuster posted on X Monday night.

A New York Times spokesperson, Charlie Stadtlander, dismissed the report. "There is no truth to this at all. Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground reporters documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse experienced by women and men in war and conflict zones," Stadtlander said.

He added that Kristof traveled to the region for firsthand reporting. "He traveled to the region to report firsthand on the stories of Palestinians who suffered abuse, and his article collects accounts in the victims’ own words, backed by independent studies."

Kristof's column, "The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians," included accounts from 14 men and women. They described genitals yanked or testicles beaten, some men needing testicle amputations by doctors, metal batons used in rapes of men, and one Gaza journalist saying he was mounted by a dog.

Commentators noted that many of those interviewed had ties to Hamas or anti-Israel activism. The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the piece as "one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press."

"In an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused. Israel - whose citizens were the victims of the most horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, and whose hostages were later subjected to further sexual abuse - is portrayed as the guilty party," the ministry wrote on X Monday.