According to information obtained by the nonprofit press organization "The Intercept," The New York Times (NYT), a globally recognized newspaper, prepared a "guide to words not to be used" for its employees regarding news articles about Israel's attacks on Palestine and Gaza.
In the guide prepared by editors Susan Wessling, Philip Pan, and their assistants, instructions were given not to use the terms "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" for the attacks in Gaza, and warnings were given not to use the term "occupied" for this state, with the exception of "rare cases," and not to use the term "refugee camps" used by the United Nations (UN) since 1948.
Employees of NYT, speaking to The Intercept, indicated that some published news articles "respectfully" approached what Israel did, stating, "If you have no historical background and no opinion on the subject, it may seem logical." Some employees who constantly update the guide, first drafted in November, said that such "guidance" is a standard practice.
While it is alleged that there are debates about the "language used" in Israel's attacks on Palestine in NYT, the guide prepared to prevent this claimed that words like "massacre" represent emotions rather than information.
The Intercept reported that despite the use of expressions like "explain rather than use labels" in the guide, the newspaper used "all the unused words" in attacks on Palestine by Israel, but avoided this language in attacks on Palestine that caused the deaths of thousands of people.
