UCLA newspaper fires Jewish student reporter who spoke at pro-Palestinian rally
The paper’s editor said its ethical standards prohibit attending rallies. The reporter, Eli Nachimson, is seeking legal counsel
Students walk on the campus of University of California at Los Angeles in 2020. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
By Beth Harpaz December 5, 2023
The Daily Bruin, the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles, fired a Jewish student reporter who spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Eli Nachimson, who has also gone by the name Sarah, said that if the Bruin editors’ “only qualm was I had spoken at a politically charged rally I would have no issue.” But while “other staffers have gotten reprimanded for supporting Palestine,” Nachimson said that no one on staff had been punished for supporting Israel. Nachimson offered no proof for the allegation of a double standard in a lengthy series of comments on X.
In an email to the Forward, Daily Bruin editor-in-chief Isabelle Friedman said the paper “does not reprimand, discipline or remove contributors for their beliefs or opinions. The Bruin expects student journalists to abide by the paper’s ethical standards, including policies regarding conflict of interest and public expression of opinions.”
The paper’s guidelines explicitly state that staff “must avoid attending protests based on political affiliation. If staff members participate in nonpartisan protests, they are barred from writing about or reporting on that topic during their time at the Bruin.”
Nachimson, a former Forward intern who uses they/them pronouns, declined to answer questions about the situation, saying in a message to the Forward via social media that they had “consulted with a legal counsel and will be handling this matter privately. There are many private details that would be best dealt with through a formal university complaint rather than media coverage.”
In another post, Nachimson said that the firing “likely violated UCLA code of conduct,” which, among other things, permits freedom of expression and prohibits discrimination.
UCLA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nachimson’s work at the Forward
At the Forward, Nachimson wrote stories about breaking news, Jewish traditions and other topics. None of those stories, published from the summer of 2022 until early this year, concerned Israel, the conflict in the Middle East or political protests.
“Journalists for independent news organizations like the Forward should only attend rallies to cover them, not as participants,” Forward editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren said. “It would not have been appropriate for an intern in our newsroom to attend such a rally, and I understand the Bruin‘s decision.”
Nachimson, on X, stated their belief that “journalism does not demand neutrality, that’s fiction.” They also said they “1000% distinguish between Israeli civilians and (the) state of Israel” and that no baby, whether “born to an Israeli in Israel or a Palestinian in Gaza, should ever be murdered.”
Nachimson also said on X that while the Bruin “had issues with my reporting” in the past, “the main reason for my termination was my speech,” along with “accusations of my behavior at rallies that were wholly false.”
In the speech they made at the rally, which they posted text from on X, they described visiting what they called “occupied Palestine” at age 12 and “sensing strangeness. Why could I, a preteen from Los Angeles, walk on a Jewish-only settlement in occupied Hebron? Why was there a big wall separating Jewish and Palestinian cities, and when I called the cities ‘Palestine,’ my Israeli taxicab driver got so angry his ears turned red?”
Nachimson also mentioned friends in Gaza who’ve lost loved ones in Israel’s bombing campaign, adding, “Zionism is not Judaism, and there can be no peace until there is equality for every living being between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”
Correction: This version of the story corrects the subheadline to show the editor’s comment was about policy, not about Nachimson.
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