Amid crisis, New York Times posts job for Palestinian affairs reporter

(JTA) — As the world’s attention has turned to the crisis engulfing Israel and the Palestinian territories, a leading media outlet posted a brand-new job opening.

The New York Times announced Wednesday that it is looking to hire a reporter who will focus on covering Palestinian affairs.

The posting went online just as countless people around the world are wanting to know more about places like the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah, the site of protests and violence over the weekend, and the Gaza Strip, the home of the militant group Hamas, which is currently shooting rockets into Israel.

The new reporter will be tasked with covering politics, culture and everyday life in both those places as well as across the West Bank, and throughout Israel proper, where a fifth of the population are Arab Palestinians.

Whoever gets the job will join other local Times staff including Isabel Kershner and the newspaper’s new Jerusalem bureau chief, Patrick Kingsley.