Christian Zionism in the News

Remembering the people our media choose to forget

May 13, 2025

The Christian Century has published an important, heartfelt article by author Melissa Florer-Bixler. In a May article titled “The US media is biased against Palestinians”, Florer-Bixler wonders why major news outlets emphasize Israeli suffering but downplay what Palestinians experience. “I saw photos of Israeli hostages, gaunt and hopeful,” she writes, “but none of Palestinian child prisoners incarcerated without trial.” She states the problem bluntly: “The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times mentioned the deaths of Israelis 16 times more often than those of Palestinians.” Even the words our media use to describe what is happening can be deceiving, she explains. “Journalists reserved for slain Israelis the terms slaughter (60 to 1) and massacre (120 to 1); Palestinians ‘died’ or, in passive voice, were ‘killed.’”

The author concludes with a much-needed warning. “Looking away from the vast suffering of Palestinian people legitimizes their dispossession and dehumanization. The media’s silence about this suffering is a choice—one our humanity and our hope for peace cannot afford.” 

Melissa Florer-Bixler is a graduate of Duke University and Princeton Theological Seminary. She currently pastors Raleigh Mennonite Church in North Carolina. She is the author of How to Have an Enemy and Fire by Night. Her article was published in Christian Century on April 10, 2025.

To read Florer-Bixler’s article: The US Media is biased against Palestinians.