We know that the NY Times is no friend of Israel or of the Jewish people. Not just in their editorials, but also in the Op-Eds they happily print. And while I thought I was done talking about Mahmoud Khalil (see my posts of 3/15/25 and 4/2/25 about him), this past Sunday's edition of the Times (August 10) had an Op-Ed that I felt both compelled and impelled a response. The falsehoods contained in that Op-Ed simply demanded a rebuttal. Because people need to know that the Democratic - Mainstream Media Complex is not trustworthy. At all!
Ezra Klein (yes, I'm sad to say that he is Jewish) is an Op-Ed writer for the Times, who also has his own podcast. Klein is obviously far left. That's bad enough. But to give voice to an Israel hater, an obvious Jew hater, is inexcusable. The Op-Ed in last Sunday's paper contained excerpts from the interview - a softball interview - that Klein conducted of Khalil on his podcast.
Klein opens his piece by asserting that Khalil's "sole offense had been to speak out against Israel in a way this administration did not like." There's the first big lie. Khalil was one of the leaders of the student protests at Columbia University in NYC. You know, taking over buildings, blocking access to buildings, intimidating and assaulting Jewish students. Just speech? That is the way Klein set up the interview. So, ignore all the rest. Not to mention Khalil's involvement with CUAD (Columbia University Apartheid Divest), which advocates for the overthrow of the U.S. government, and an end to western civilization. What government would want foreigners coming in seeking to overthrow their government?
Here's a really big whopper by Klein: "...I found inflammatory things said by people near you at different times. Or by an Instagram account that's part of a group you're a apart of. That kind of thing. But I couldn't find that much from you." Klein has a podcast, so I assume he knows how to do a Google search. The reality is, this Op-Ed was a puff piece. Puffing up Israel hater and Jew hater Mahmoud Khalil. Why? There can be no other reason than the NY Times and Klein side with Khalil and against Israel and the Jews who support Israel. And let's not forget this point. President Trump supports Israel and the Jewish people. And anything that Trump supports the Left must oppose.
Let me help Mr. Klein with a few of Khalil's inflammatory comments that Klein said he was unable to find. Referring to October 7, Khalil said "unfortunately, we couldn't avoid such a moment." We? That would be Khalil identifying with Hamas. Khalil: "It was clear that the Saudi-Israel deal is very imminent, and Palestinians wouldn't have any path to statehood and self-determination. So they had to that, according to their calculations - which, it's obvious were not right." You see that sleight of hand by Khalil? After identifying himself with Hamas, he remembers to say it was "their" calculation, and was not right. If he believed it was not right, he would openly condemn Hamas - which he has refused to do on multiple occasions. Therefore, we must assume that Khalil was fine with the rape, torture, murder and kidnapping of Jews that happened on October 7. And Klein has no questions about that.
Khalil then further justified the atrocities of October 7 by saying it was "a desperate attempt to tell the world that the Palestinians are here, that Palestinians are part of the equation." Let's do a short recap. Peace between Israel and the Saudis would be no good - why? Why isn't a peaceful Middle East better for everyone? Peace is no good because Hamas is a death cult. They do not value human life. The Palestinians could have had their own state since 1948, just like Israel. Instead, Khalil has said: "The Palestinian people have been living under occupation, ethnic cleansing, and all sorts of crimes since 1948 and we prevailed."
Ocuupation by whom? Egypt controlled Gaza from 1948 to 1967. Jordan controlled the West Bank from 1948 to 1967. No Palestinian state was created during that time. Why not? Israel vacated Gaza in 2005. At this point I have to ask two important questions that I'm sure I have said previously in the blog. First, the Palestinians claim that they are refugees since Israel's war for independence, fought from 1948 to 1949. If so, why didn't they move on, like virtually every other refugee group in history. We know the Jewish people displaced from Europe and the Arab countries moved on. Wherever they ended up, they had families. They established businesses. The same for the Christians who have been displaced from Arab countries. There seems to be one group more intent on killing than building.
Which brings me to my second question. Hamas has received billions of dollars in foreign aid since taking control of Gaza in 2007. Gaza is on the Mediterranean. Why didn't they use those billions of dollars to create a seaside resort? A tourist destination. Why didn't they build hotels and office buildings. The UAE, on the Gulf, did exactly that, and they attracted both business and tourism. Instead, Hamas used all that money to make weapons, buy weapons and build underground tunnels into Israel. To what end? To kill all the Jews. And while Khalil repeats all the Hamas propaganda about Israel, Klein is only too happy to accomodate him, and the Times is pleased to print it.
I said that this Op-Ed was a puff piece. Because Klein not only set up the interview to make Khalil look like a victim of the Trump Administration, but he failed to challenge Khalil on any of his anti-Israel comments. Recall that the Trump Administration had Khalil picked up to be deported, but the Courts have blocked it. Klein even failed to challenge Khalil on these lies: "What I stand for, what I'm advocating, is the end of genocide, the end of the occupation, the end of the apartheid regime, and the end of complicity of Columbia University in this regime." Genocide? Apartheid? Regime? Klein challenged none of it.
As for the antisemitism demonstrated by Khalil's group at Columbia, Khalil called it "manufactured hysteria." And Klein? Here was Klein: "nobody there ended up as unsafe as you did." Never mind the fear of the Jewish students. Never mind the actual assaults on Jewish students. This Op-Ed piece of trash was printed in the premier mainstream media paper in the country. Which is why I say the Times is disgusting. And I would say the same as to Klein; who, as a Jew, should be particularly ashamed of himself.
