"Dangerous and Antisemitic": The Storm Surrounding the American Magazine

A cover story published on Monday in New York Magazine dealing with Arab and Muslim culture in New York has sparked sharp criticism from Jewish and pro-Israel sources. The article, titled "Habibi City," presents Israel in a one-sided manner according to critics, erases the identity and history of Jews whose origins are from Arab countries and North Africa, and refers to Zionism as an ideology that should be opposed.

As part of a special six-part project, the magazine presented a flourishing cultural fabric of young people from the SWANA community — an acronym for Southwest Asia and North Africa — in New York, which according to the magazine developed out of the resistance and protests in the months after October 7 and out of the pain of the genocide in Gaza. According to the New York Post, the project ignited criticism, among other things, due to the way it describes Israel and the war in Gaza.

Critics argued that the magazine repeatedly highlighted Israel's response to the October 7 attack, but barely addressed the massacre itself. They also criticized the reference to Israel in one of the sections, where it was described as a "landmass that is now called Israel."

The timing of the article's publication also sparked criticism, against the backdrop of the rise in hate crimes in the city during the term of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. According to NYPD data, in the first half of 2026, Jews were the target of 178 verified hate crimes — 55% of all hate crimes in the city, even though Jews make up about 10% of New York's population.

AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby in the US Congress, attacked the phrasing that SWANA people in New York are still dealing with xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Zionism — along with the consequences of speaking out against them. "Treating Zionism as if it belongs on a list of identity-based hatreds erases its meaning for millions of Jews — the belief that Jews, like other peoples, have a right to national self-determination and security," the organization stated.

The organization End Jew Hatred also attacked the project and called it dangerous. The organization claimed that the magazine defines belonging around a position regarding Gaza, thereby pushing out Mizrahi Jews, whose families lived for generations in the Middle East and North Africa. The organization further criticized that SWANA people were presented as living under the threat of annihilation, while the magazine did not mention the massacre and the ongoing threats from Hamas, Iran, and terrorist organizations. "This is not harmless 'cultural influence.' Jewish identity is not theirs to erase, and Jewish history will not be rewritten to fit a political narrative," the organization stated.

"I do not intend to pay for a subscription to a magazine that I loved for years — and that I wrote for — and that is actively working to erase Jewish history and identity," journalist Jordana Horn, who canceled her subscription following the project, told the Post. In the cancellation notice, she wrote: "You are intentionally fanning the flames of anti-Jewish sentiment in this city, and I do not intend to help pay for it."

The criticism also touched on the question of who is included in the definition of Middle Eastern identity. Pro-Israel activist Yarden Grinspan argued that the magazine decided who is really considered Middle Eastern; immigration attorney Avraham Hamra, a Syrian-born Jew living in New York, told the Post: "For a publication that prides itself on diversity and social justice, erasing more than 120,000 New York Jews whose families come from Arab countries is not an omission — it is exclusion disguised as inclusion." He added: "As a Syrian Jew, I know what cultural erasure looks like, and it is especially insulting to see it repackaged as progress."

The criticism also spilled over into the article that dealt with the food scene. Tablet Magazine attacked the issue and called it antisemitic, absurd, and claimed that a six-page article about the Middle Eastern restaurant scene in New York read like "intifooda" — a play on words between intifada and food. According to the Post, New York Magazine mentioned the restaurant Ayat, which defines itself as serving "honest and authentic Palestinian soul food." The article also described the restaurant's menu, which included a "cheerful tourist-style map" where the land now called Israel is labeled "Discover Palestine."

A consultant who claimed to have been involved in the food article told the Post: "As someone who saw behind the scenes how the food article was written, this was a hit piece on Jewish and Israeli chefs, under the guise of Middle Eastern cuisine, food, and culture." The same source claimed that the fact-checking process with the magazine was very questionable.

Journalist Eve Barlow, who previously wrote for New York Magazine and claimed that the magazine fired her in 2020 due to her stance against Jew-hatred, told the Post that she is not surprised by the tone of the issue. "This was a long time coming," she said. According to her, the magazine disappeared on her when she started speaking out on the subject: "They never complained about my work until that point. In fact, they only praised me." Barlow added that several writers and editors in the newsroom stopped following her on Twitter at that time: "I had excellent working relationships with them, and they disappeared on me."

According to the Post, the magazine was also accused of using the Fraktur font on the article's cover — a font historically identified with Nazi Germany — and critics wondered if it was a deliberate message.

Tablet summarized the issue as follows: "If you don't think Israel committed genocide, you are not from the Middle East."

New York Magazine has not yet responded to the matter.