Israel’s most prestigious left-wing newspaper has distanced itself from comments made by its publisher, Amos Schocken, who called Palestinian terrorists “freedom fighters” during a speech at London’s JW3.
Schocken accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration of “imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population.”
He told attendees: “It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters, that Israel calls terrorists.”
The newspaper chief, who has headed up the publication since 1990, was forced to apologise after an uproar in Israel following his comments.
Schocken clarified, “As for Hamas, they are not freedom fighters,” and he also said that the perpetrators of October 7 should be severely punished.
However, in an editorial published on Monday, the newspaper took aim at its publisher: “Even in his clarification, Schocken erred.
“The fact that he didn’t mean to include Hamas terrorists doesn’t mean that other terrorist acts are legitimate, even if their perpetrators’ goal is to free themselves from occupation.”
The newspaper editorial went on, “Deliberately harming civilians is illegitimate. Using violence against civilians and sowing terror among them to achieve political or ideological goals is terrorism. Any organisation that advocates the murder of women, children and the elderly is a terrorist organisation, and its members are terrorists. They certainly aren’t ‘freedom fighters.’”
The Haaretz editorial was published after hundreds of subscriptions were cancelled in the wake of Schocken’s comments. Several Israeli government ministries requested to terminate their subscriptions, with the Foreign Ministry ceasing 90 subscriptions alone.
Haaretz accused the Israeli government of “[leaping] at the opportunity to wage a campaign to silence Haaretz by instituting an advertising and subscription boycott of it by government ministries and other state agencies.”
“Netanyahu knows that an independent, critical media is democracy’s insurance policy, and that’s especially true of a press that defends the liberal values he wants to destroy. He and his poisonous environment must not be allowed to succeed in this.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that in internal meetings at Haaretz Group on Sunday, there was a discussion of “a crazy rate of cancellations and a sharp decline in newspaper advertising.”
After the frenzy, the Haaretz editorial told readers: “Throughout history, nations have waged armed struggle against oppressive occupiers to liberate themselves and achieve independence; not every armed struggle is terrorism.
“But the term “freedom fighter” has a positive, even romantic, connotation, which could lead people to support illegitimate acts of violence. Those should be unacceptable in any way, shape or form.”
The saga comes after Schocken decided to pass his seat on the board of directors to his son, Roni, and the newspaper CEO Rami Guez stepped down, leaving no central figure on the board to replace him.
One of the paper’s owners, Leonid Nevzlin, distanced himself from Schocken in a statement to the Jerusalem Post, “I wish to express my complete disagreement with Amos Schocken’s perception as the newspaper’s publisher in response to the events of October 7 and the current war.
“His recent statements at the Haaretz conference in London are shocking, unacceptable, and even inhumane, showing insensitivity towards the victims of the terrible day and the war, the hostages and their families, and the entire people of Israel.”
Nevzlin said, “I regret that Amos used Haaretz’s platform and spread his personal and extreme views without emphasising that these are his private opinions, which do not represent those of the newspaper.
“Despite Amos’s apology, I believe that Haaretz must maintain its core values impartially while ensuring it doesn’t represent only one side. True democracy requires recognition of all perspectives and range of opinions and the transmission of all objective information.”