“Netflix” and the censorship of Palestinian voices in the West

Mehr News, International Group: “Netflix” as one of the largest movie streaming services in It is considered the world. The service recently removed 19 films related to Palestine from its platform. Surveys show that not only the Zionist regime has increased investment in online media to broadcast Zionist content around the world, but Palestinian works in the West have also faced widespread censorship.

Netflix action

Netflix platform is a worldwide online content production and distribution service, which was founded in 1997 in the United States. Along with many media actions that are taken to ignore the rights of Palestinians in the media field, Netflix also removed 19 films related to Palestine from its platform in the latest of these actions in recent days. Explaining the move, the company wrote that “the 32-film Palestinian Stories series was launched in October 2021 as part of a three-year licensing agreement, and these licenses have now expired. “As always, we continue to invest in a wide range of quality movies and TV shows to meet the needs of our members.”

Reactions to Netflix’s move

Netflix’s anti-Palestinian action in removing Palestinian films, some of which, such as “Divine Intervention” directed by Elia Sulaiman, won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, caused a global reaction. has faced First of all, human rights groups reacted to this issue. A coalition of more than 35 peace and human rights organizations and media groups wrote a letter to Netflix demanding the immediate return of the films. Also, the human rights organization “Freedom Forward”, which is based in San Francisco, reacted to this action.

In a statement, the group condemned the “marginalization of the Palestinian voice” and said: “Netflix has removed almost all of its Palestinian films. “We are deeply concerned that Netflix’s removal of almost its entire library of Palestinian films further marginalizes Palestinian voices at a time when more than two million Palestinians in Gaza are facing genocide by the Israeli military.” The statement finally emphasized that Netflix should do everything it can to share Palestinian stories with the world.

In addition to this human rights group, other groups and organizations such as AAAN, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative Group (MuslimARC) The National Network of American Arab Communities (SAG), the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) also condemned this move by Netflix. Hatem Abudayeh, head of the American Palestinian Community Network, said: “This decision is clearly a political decision, and it means that Netflix has chosen the side of racism and war crimes and genocide committed by the apartheid Israeli (regime) against the Palestinian people. has done This decision must be overturned, otherwise Netflix is ​​complicit in genocide.”

Although Netflix announced that the 32-film Palestinian Stories series launched in October 2021 as part of a three-year licensing deal, those licenses have expired. However, this response has not been enough to quell the frustration of many users, especially on social media. After the move, thousands of people voiced their concerns and tagged @Netflix in their posts via social media platform X. But this action was ignored by the group. One of the users, known as Brian S, tweeted: “Zionist Jews are busy controlling most of the media and entertainment sites. The interesting point after this action of Netflix is ​​the simultaneous expansion of the selection of Arabic and Muslim-related films, so that this platform now displays a variety of Egyptian and Saudi films.

Creating an exclusive online broadcasting service for the Zionist regime

The Zionist regime has established a special platform called Screen iL to show its media content, which is specific to Zionist immigrants and consumers around the world. Screen iL is the only legal platform for broadcasting a wide range of Zionist TV channels, movies and other content outside the occupied territories, with content in both Hebrew and English for consumers in the United States and around the world. Screen iL houses almost all Zionist films produced, especially those that have won awards in Occupied Palestine, as well as Oscar-nominated films such as Footnote, Beaufort, Salah and The Police. In 2021, in an interview with the Zionist website Israelhome, Robert Pons, the executive director of this platform, said: This service has provided the opportunity to serve the Israeli diaspora and lovers of Israeli culture around the world.

Western media censorship against Palestinian works

After Netflix’s action, the question arises whether the pressure of pro-Zionist groups led to this action and the removal of Palestinian content? In response, it should be said that after October 7, 2023, Western media giants have displayed various support patterns, including cash aid and targeted censorship against Palestinians, in support of the Zionist regime. At the beginning of the war, the Disney company allocated one million dollars to the Zionist regime’s medical emergency, known as the Red Star of David, which provides medical services and blood banks in the occupied territories. The company also provided one million dollars to other non-profit organizations active in the region, especially organizations focused on helping Zionist children. In addition, a week after the Al-Aqsa storm operation, more than 700 American entertainment industry leaders condemned the actions of Hamas in an open letter while calling on the people of the media and entertainment industry to support the Zionist regime.

Apart from the pressure of the official authorities, pro-Zionist groups in the West and especially the United States play an effective role in censorship against the Palestinian people. For example, not long ago, pro-regime groups tried to prevent the documentary “I am from Gaza and I am still alive” by Bisan Oudeh, a 25-year-old journalist from Gaza, from winning an award given by the National Academy. Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is offered, delete. This film tells the story of Odeh’s return from his family while fleeing the bombardment of his house by the Zionists and was nominated in the news and documentary category. The “Creative Community for Peace” group, one of the pro-Zionist groups, claimed that Odeh participated in the programs of the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine and published anti-Semitic content. Accordingly, he asked NATAS to cancel the nomination of the Palestinian journalist to receive the award.

In August 2024, a group of 70 Palestinian filmmakers, including Hani Abu Asad, Elia Suleiman and Farah Nabulsi, signed a letter against “Hollywood’s dehumanization of Palestinians in They protested for several decades. According to them, this Hollywood approach has contributed to the continuous destruction in Gaza. This letter was the first joint initiative of Palestinian filmmakers after October 7.

Result

Netflix’s action in removing Palestinian content has been met with serious protests by social network users and human rights organizations. This action of Netflix can be evaluated in the continuation of targeted censorship against Palestinians. Censorship against Palestine, on the one hand, prevents showing the true image of the Palestinians, and on the other hand, it does not present a true representation of the crimes committed by the Zionist regime against these people.