TheQuartering [10/24/2023]
A New York Times reporter who came under fire last year for a praising Adolf Hitler in multiple resurfaced Facebook posts was rehired by the Gray Lady to cover the Israel-Palestine war.
Palestinian filmmaker Soliman Hijjy hailed the Nazi leader as recently as 2018 in a post on Facebook, when he shared a photo of himself captioned that he was “in a state of harmony as Hitler was during the Holocaust,” per a translation from Arabic by pro-Israel media watchdog site HonestReporting.
That same year, Hijjy was hired by the Times as a freelance journalist and worked on a slew of “visual investigations” published by the organization through 2021, including one on an Israeli airstrike that killed 44 people.
Hijjy’s 2018 post — including a 2012 Facebook post where he wrote, “How great you are, Hitler” in Arabic alongside a photoshopped image of Hitler seemingly taking a selfie — were unearthed last year, when pro-Israel outlets called out the Times for hiring antisemitic journalists as freelancers.
At the time, Hijjy didn’t appear to be working for the Times anymore, and had since taken down his controversial pro-Hitler posts.
Hijjy’s byline has appeared in the publication nearly every day since Oct. 12, with his latest story from Gaza published on Thursday.
Hijjy wrote a piece titled, “At a hospital in southern Gaza, a backup generator becomes a critical lifeline,” about a facility two miles from the Ahli Arab hospital bombing by a Palestinian terrorist organization that falsely blamed Israel for the attack.
A Times spokesperson defended the outlet’s decision to rehire Hijjy.
“We reviewed problematic social media posts by Mr. Hijjy when they first came to light in 2022 and took a variety of actions to ensure he understood our concerns and could adhere to our standards if he wished to do freelance work for us in the future,” the rep said.
Once Israel denied any involvement, the Times swapped it out with one that said: “Hundreds Dead in Blast at Gaza Hospital, Palestinians Say.”
“Mr. Hijjy followed those steps and has maintained high journalistic standards. He has delivered important and impartial work at great personal risk in Gaza during this conflict.”
The Post has sought comment from Hijjy.
The Times had drawn scorn from media critics for running an initial headline about the hospital explosion that pointed the finger at the Jewish State: “Israeli Strike Kills Hundreds in Hospital, Palestinian Officials Say.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan slammed the Times for its decision to bring back Hijjy.
“The @nytimes has just rehired a NAZI. Let that sink in. Soliman Hijjy praises Hitler, and the NYT rehired him,” Erdan tweeted Friday.
Meanwhile, Times freelance photographer Hosam Salem was also accused last year of sharing antisemitic social media posts, though he shared last October that the outlet severed ties with him.
“After years of covering the Gaza Strip as a freelance photojournalist for the New York Times, I was informed via an abrupt phone call from the US outlet that they will no longer work with me in the future,” Salem shared on X, then known as Twitter, in October 2022.