YouTube Yanks Israeli Army Videos
Tel Aviv — YouTube has removed videos that the Israeli army posted as part of a public relations effort to rally world opinion behind its operation in Gaza.
On December 29, the IDF began posting videos of its aerial strikes. The rationale was that it wanted to support the claim that it is not targeting civilians, but rather Hamas targets — especially rockets destined for Israel. It also posted footage of Israeli officials sending humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
However, on December 30, YouTube removed the four most-viewed videos, one of which received more than 10,000 hits. The videos all contained footage of bombings.
The removal appears to have been the result of a function of YouTube, which flags videos when a certain threshold of complaints is passed and routes them to an employee who decides whether or not to remove them. Some IDF videos showing footage of bombings were allowed to remain, apparently because they did not pass the threshold of complaints.
YouTube did not respond to a request by the Forward to clarify its procedures. The IDF’s understanding is that it has the right to appeal the decision. However, there are fears that the procedure could be drawn out, and the military created the YouTube account hoping for an instant impact on public opinion.
YouTube’s guidelines are unclear on what constitutes grounds for removal, though there is a rule that states: “Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.”
The IDF was “saddened” by the removal of its footage, a statement posted next to its remaining YouTube videos, read: “As the State of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
