United Voices says the apology issued by CNN commentator Van Jones — after he mockingly dismissed images of slaughtered Palestinian children on social media as a foreign disinformation campaign targeting young Americans — is a positive but insufficient step.
In his apology, Jones said: “Babies are dying every day in Gaza. Nobody should dispute that fact or make light of it in any way. To the people living in fear and burying family members every day, of all ages — I apologize.”
United Voices welcomes that acknowledgment — and is clear about what still needs to happen. Jones has not retracted his original false claim that images of dead Palestinian children go viral because of a foreign disinformation campaign. He has not specifically acknowledged that Israel is responsible for killing those children. And he has not recognized the Gaza genocide as a genocide.
“The only thing worse than Van Jones laughing about murdered children was his false claim that those images anger young Americans because of a foreign disinformation campaign,” United Voices said. “He still has not admitted that he lied about this imaginary conspiracy, nor has he acknowledged that Israel is responsible for both killing the children he callously dismissed and running a real, massive pressure campaign to censor social media. An apology that doesn’t correct the lie isn’t a full apology.”
United Voices is calling on Jones to take three concrete steps: fully retract his original false claim, publicly recognize Israel’s responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian children in Gaza, and meet with Palestinian-American leaders to reckon with the disinformation — not from foreign governments, but from the Israeli government — that has distorted mainstream media coverage of this conflict.
This moment is bigger than one television commentator. It reflects a pattern in which major media figures have downplayed, dismissed, or actively misrepresented the scale of Palestinian civilian deaths — and then offered partial apologies that leave the underlying false narrative intact. United Voices is calling on all media figures, politicians, and institutions to recognize the full humanity of Palestinians and to advocate for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.
Van Jones Apologized for Joking About Dead Palestinian Children. It’s a Start — But Not Enough.
United Voices says the apology issued by CNN commentator Van Jones — after he mockingly dismissed images of slaughtered Palestinian children on social media as a foreign disinformation campaign targeting young Americans — is a positive but insufficient step.
In his apology, Jones said: “Babies are dying every day in Gaza. Nobody should dispute that fact or make light of it in any way. To the people living in fear and burying family members every day, of all ages — I apologize.”
United Voices welcomes that acknowledgment — and is clear about what still needs to happen. Jones has not retracted his original false claim that images of dead Palestinian children go viral because of a foreign disinformation campaign. He has not specifically acknowledged that Israel is responsible for killing those children. And he has not recognized the Gaza genocide as a genocide.
“The only thing worse than Van Jones laughing about murdered children was his false claim that those images anger young Americans because of a foreign disinformation campaign,” United Voices said. “He still has not admitted that he lied about this imaginary conspiracy, nor has he acknowledged that Israel is responsible for both killing the children he callously dismissed and running a real, massive pressure campaign to censor social media. An apology that doesn’t correct the lie isn’t a full apology.”
United Voices is calling on Jones to take three concrete steps: fully retract his original false claim, publicly recognize Israel’s responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian children in Gaza, and meet with Palestinian-American leaders to reckon with the disinformation — not from foreign governments, but from the Israeli government — that has distorted mainstream media coverage of this conflict.
This moment is bigger than one television commentator. It reflects a pattern in which major media figures have downplayed, dismissed, or actively misrepresented the scale of Palestinian civilian deaths — and then offered partial apologies that leave the underlying false narrative intact. United Voices is calling on all media figures, politicians, and institutions to recognize the full humanity of Palestinians and to advocate for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.