[link removed]

FAIR
View article on FAIR's website ([link removed])
ACTION ALERT: NYT Celebrates Neo-Nazi Azov Unit Jim Naureckas ([link removed])


Three years ago, describing an Australian white supremacist charged with massacring 49 people in New Zealand, the New York Times (3/15/19 ([link removed]) ) wrote: "On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization."
NYT: Released Azov commanders have an emotional reunion with family members in Turkey.

The New York Times (10/4/22 ([link removed]) ) shares a "handout photo" from a paramilitary organization that was founded to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade...against Semite-led Untermenschen.”

What a difference a war makes! A Times story (10/4/22 ([link removed]) ) in the paper's Ukraine War news roundup began:

Commanders of Ukraine’s celebrated Azov Battalion have held an emotional reunion with their families in Turkey, Ukrainian officials said, honoring the fighters released from Russian confinement last month as part of the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war.

"Celebrated" is an odd word to describe a group whose founder urged Ukraine to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade...against Semite-led Untermenschen (subhumans)” (Guardian, 3/13/18 ([link removed]) ). Its official logo features ([link removed]) the Wolfsangel, a runic icon adopted by the SS that's become "a symbol of choice for neo-Nazis in Europe and the United States," according to the ADL ([link removed]) . (To dispel any doubt about what the symbol means, Azov used to superimpose ([link removed]) it on a Black Sun ([link removed]) , a Nordic design beloved by Heinrich Himmler.)

The Azov movement has linked up with other far-right groups across Europe and in the United States, including the Rise Above Movement ([link removed]) , a violently racist group based in Southern California (New Republic, 7/9/19 ([link removed]) ). Azov is "believed to have participated in training and radicalizing United States–based white supremacy organizations," according to an FBI report (RFE/RL, 11/14/18 ([link removed]) ).

But Times reporter Enjoli Liston indeed went on to celebrate the group:

The group’s defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol—the southern port city decimated by Russian forces in the first months of the war—has become a powerful symbol of the suffering inflicted by Russia and the resistance mounted by Ukraine.

The story's headline: "Released Azov Commanders Have an Emotional Reunion With Family Members in Turkey." The accompanying photo shows the fascistic unit's commander sharing a joyful hug with his wife.

Not a word in the eight-paragraph story gives any hint about the ugly far-right politics of the unit, incorporated since 2014 into Ukraine's military structure (when it was rebranded as the Azov Regiment). The Times did, however, find space to convey to the Azov fighters, from Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, “Thanks from Ukraine, from the president and all the people for whom they are fighting.”


** ACTION:
------------------------------------------------------------

Please tell the New York Times not to treat neo-Nazis as heroes.


** CONTACT:
------------------------------------------------------------

Letters: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Readers Center: Feedback ([link removed])

Twitter: @NYTimes ([link removed])

Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your communication in the comments thread.
------------------------------------------------------------

Featured image: Emblem of the 2nd SS Panzer Division ([link removed]) (left) compared with those of the Azov Battalion ([link removed]) (center) and Azov Regiment ([link removed]) (right).
Read more ([link removed])

Share this post: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="Twitter"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="Twitter" alt="Twitter" class="mc-share"></a>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="Facebook"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="Facebook" alt="Facebook" class="mc-share"></a>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="Pinterest"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="Pinterest" alt="Pinterest" class="mc-share"></a>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="LinkedIn"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="LinkedIn" alt="LinkedIn" class="mc-share"></a>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="Google Plus"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="Google Plus" alt="Google Plus" class="mc-share"></a>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="[link removed]" title="Instapaper"><img border="0" height="15" width="15" src="[link removed]" title="Instapaper" alt="Instapaper" class="mc-share"></a>
​

© 2021 Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up for email alerts from
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting

Our mailing address is:
FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING
124 W. 30th Street, Suite 201
New York, NY 10001

FAIR's Website ([link removed])

FAIR counts on your support to do this work — please donate today ([link removed]) .

Follow us on Twitter ([link removed]) | Friend us on Facebook ([link removed])

change your preferences ([link removed])
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]
unsubscribe ([link removed]) .