Two reasons Nicholas Kristof’s article on Israel is so significant
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
Nicholas Kristof’s recent New York Times article alleging widespread Israeli sexual violence has sparked fierce debate. Still, the greater danger is the “fallacy of false equivalence” that leads many to conclude Hamas and Israel are morally the same. In a culture increasingly shaped by collectivism, it becomes easy to see all Palestinians as terrorists or all Israelis as oppressors, even though Scripture reminds us that “the soul who sins shall die” and that every person is an immortal soul for whom Christ died. The more personally we experience the living Lord Jesus and his transforming love, the more passionately we will want to share it with our lost world.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Monday, May the 18th, 2026 edition of the Daily Article Podcast from Denison Forum. |
| 0:08.6 | I'm Chris Elkins, narrator, giving voice to today's daily article, |
| 0:12.9 | authored by co-founder and cultural theologian, Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:17.9 | This is one of those days when I wish I could write three daily articles. One would respond to the massive prayer rally on the National Mall on Sunday focused on reaffirming the United States as one nation under God. A second would reflect on the World Health Organization's declaration of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a global health emergency. |
| 0:43.6 | However, I feel a special urgency to think with you about Nicholas Christoph's recent article in the New York Times. |
| 0:50.6 | The transcendent issues it raises are critical for the Jewish people and especially relevant to Christian cultural engagement. |
| 0:58.6 | Christoph's May 11th column focuses on allegations of what he calls, quote, widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women, and even children by soldiers, settlers, interrogators, in the |
| 1:13.4 | Shinbet Internal Security Agency, and, above all, prison guards, end quote. |
| 1:19.5 | I will not go into the details, not only because they are extremely graphic, but also because |
| 1:24.9 | they are not the focus of my article today. Nor will I focus in depth on the vociferous response of his critics, |
| 1:32.3 | except to note their observations that he rely significantly on a source |
| 1:37.3 | that has a reported history of spreading libel against Israel |
| 1:42.3 | and is designated by the Israeli government as a Hamas operative in Europe. |
| 1:47.5 | Critics also impugn the credibility of many of Christoph's other sources and a number of the abuse claims he reports. |
| 1:55.0 | Here's why this issue is so significant for the Jewish people. |
| 1:58.8 | The fallacy of false equivalence occurs when someone implies |
| 2:03.8 | falsely and usually indirectly that the two sides on some issue have basically equivalent evidence. |
| 2:10.8 | Consider these statements in Christoph's article. First, the Israeli government rejects |
| 2:16.4 | suggestions that it sexually abuses Palestinians just as Hamas denied raping Israeli women. |
| 2:23.8 | Next, Hamas has indeed brutally violated human rights. Israeli officials should look to their own violations as well. |
| 2:32.5 | And finally, think of it this way. |
| 2:35.0 | The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on October the 7th |
... |
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