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Netflix slammed for removing films on Palestine

October 26, 2024 at 11:29 am

In this photo illustration Netflix logo is displayed on a computer screen in Ankara, Turkiye on April 29, 2024 [Didem Mente – Anadolu Agency]

Netflix has being criticised for removing 19 films from the Palestine category.

Users found that a large number of content on Palestine was no longer available on the streaming network in mid-October, and questioned whether pressure from pro-Israel groups had led the company to remove them.

Rights group Freedom Forward said: “Netflix has deleted almost all of its Palestinian films.”

“We are deeply concerned that Netflix’s deletion of nearly its entire library of Palestinian films will further marginalize Palestinian voices at a time when over two million Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to genocide by the Israeli military. This erasure of Palestinian voices by Netflix follows many ugly decades of suppression of Palestinian viewpoints and narratives by Western news and entertainment media companies.”

In response, Netflix said the Palestinian Stories collection with 32 films was launched in October 2021 as part of a three-year licensing deal. “Those licenses have now expired. As always we continue to invest in a wide variety of quality films and TV shows to meet our members’ needs, and celebrate voices from around the world.”

Why such a decision has been taken has been questioned. With Freedom Forward saying: “Netflix should be doing everything it can to share Palestinian stories with the world.”

READ: Harvard Law School bans 60 students over pro-Palestine protest