A Jewish-led organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism<\/a> was among the groups and individuals who on Tuesday condemned attacks on The New York Times<\/em> and one of its most prominent columnists, who published accounts by alleged Palestinian victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by Israeli soldiers and settlers.<\/p>\n Nicholas Kristof\u2019s column, \u201cThe Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians<\/a>,\u201d combines interviews<\/a> with 14 former Palestinian detainees and information from reports published by United Nations experts and human rights groups to highlight documented rape and other systemic sexual abuse of Palestinians jailed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops, as well as sexual assaults and other abuses allegedly committed by Israeli settler-colonists. The column features the controversial claim by one former prisoner that he was raped by a dog unleashed upon him by Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to the column in a social media post<\/a> alleging that the Times<\/em> \u201cchose to publish one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n Responding to the ministry\u2019s post, the Nexus Project \u2013 a group \u201cmade up of individuals deeply committed to the fight against antisemitism\u201d \u2013 said<\/a> on Bluesky: \u201cTo weaponize the term \u2018blood libel\u2019 to dismiss Kristof\u2019s thorough reporting is dangerous. It\u2019s insulting to the term\u2019s violent history and hinders our community\u2019s ability to call out actual blood libels when they occur.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKristof\u2019s article is a challenging and important read,\u201d the group added. \u201cIt takes courage and care to expose sexual violence.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused<\/a> the Times<\/em> of serving \u201ca Hamas-driven narrative,\u201d claiming the newspaper \u201cdeliberately timed its piece to undermine today\u2019s horrific Civil Commission report<\/a> documenting Hamas\u2019 preplanned, systematic sexual atrocities on October 7, [2023] and against hostages thereafter \u2013 attempting to create false equivalence and belittle documented crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n The Times <\/em>refuted<\/a> a claim by the ministry that the newspaper \u201csaid it was not interested\u201d in reporting on Hamas sexual violence on and after the October 7 attack. In fact, the Times <\/em>updated<\/a> its earlier reporting <\/a>on Hamas sex crimes after Israeli investigator called said critical details were \u201cfalse.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics of the column also cast aspersions upon the alleged Palestinian victims and rights groups that documented the sexual violence they suffered, linking them to Hamas. The Times<\/em> and other US media have been accused of accepting Israeli claims at their word but treating Palestinian testimonies with skepticism or outright dismissal.<\/p>\n