Peter Rosenberg

"My problem is that all things are increasingly interesting to me" - William Gibson

[Moshe Emilio Lavi @MosheELavi]

Much has been written about @NickKristof's latest NYT opinion column over the past 24 hours, most of it focusing on the specific claims and their sourcing, but what I think deserves most attention is something broader: how this kind of journalism, whatever its intentions, ultimately makes accountability harder to achieve rather than easier, and harms the very people it claims to champion.

The principle that Israeli abuses should be investigated and condemned is not in dispute, and nobody serious is arguing otherwise. Israel is not above scrutiny, and in fact it operates under more intense international scrutiny than almost any country on earth, routinely held to standards applied nowhere else.

The problem here is something different entirely: the complete collapse of evidentiary standards the moment Israel is the subject.

This piece reads less like rigorous reporting and more like a catalogue of hearsay, unverifiable allegations, and activist claims stitched together into a sweeping moral indictment. Its sourcing leans heavily on Euro Med Human Rights Monitor, an organisation repeatedly criticised over extremist ties, disinformation, and deeply questionable methodology, yet treated throughout as a credible authority while its leadership openly engages in pro Hamas propaganda on X.

Worse, the same ecosystem of activists and self appointed “experts” that amplifies Euro Med’s claims online increasingly feeds narratives into more established organisations and media outlets, laundering deeply contested allegations into the appearance of institutional credibility.

The most severe claims are anonymous, uncorroborated, and presented in the emotional register of established fact rather than allegation, despite lacking meaningful evidentiary backing. Yet Kristof largely adopts them without serious scrutiny, publishing the piece in the Opinion section because even the already diminished evidentiary standards often applied to reporting on the Israeli Palestinian conflict would likely not suffice for it to pass as straight news reporting.

This approach doesn't strengthen accountability, it actively destroys it. When every allegation is immediately inflated into systematic rape and "standard operating procedure" before any serious verification, genuine investigation becomes harder rather than easier.

Real abuses, if they occurred, get buried beneath maximalist narratives so extreme that large portions of the public simply stop trusting any of it, and the people who actually suffered pay that price.

It also alienates the vast majority of Israelis and Jews worldwide, including the many who are perfectly capable of criticising Israeli policy and supporting investigations into misconduct, but who understandably recoil when accusations begin resembling modernised blood libels dressed up as human rights reporting. The framing matters enormously, and so does proportionality, and so does evidence.

Nor does any of this serve Palestinians. Atrocity inflation entrenches both sides deeper into defensive tribalism, and every dubious claim amplified by a prestigious outlet makes legitimate criticism easier to dismiss when it actually matters.

The timing compounds everything. On a day when documented reporting on Hamas sexual violence was again circulating, the NYT chose to run an opinion column built substantially on unverifiable anonymous testimony asserting that Israelis are conducting systemic rape campaigns, not as a rigorously evidenced investigative report but as an opinion piece with the imprimatur of the paper of record.

Kristof is not a naive bystander in any of this. In 2014 he used the full credibility of the NYT to repeatedly platform Somaly Mam, a Cambodian anti-trafficking activist whose harrowing personal story he championed across multiple columns, until it emerged that her backstory was substantially fabricated and he was forced to issue a public correction. When challenged this time around on his sourcing, corroboration, and methodology, he defaulted to bad faith engagement on social media rather than addressing the underlying concerns seriously.

It is the same pattern, playing out again in a different context. Real journalism requires skepticism, corroboration, and restraint applied consistently regardless of the subject, and when those standards disappear the moment Israel is involved, what remains is not human rights reporting but narrative activism wearing a journalist's costume that does far more harm than good to everyone it claims to serve.

[Tali Goldsheft @TaliGoldsheft]

Amazing letter by @Cornell President rejecting the resolution. Should be read by all:

Dear Zora,

Thank you for conveying SA Resolution 61: Calling for the Termination of Cornell University’s Partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology While Preserving Cornell Tech. I reject this resolution, which fundamentally conflicts with Cornell’s principles of academic collaboration and our core commitment to academic freedom.
Cornell Tech is not a political entity. It is an academic partnership, created through shared investment by Cornell University, the Technion, and the City of New York for the benefit of the city and the state, according to a negotiated set of conditions that govern its development and the terms of its 99-year ground lease on Roosevelt Island. As one of Cornell University’s many international partnerships and collaborations, Cornell Tech deepens, enriches, and strengthens the ability of our students, faculty, and staff to pursue knowledge and advance the university’s academic mission. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the core international partnership upon which Cornell Tech is based, is an extraordinarily valuable collaboration focusing on education and research in health tech, media tech, and urban tech, and supporting the development of new startup companies.

Severing our relationship with the Technion—or with any entity affiliated with governments, institutions, or enterprises with which some of our community members disagree—as a statement of political protest, would not only hinder our research, teaching, and public engagement; it would imperil our academic principles.

Our university, like all of our peer institutions, regularly faces pressure—from across the political spectrum, from within and beyond our own community—to make academic decisions according to political priorities. The phenomenon is not a new one: universities have grappled with such pressures from governments and societies for as long as the institution of the university has existed. When we yield to these pressures and proscribe specific collaborations or collaborators on grounds other than merit, we compromise our principles of academic freedom, undermine our own institutional excellence, and damage public trust in our work.  
Moreover, this resolution inaccurately asserts that “the continued operation of Cornell Tech as a Cornell University campus does not require an ongoing partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.” Cornell Tech, while part of Cornell, is a joint effort of the university, the Technion, and the City of New York. It is no more possible for Cornell to unilaterally terminate that effort and claim full control of the campus than it would be for the Technion or the City of New York to do the same.

Finally, I am deeply troubled by the selective manner in which this resolution singles out the Technion, alone of Cornell’s many international partners, for censure. Cornell currently maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 nations and regions; all of these institutions have some government affiliation, and many conduct research with military and security applications. Cornell itself has military research contracts, conducts research with potential military applications, and has relationships with companies whose products are used in military contexts. Cornell also has relationships with institutions in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights violations—as our own has been. 
None of these publicly available facts are mentioned in the resolution; only our partnership with an Israeli institution is targeted for erasure. The political bias evident in this selective approach is deeply disturbing, and the resolution is incompatible with both the Student Assembly’s purpose and Cornell University’s core values. I reject it fully and forcefully.

Sincerely,

Michael Kotlikoff
President and Professor of Molecular Physiology
Cornell University

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

In case there are any sane peole left on this platform.. National Day of Protest - Feb 17, #NotMyPresidentsDay
https://t.co/VY75AeJBBD

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

Made another thing. This one has music. AI assisted cover Art, words and prompts by yours truly. Tune & performance by Suno #ai #AIart #trump

https://t.co/1QmbhsD6zC

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

@SnoopDogg You kissed the damn ring. wtf #hypocrite
https://t.co/YHlYHOMAfC

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

@peterdaou To clarify: You are enabling the creation of a right wing autocratic theocracy in the U.S. in order to punish/protest the atrocities of another right wing theocratic government (Israel) who are fighting a third autocratic theocracy (Iran). Are you looking for justice or revenge?

[Ken Burns @KenBurns]

This is an incredible and frightening film about something hugely important to the health of our democracy. It's also a smart, riveting film that reminds us that everything has a history. I hope everyone has a chance to watch. Streaming of #BadFaith starts 4/26.

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

@NY1 Your story fails to mention that this facility was home to The New Lincoln School from 1948 to 1974. I was a student there.

[The Intellectualist @highbrow_nobrow]

In 1995, American astronomer Carl Sagan predicted what a future American society could look like.

His forecast has been proven prescient.

Read below.

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

“Do you believe me? Do you trust me? Do you like me?”
Yep, that’s our kid! #chatGPT #Sydney

[Rolling Stone @RollingStone]

“The theme that I am going to be bringing forth as strongly as I can is that if you have concerns about creating an economy that works for all people, and not just billionaires, you cannot vote for Republicans," Bernie Sanders tells Rolling Stone. https://t.co/biA9NDsJIg

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

Says it. #uvalde @LeaderMcConnell https://t.co/qtBySEYxCr

[Mark D. Levine @MarkLevineNYC]

Important:

The MTA has announced that the mask requirement on NYC’s subways and buses will REMAIN IN EFFECT despite the ruling by the federal judge in Florida.

[jack @jack]

the days of usenet, irc, the web...even email (w PGP)...were amazing. centralizing discovery and identity into corporations really damaged the internet.

I realize I'm partially to blame, and regret it.

[Josh Marshall @joshtpm]

State Rep who wrote a plan to organize a mass killing of liberals to found a Christian theocracy in America just showed up in Poland with dozens of Ukrainian children he wants to bring to America for adoption. https://t.co/oBMrsWyVLQ

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

Wondering if a meth lab would constitute “legitimate political discourse” if *within* 200 ft of a school library? https://t.co/3F26HJIJeQ

[Yo-Yo Ma @YoYo_Ma]

Some musical gratitude for all the healthcare workers who do the impossible every day.

Simple Gifts, #songsofcomfort

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

@WhoresofYore Mary: Put it right here sky daddy!

[Peter Rosenberg @Unexpectedly]

via @NYTimes https://t.co/k7ri1Ig8wv