Is the New York Times on a roll or what? Earlier this week, they referred to pro-Iran militants to stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as “mourners.” Check out what they had in this past Sunday’s edition:
The headline writers at NYTimes want to help!
China simply weans children from Islam. It redirects them from religion to party. At new boarding schools, even!
The wording – weans, redirects, new boarding schools – all innocuous, no? @counterchekist @ninaandtito pic.twitter.com/6rVtrStpLc
— ? ArleBear (@ArleBear) December 30, 2019
Isn’t that special?
Aw, how adorable, China weaning Muslim children like they're all lil' baby Yodas. Cute stuff, New York Times! pic.twitter.com/WQ1elcRn7c
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) January 2, 2020
In “boarding schools,” no less! Systematic persecution of Uighur Muslims sounds a lot nicer if you frame it in nicer terms. Euphemisms are fun, aren’t they?
unbelievable
— david (@pupperio) January 2, 2020
Holy hell.
— Boogaloo Jokes ? ?? ?? (@billyj41) January 2, 2020
For what it’s worth, at least the author of the article does more justice to the story than the headline and “boarding schools” crap do:
As China built up a vast network of internment camps for Muslims, it oversaw a parallel effort to corral Uighur children into boarding schools. The aim? To indoctrinate a new generation of Uighurs who are secular and more loyal to the party and the nation. https://t.co/SEvJKHdoqz
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
Recommended
2/China says the children in these schools are thriving. They get free tuition, food & clothes. They are learning about science and Chinese – aka skills for the future. But growing evidence suggests that the govt’s motivations may not be so altruistic. (Photo taken in Hotan) pic.twitter.com/nPwFbFcicE
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
3/The boarding schools are essentially incubators designed to weaken devotion to Islam. The govt’s own words are shockingly blunt: the schools are crucial to “break the impact of the religious atmosphere on children at home.” (Photo: Boarding elementary school outside of Hotan) pic.twitter.com/IuX6iZTDwz
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
4/Some Uighurs say their children were placed in these schools without their consent. One man spotted his 4-y/o son in a video speaking in Chinese. “What I fear the most is that the Chinese govt is teaching him to hate his parents and Uighur culture." https://t.co/pDplZNDozR
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
5/The scale of the effort is mind-boggling. At the end of 2017, nearly *half a million* kids were already boarding in schools – and the push to build more was just starting. The govt wants 1-2 of these schools in every township in Xinjiang by the end of next year.
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
6/In Hotan, every school @giuliamarchi and I visited was heavily securitized: barbed wire, security guards, metal detectors, cameras in every corner, even facial recognition systems. Juxtaposed alongside the colorful images of sunshine and fuzzy animals, the sight was chilling. pic.twitter.com/OcWZ8S6x98
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
7/ We can only imagine the atmosphere of fear inside these walls: One sign outside a kindergarten in Hotan urged ppl to report “two-faced” teachers who made “irresponsible remarks” or participated in unauthorized religious worship, among many other offenses. pic.twitter.com/haBQmYYrnS
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
8/For me, the most troubling moments in reporting came thru talking to Uighur parents & reading the blogs of teachers in the schools. One elementary school teacher described how suddenly, all signs of Uighur script were purged from the classroom – even on the broomhandles.
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
9/Later, the teacher's school was converted to a full-time boarding school. His students often begged to use his phone to call their parents. “Sometimes, when they hear the voice on the other end of the call, the children will start crying and they hide in the corner,” he wrote.
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
10/The shadow of the camps was present throughout. One first-grade girl, he wrote, seemed to always be crying. “When I asked around, I learned that it was because she missed her mother,” he wrote.
Her mother had been sent to the camps.
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
11/Another girl’s father had also been sent to a detention camp. In a heartwrenching letter to her father, the 8-year-old wrote: “Daddy, where are you? Daddy, why don’t you come back?…I’m sorry, Daddy. You must study hard too.” pic.twitter.com/ONP33n2Bpq
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
12/And the most unexpectedly moving detail for me: At one point, a boy offers to the teacher a near-universal excuse for not doing his homework: a dog ate it.
Xinjiang may feel at times like a world away, but these kids are just like any kids you know.
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
13/As one mother told me: “My children are so young, they just need their mother and father.”
Link to our story, with photos by @giuliamarchi https://t.co/SEvJKHdoqz (Photo credit: NYT) pic.twitter.com/9jAuQ0urDC
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) December 28, 2019
Clearly what’s going on is much more than “weaning” kids in “boarding schools.” So why can’t the New York Times be honest in their headline?
Seems like the word they were looking for was 're-educates'
— B. Lyons (@theLyonbrary) January 2, 2020
Just like the Nazis weaned Jews from Judaism.
— Grover Dill ?☠️ (@grover_lou) January 2, 2020
The NYT is selectively okay with oppressing Muslims. https://t.co/sxXrFu6RAn
— Anti-Smatter (@mdrache) January 2, 2020
What has been going on w/ @nytimes lately? Their inept editors should be fired.
— ReeseZ (@therealmarisaz) January 2, 2020
Lately?
good time to remind everyone that the Chinese government pays major American newsrooms, including the New York Times, to publish propaganda produced by China Daily, the official mouthpiece of the communist regime.https://t.co/FZL92iVxY9 https://t.co/ox4xpvwAFK
— ?'? ? ??????? ???? (@BecketAdams) January 2, 2020
Do better, New York Times. When you’re already pretty much at rock-bottom, that shouldn’t be difficult.
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