While allowing calls for murdering Jews to rack up tens of millions of views, YouTube removed a video with a pro-Israel activist explaining the Gaza conflict. But it got caught, and now the video is back.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
Israel’s acts of defense against terrorist rockets from Gaza is bringing out the worst in social media – not just the postings, but also the polcies of the giant tech companies themselves, in this case YouTube.
On Monday, the well-known media watchdog group Honest Reporting found out that an interview with its director conducted by Russia’s RT television had been removed from YouTube.
HonestReporting CEO Daniel Pomerantz was invited by RT to provide analysis on the situation in Gaza amid the growing international pressure on Jerusalem to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Iran-backed Hamas terror group that runs Gaza. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have fired over 3,800 rockets at Israeli population centers since Hamas opened the hostilities on May 10, and in the six-minute interview, Pomerantz explained the Israeli position and shot down some of the fake news that has been propagated.
But shortly after the video with the interview was posted on Honest Reporting’s YouTube Channel, it blocked for violating YouTube’s “Community Guidelines.”
“We wanted to let you know our team reviewed your content, and we think it violates our violent criminal organizations policy,” YouTube said in an email sent to HR. “We know you may not have realized this was a violation of our policies, so we’re not applying a strike to your channel. However, we have removed the following content from YouTube.”
In one of the most absurd cases of anti-Israel censorship, the video was replaced by a black screen with the message: “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.”
Honest Reporting noted that another pro-Israel clip from a mainstream news outlet, SKY News, was also censored. The comment by Sky News Australia anchor Rowan Dean that we reported on here on United With Israel was also flagged by YouTube as “inappropriate or offensive.”
“Opposing Palestinian terrorism against Jews has seemingly become a ‘microaggression’ that could ‘trigger’ many of the same people who are quite comfortable attacking pro-Israel rallies,” Honest Reporting noted on its website.
Someone at YouTube heard the complaints against it for censoring Pomerantz, and the video is now back on the Honest Reporting channel.
Meanwhile, YouTube permits the most vile and violent Islamic propaganda from Palestinian terrorists.
This includes a video by Palestinian singer Abdullah Al-Saidda, which has racked up over 53 million views, for his song “Target Identified,” which was posted in October 2020 and is still up as of May 2021.
The song includes the lyrics, “The time has come for a fierce war” and “the smell of gunpowder is more pleasant than perfume,” which Al-Saidda sings as he lifts a gun to his face, breathing in its aroma and then loading a case of automatic weapons into his car.
Al-Saidda looks at the camera and says, “Shut up and don’t cross the border / If you cross it, we’ll put an end to your existence.” He then draws his hand across his throat, in a throat-slitting gesture.
This type of incitement to kill and maim is always unacceptable, but it absolutely must not be tolerated in light of the fact that Palestinian terrorists are currently murdering Israelis with rockets, including a five-year-old boy.
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