The “New York Times” Perverts Poetry to Dispense Anti-Israel Propaganda

Haim Nahman Bialik

Haim Nahman Bialik

“Commentary” and other outlets are condemning the “New York Times” for distorting the clear meaning of Haim Nahman Bialik’s poem, “On the Slaughter” (1903), about the Kishinev Massacre to slander Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu called—contrary to the “Times”—for foregoing revenge in the wake of the kidnap-murder of three Jewish teenagers.

He quoted the lines: “Vengeance for the blood of a small child, Satan has not yet created.” The full verse—“And cursed be he that shall say: avenge this! Fit revenge for blood of small children on earth Satan has yet to bring forth”—makes clear it is an injunction against vengeance not for it.

Later, in “The City of Slaughter,” Bialik wrote: “The sun shone, the acacia blossomed, and the slaughterer slaughtered.” We might add “And the ‘New York Times’ lied and lied” by commission and omission about the Holocaust—and continues to do so about Israel.