Nearly 90% of films in Netflix's recently launched "Palestinian Stories" collection of films are directed by supporters of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, according to findings from right-wing watchdog group Im Tirzu.
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On Friday, Israel Hayom reported the online streaming service had announced the launch of the collection of 32 films, which it said would be expanded in the future. Sixteen of the 19 directors whose films are currently available for streaming in the Palestinian category are BDS supporters, while 12 had called for a boycott of the Jewish state when they signed a letter blasting Israel as recently as May.
In the letter titled "A Letter Against Apartheid," the directors alleged "Palestinians are being attacked and killed with impunity by Israeli soldiers and armed Israeli civilians who have been roaming the streets of Jerusalem, Lydda, Haifa, Jaffa, and other cities chanting, 'Death to Arabs.'" The letter further accused Israel's government of carrying out a "massacre" in the Gaza Strip and fomenting "murder, intimidation, and violent dispossession."
"We call for an end to the support provided by global powers to Israel and its military … Israeli apartheid is sustained by international complicity, it is our collective responsibility to redress this harm," the letter's signatories said.
The films offer a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and include scenes depicting interrogation by Israeli security officials and life in a refugee camp.
Critics of the new Netflix collection argue that the films portray a biased depiction of the conflict while glorifying terrorism and omitting the thousands of terror attacks perpetrated against Israeli civilians.
"It is unforgivable that Netflix has become an outlet for the spread of material written by propagandists who seek to boycott Israel and remove it from the map. This at a time of rising global antisemitism, much of it disguised as anti-Israel activity," investigative journalist David Collier said.
Journalist and leading anti-BDS activist Emily Schrader said: "Instead of Netflix supporting moderate voices, it has acted with gross" negligence by promoting extremists' voices. Netflix's actions "can only do harm - both to Israelis and Palestinians.
"It is unfortunate that Netflix is giving a platform to directors who advocate division and bigotry in the arts of all places. Film and music are tools that bring people together, yet Netflix is elevating those who actively promote hatred and reject cooperation," she lamented.
Im Tirtzu head Matan Peleg said it was "disgraceful that Netflix is featuring propaganda films directed by BDS supporters whose sole goal is to slander and delegitimize the only democracy in the Middle East." He suggested that "if Netflix wants to tell the Palestinian story, it should start by contacting the thousands of bereaved Israeli families who are victims of Palestinian terrorism."
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