Times of Israel apologises after ‘intolerable’ blog on genocide in Gaza went viral
The Times of Israel has issued an apology after publishing a blog post entitled “When Genocide is Permissable”, which quickly went viral and caused outrage across social media.
The online newspaper, which claims two million readers, has an open op-ed and blog section on its site, which anyone can apply to be a part of, and on which the blog post, endorsing genocide against the Palestinian people, written by Yochanan Gordon, appeared.
In the blog he wrote: “Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealises death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?”
The post went viral and sparked outcry from the public who took to social networks to air their fury.
The Times of Israel has now removed the blog, and issued the following statement: “This blog post, which was described by our Ops & Blogs editor as both damnable and ignorant, blatantly breached The Times of Israel’s editorial guidelines.
“We have discontinued the writer’s blog.
“The Times of Israel maintains an open blog platform: Once we have accepted bloggers, we allow them to post their own items. This trust has rarely been abused. We are angry and appalled that it was in this case, and will take steps to prevent a recurrence.
“We will not countenance blog posts that incite to violence or criminal acts."
The blogger has now also issued a formal apology, in which he expressed “deep regret” for authoring the post.
“I wish to express deep regret and beg forgiveness for an article I authored which was posted on 5TJT.com, Times of Israel and was tweeted and shared the world over.
“I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
“With that said I pray and hope for a quick peaceful end to the hostilities and that all people learn to coexist with each other in creating a better world for us all.
The author briefly defended his comments on Twitter, which later disappeared.