Lawmaker hits New York Times for ‘shameful anti-Semitism’

In an open letter to the Times on Tuesday, Roskam referred to a graphic the paper published two weeks ago that broke down the support in the Senate for the U.S. deal with Iran. The graphic also noted which senators were Jewish, presumably based on the premise that Jewish Americans have a vested interest in how the deal will affect Israel.

Roskam said the graphic, which has since been altered to exclude the Jewish category, demonstrated “either gross editorial negligence or shameful anti-Semitism.”

“Singling out Jewish lawmakers this way feeds the canard of dual loyalty that legitimizes prejudice toward Jews worldwide,” he said. “The Iran nuclear agreement represents one of the most profoundly important issues most members of Congress will ever consider. To suggest that a Jewish lawmaker would cast a vote without the best interest of the United States at heart is egregiously offensive.”

The letter concluded, “History teaches us that dreadful things happen when Jewish citizens are held to a different standard than others.”

Roskam’s letter noted that he submitted his note to the Times as a “letter to the editor” but that it was rejected.

A Times spokesperson did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner media desk. The graphic was, however, changed shortly after critics on social media charged that it was insensitive.

An editor’s note was also added to the accompanying story. It said: “The positions of Jewish members of Congress, and efforts to influence them one way or another, were a legitimate subject for reporting, since many Jewish Americans on both sides of the debate were particularly concerned about the deal’s impact on Israel’s security. Some members of Congress alluded to their perspective as Jews when they announced their positions on the deal.”

Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan recently published a blog post calling it “insensitive and inappropriate,” and said the Times was right to amend it.