The paper acknowledged in 2011 that ‘it has been antisemites, not Jews, who have read ‘chosen’ as code for Jewish supremacism’
November 14, 2025 10:40
The Guardian is facing calls to apologise for publishing a piece that included an interpretation of the idea that Jews are the “chosen” people, which the newspaper itself previously publicly acknowledged as antisemitic.
A comment piece published on November 8 that carried the headline "Where is the Gaza 'peace process' really going?” and expressed scepticism about the fragile ceasefire implied in one passage that Israelis consider themselves “chosen” and therefore superior – an interpretation the Guardian itself has recognised is one typically favoured not by Jews, but by antisemites.
The piece, which appeared online but not in print and was written by a Palestinian-American law student Ahmad Ibsais, stated: “I feel the ways Palestine has been carved, dehumanised, and brutalised to carry out an extermination campaign by those who call themselves ‘chosen’.”
Readers who click on the word “chosen” were directed to a piece published in 2018 by the anti-Israel news site Middle East Monitor, bearing the headline “New poll: Majority of Israeli Jews believe they are ‘chosen people’”.
That piece cited a survey conducted by Israeli newspaper Haeretz but failed to clarify that, in Jewish theology, the concept refers to the Jewish people being “chosen” to carry the burden of responsibility through their covenant with God.
The article has since been updated to remove the reference and a correction note has been added, though it does not acknowledge the passage as antisemitic.
The note reads: “This article was amended on 14 November 2025 to replace a comment linked to a 2018 poll on religious views among Israeli Jews.”
The JC understands the passage is being reviewed by the Guardian’s readers' editor, Elizabeth Ribbans, who will share their view with the complainant, Adam Levick, in due course, and may issue a further correction.”
But Levick, editor at the UK arm of pro-Israel media monitoring organisation the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera UK), has called on Ribbans to publish an apology, pointing out that her own predecessor had acknowledged that invoking the concept of being “chosen” to imply that Jews believe they are “better than anyone else” is antisemitic.
In 2011, following the publication of a comment piece by the late journalist Deborah Orr that prompted dozens of complaints, then Readers Editor Chris Elliott wrote: “Two weeks ago a columnist used the term ‘the chosen’ in an item on the release [from Hamas captivity of Israeli soldier] Gilad Shalit, which brought more than 40 complaints to the Guardian, and an apology from the columnist the following week.”
He continued: “‘Chosenness’, in Jewish theology, tends to refer to the sense in which Jews are ‘burdened’ by religious responsibilities; it has never meant that the Jews are better than anyone else.
"Historically, it has been antisemites, not Jews, who have read ‘chosen’ as code for Jewish supremacism.”
Elliott also noted that “antisemitism can be subtle as well as obvious” and that “newspapers have to be aware that some examples involve coded references. They need to ask themselves, for example, if the word Zionist is being used as a synonym for Jew”.
In his letter to Ribbans, Levick expressed his “deep concern over an opinion piece that used a trope about Jewish ‘chosenness’ that was identified as antisemitic by one of your predecessors … I ask that the piece by Mr Ibsais be amended to remove the ‘chosen people’ trope, and an apology issued.”
The Guardian declined to comment. Ibsais did not respond to the JC’s request for comment.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.