Thread by @joshk

1/ On Tuesday the @PhillyInquirer chose to publish an offensive political cartoon portraying Israel as an aggressor against a “meek” Hamas. And I cannot sit in silence.

2/ I joined the Board of the Philadelphia Inquirer because I believe in the importance of independent, local journalism. And seven years ago I became the Board Chair, understanding that the only way a paper is truly independent is if it has a newsroom free of external influence or agenda. The Inquirer Board has no control over the stories (and cartoons) that appear in the paper – or on its website. Nor should we. The Inquirer is a public benefit corporation that is 99% owned by a non-profit – and I don’t think anyone wants to live in a city where a group of non-journalists controls what gets published (or doesn’t).

Over my board tenure the Inquirer published many stories of which I am proud – and a handful of stories which I have thought were poorly reported. And while I’ve gotten dozens of calls over the years by people who believe the Inquirer got a story wrong, I’ve never chosen to publicly comment. Maybe I should have.

I acknowledge (and appreciate) that the Inquirer’s Editorial Leadership has already published an apology -- and I am glad to be tweeting my thoughts afterwards (so my tweets can’t be interpreted as unduly influencing that apology). I’ve leant my name and credibility to the Inquirer, however, and I’ve heard that my silence has been interpreted by some as a passive endorsement. So I want to publicly share my anger.

3/ Hamas is evil.

Their stated purpose is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the genocidal murder of Jewish
people.

They are terrorists. Their brutality and barbarism is comparable to (or worse than) ISIS.

Their attack on October 7th killed more Jews than on any other day since the Holocaust.

They slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis and 30 Americans.

They raped women. They killed babies. They wiped out entire families.

They kidnapped over 200 innocent civilians – including infants, women and grandmothers.

Hamas didn’t attempt to hide these crimes – they video recorded them. And posted them on social media.

Hamas oppresses the Gazan people by using them as human shields and by taking funds that are intended to provide aid for Gazan civilians and diverting them for weaponry. Hamas has spent the last several days putting up roadblocks to prevent Gazans from evacuating from northern to southern Gaza – after Israel warned them to flee.

I acknowledge that there are issues in the Israeli-Palestinian geopolitical conflict where there may be room for reasonable people to debate. But the butchery and barbarism of Hamas is clear. They are evil – and abhorrent to everything modern society stands for.

4/ Yet on Tuesday the Philadelphia Inquirer chose to print a syndicated political cartoon casting Israel as a jack-booted aggressor (in a manner remarkably consistent with how old cartoonists portrayed the Nazis). And it portrayed Hamas as a teeny-tiny victim of Israel’s disproportionate response.

Israeli people are the victims of Hamas.

Gazan people are the victims of Hamas.

Hamas, however, is not a victim.

In the battle against terrorism, the Philadelphia Inquirer mistook the victim for the aggressor.

The Inquirer got it wrong.

5/ While the Inquirer’s public apology does not unring the bell, it is an important first step to recognizing the danger of printing content that reinforces antisemitic tropes. I’ve spent the last two days thinking deeply about whether I should resign my position -- and have decided not to. Despite its failures, I still believe in the Inquirer’s mission and leadership. And I believe that Inquirer will have a better chance of taking additional steps towards combating antisemitism if I remain.

I hope I am not wrong.