World News | Media Workers Stage Sit-in at New York Times Headquarters to Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

New York, Nov 10 (AP) Pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the lobby of The New York Times on Thursday, accusing the media of betraying a bias toward Israel in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the publication's Manhattan headquarters. Many entered the building's atrium for a sit-in and vigil that lasted more than an hour.

Also Read | Sex Racket Busted in US: Police Bust ‘High-End Brothel Network’ With Politicians and Military Officers as Clients in Massachusetts, Three Accused Arrested.

Led by a group of media workers calling themselves “Writers Bloc,” demonstrators read off the names of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, including at least 36 journalists whose deaths have been confirmed since the war began.

They scattered editions of a mock newspaper — “The New York War Crimes” — that charged the media with “complicity in laundering genocide” and called on the Times' editorial board to publicly back a ceasefire.

Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: Israel’s Health Ministry Cuts Red Tape to Save Sperm From IDF Soldiers Killed in Conflict.

The sit-in followed a series of actions at high-profile locations in New York intended to bring attention to the growing death toll in Gaza.

On Tuesday, activists with the group Jewish Voice for Peace briefly took over the Statue of Liberty. The week prior, hundreds of people packed into Grand Central Terminal, shutting down the commuting hub during rush hour while hoisting banners that read “Ceasefire Now.”

More than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, since the Oct. 7th massacre by Hamas, which took the lives of at least 1,400 people in Israel.

It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was arrested during the Thursday sit-in.

An email sent to New York Times staffers by the publication's head of corporate security described the protest as “peaceful,” noting that “no entrances are blocked".(AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)