In the days since Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the newspaper’s editorial board’s plan to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, his daughter—who said she was part of the decision—accused the Biden-Harris administration of supporting what she described as Israel’s “genocide” of Palestinians as part of the reason.
The United States is a strong ally of Israel and has provided billions in military aid and diplomatic support to the country over the years, with recent reports showing a record $17.9 billion in assistance since the war in Gaza began last year.
Following Hamas‘ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 others being taken hostage, the White House has backed Israel’s military operations.
In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has deployed thousands of additional U.S. troops, along with warships and fighter jets, to the region in recent weeks. The Pentagon also deployed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system along with around 100 U.S. personnel to the Middle Eastern country.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $135 million in American aid to the Palestinians. During his trip to the region, Blinken urged Israel to seek a cease-fire deal with Gaza that would end the war and bring back the remaining hostages.
In series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, late Thursday evening local time, 31-year-old Nika Soon-Shiong shed light on her family’s decision to block the newspaper’s endorsement of Harris, the Democratic nominee and a California native, ahead of the November presidential election, writing, “For me, genocide is the line in the sand.”
Newsweek has reached out to Harris for comment via email on Saturday.
In another post she added, “For my family, Apartheid is not a vague concept. My father was an emergency surgeon at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. He treated students shot by the police during the Soweto Uprisings – where 176 died protesting the brutal system of racial segregation,” she wrote.
The Soweto uprising was a series of protests led by Black schoolchildren in apartheid-era South Africa in 1976 after the Afrikaans language was imposed on students. Demonstrators were met with police brutality. Her father, Patrick Soon-Shiong, was born in South Africa in 1952, and is a skilled surgeon and medical inventor.
Apartheid in South Africa lasted around 50 years. Last year, South Africa brought a case in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is conducting genocide against Palestinians, and has breached the Geneva Convention. Several other countries have signed on in support of South Africa’s case.
Israel has firmly denied it is committing genocide in Gaza, saying its operations are a necessary defensive measure against Hamas.
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
Nika Soon-Shiong’s X thread continued: “Apartheid was not just a political project. It was a profitable one, underpinned by lobbyists in Washington, US defense contracts, and an international market for weapons, diamonds, and gold.”
She included a screenshot of a New York Times headline from June 1964, and wrote, “Many US news organizations and politicians were complicit. The headline reads, ‘The official case for Apartheid; South Africa’s foreign minister outlines the history and philosophy behind his country’s police of ‘separate development’ for whites and nonwhites.'”
Human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said that Israel enacts apartheid policies against Palestinians. Israel has repeatedly denied the claims.
Nika Soon-Shiong’s next X post turned to the present-day context where Israel’s ground and air operations in Gaza has killed over 42,000 people in the past year, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Throughout the year, there has been repeated Israeli attacks on hospitals and shelters in the region. On Thursday, Israel struck a school where displaced people were sheltering, killing 17 people, almost all women and children, according to the Associated Press. The same day, 42 people were wounded from a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, with 13 children and three women killed.
Nika Soon-Shiong wrote: “Apartheid, illegal settlements, and genocide in Palestine are profitable, too – underpinned by US arms dealers witnessing record profits. Northrop Grumman’s stock is up 28%, General Dynamics up 37%, Lockheed Martin up 55%.”
Lockheed Martin manufactures the THAAD system. In addition, pro-Palestinian and anti-war demonstrations have taken place outside facilities of all three weapons manufacturers across the U.S. in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
She clarified that the non-endorsement of Harris “is not a vote for Donald Trump. This is a refusal to ENDORSE a candidate that is overseeing a war on children. I’m proud of the LA Times’ decision just as I am certain there is no such thing as children of darkness. There is no such thing as human animals.”
Palestinians have faced repeated dehumanization throughout the war, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calling for a complete siege of Gaza, stating shortly after Hamas‘ attack, “We are fighting against human animals.”
In a New York Times article published on Saturday, Nika Soon-Shiong sent a statement and said, “As a citizen of a country openly financing genocide, and as a family that experienced South African Apartheid, the endorsement was an opportunity to repudiate justifications for the widespread targeting of journalists and ongoing war on children.”
Three editors have resigned over the paper’s non-endorsement, and over 200 journalist have signed an October 25 open letter to management calling for transparency on the matter.
Days after the Los Angeles Times’ decision, The Washington Post announced that it would not endorse Harris or Trump in the presidential race, which also sparked a flurry of responses and a series of subscription cancellations.
