Tipsheet

NYT Magazine Poetry Editor Resigned Over the Israel-Hamas War and Her Letter Is Ridiculous

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  November 23, 2023 3:30 PM

These people are insufferable. Last week, Anne Boyer, a former poetry editor for New York Times Magazine, just had enough of the Israel-Hamas war. She resigned, posting her screed on Substack, and entered the sunset. If this was done to make her feel better, she succeeded, but given her text—she might have been hoping for a staff rebellion. It never happened. It was rather forgettable, and, of course, not a single mention of Hamas or their barbaric terror attacks on October 7 (via Fox News): 

New York Times Magazine's poetry editor dramatically resigned Thursday in protest of what she calls Israel's "U.S-backed war against the people of Gaza." 

"I have resigned as poetry editor of The New York Times Magazine," Anne Boyer announced in a Substack post. "The Israeli state's U.S-backed war against the people of Gaza is not a war for anyone. There is no safety in it or from it, not for Israel, not for the United States or Europe, and especially not for the many Jewish people slandered by those who claim falsely to fight in their names. Its only profit is the deadly profit of oil interests and weapon manufacturers." 

While her letter makes no mention of Hamas nor the 1,200 Israelis the terrorist group murdered on Oct. 7, Boyer said Palestinians "have resisted through decades of occupation, forced dislocation, deprivation, surveillance, siege, imprisonment, and torture." 

"Because our status quo is self-expression, sometimes the most effective mode of protest for artists is to refuse," Boyer told readers. "I can’t write about poetry amidst the ‘reasonable’ tones of those who aim to acclimatize us to this unreasonable suffering. No more ghoulish euphemisms. No more verbally sanitized hellscapes. No more warmongering lies." 

[…] 

Boyer isn't the first exit from the magazine as a result of the Israel-Hamas war. NYT Magazine writer Jazmine Hughes resigned after she was reportedly reprimanded for signing an open letter declaring Israel was guilty of "apartheid and genocide." Signing the letter was in violation of the paper's public protest policies. Fellow New York Times Magazine writer Jamie Lauren Keiles also resigned after signing the letter. 

These folks were mad that they couldn’t lie about the war. Israel isn’t committing genocide, nor is it an apartheid state. Feelings are not evidence, kids. 

Here’s the full letter from Boyer:

I have resigned as poetry editor of The New York Times Magazine.   

The Israeli state's U.S-backed war against the people of Gaza is not a war for anyone. There is no safety in it or from it, not for Israel, not for the United States or Europe, and especially not for the many Jewish people slandered by those who claim falsely to fight in their names. Its only profit is the deadly profit of oil interests and weapon manufacturers. 

The world, the future, our hearts—everything grows smaller and harder from from this war. It is not only a war of missiles and land invasions. It is an ongoing war against the people of Palestine, people who have resisted through decades of occupation, forced dislocation, deprivation, surveillance, siege, imprisonment, and torture. 

Because our status quo is self-expression, sometimes the most effective mode of protest for artists is to refuse. 

I can’t write about poetry amidst the "reasonable" tones of those who aim to acclimatize us to this unreasonable suffering. No more ghoulish euphemisms. No more verbally sanitized hellscapes. No more warmongering lies. 

If this resignation leaves a hole in the news the size of poetry, then that is the true shape of the present. — Anne Boyer    

“If this resignation leaves a hole in the news the size of poetry, then that is the true shape of the present.” 


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