CAMERA Featured Letter-Writer
A recent review of Reem’s Bakery in the New York Times‘ travel section referred to convicted terrorist Rasmeah Odeh, featured in a mural on the bakery’s wall, as an “activist,” and failed to provide any information about Odeh’s crimes.
The Times subsequently appended an Editors’ Note acknowledging that the story had “lacked context,” and added to the review, “In 1970, Ms. Odeh was convicted by Israeli courts for her role in the murder of two students. In 2014, she was convicted of immigration fraud in U.S. federal court and deported to Jordan in 2017.” However, the paper continued to refer to her as an “activist,” and refused to run a correction in the print edition.
Letter-writer Sara Miller wrote to the paper:
Editor: Thank you for adding the information that Rasmeah Odeh is a convicted terrorist. However, it doesn’t ever make sense to call someone who targeted and killed civilians an “activist.” Would you call anyone who targeted civilians in another country “a controversial activist”? Shouldn’t you reserve the term “activist” for people like me, who contact you repeatedly with (surely annoying) letters but would never hurt anyone?
You should also run an editor’s note in this Sunday’s paper to make your addition/correction clear. The note should clearly state that Odeh was convicted of murdering two students and trying to kill other civilians, that she was a member of PFLP, and that she was deported from the U.S. for lying about her record. A lot of people may not realize that you added the information to the article about her terrorism, so it should be clearly stated that you did.
Thank you.
Sara Miller
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