People stand next to portraits of a few of the many victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel in Berlin, Germany in 2024. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
By Samuel Proctor September 17, 2026 at 3:00am
WARNING: The following article contains sensitive descriptions of what occurred on Oct. 7 that some readers may find offensive.
Do you know how easy it is to say that “Israelis were the victims of Oct. 7?”
Pretty easy. I typed it out in five seconds.
A New York Times report, however, says that “Israelis still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7.” Published on Monday, this article describes a recent film concerning the conflict in Gaza. When speaking of the massacre itself, however, the Times is careful to avoid a proclamation of victimhood.
This should make you pause. It’s not just a small grammatical difference; there is a seed of doubt baked into that sentence. And it’s not just a seed, the Times bent over backwards to avoid painting the Israelis as objective victims.
For some reason or another, they want their readers to question, who was the real victim on Oct. 7?
In case you forgot, the correct answer is the Israelis.
“Across many attack sites, fighters fired directly at civilians, often at close range, as they tried to flee,” said the Human Rights Watch in their 2024 report about the Oct. 7 attacks: I Can’t Erase All the Blood from My Mind.
“They hurled grenades and shot into safe rooms and other shelters and fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at homes. They set some houses on fire, burning and suffocating people to death, and forcing out others who they then captured or killed. They took hundreds hostage for transfer to Gaza or summarily killed them.”
A United Nations report concluded that “conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.”
They describe finding “several fully naked or partially naked bodies … with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.”
Conflict is never pretty. On Oct. 7, however, we saw levels of evil that should leave no doubt about who the victim is.
That isn’t to say that Israel is perfect. There is a legitimate discussion to be had about whether or not their reaction has been proportionate. That discussion, however, does not change the fact that Israel was brutalized by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Victimhood is clear. So why is the Times sowing seeds of confusion?
It’s because they hate the West.
Coverage from the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 displays this point perfectly. Their homepage highlighted news pieces that twisted one of our nations greatest tragedies into a declaration of American islamophobia.
The New York Times on 9/11. pic.twitter.com/kTeQMPmqtS
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 11, 2026
3,000 people dying isn’t the problem; fearing the religion that killed our brothers is. How backwards!
In their eyes, the true victim doesn’t matter so long as the Left gets an opportunity to attack America and her allies. This article is just another example of a privileged progressive reaping the benefits of the West while pretending that this same society is the great Satan of our time.
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Samuel Proctor is a first year student at Iowa State University, studying political science and writing for the Iowa State Daily. His specialization in political theory and philosophy led him to join The Western Journal in 2026. When not writing, Samuel can be found playing guitar and praising Jesus.
