YouTube, infamously known for its quick censorship of speech critical of the left, inexplicably dragged its feet to take down a sickening video from Hamas terrorist leaders calling for Islamists to rise up against Israel. It did so only after MRC Free Speech America pressed the company over its policies.
MRC Free Speech America reached out to YouTube on Oct. 12 to question whether the company allowed content that “actively calls for the mass murder of Israeli citizens?” MRC researchers launched an investigation after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh helped to ignite what became infamously known as the “Day of Jihad.” Haniyeh’s anti-Semitic call to action against Israel was uttered during an interview with Qatari state-owned Al Jazeera, which the outlet — notorious for its historically pro-Hamas bent — then promoted on YouTube.
“This is the battle of not only the Palestinians or the Gazans, it is the battle of all the Arab and Muslim nations,” Haniyeh claimed in the YouTube video. “Simply for the reason that it is a battle for Palestine, it is a battle for Jerusalem.” Haniyeh’s call came after Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israeli cities, leaving a trail of horror. Amidst YouTube’s hypocritical inaction, the video reached over one million videos.
YouTube’s inaction came as a stark contrast to its previously swift, often unwarranted, censorship of Republicans. In 2021, YouTube suspended the Right Side Broadcasting Network for airing former President Donald Trump’s speech at CPAC. Just in April 2023, YouTube banned RSBN yet again a day before Trump was arraigned at a Manhattan court.
Hamas, a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State, was allowed for several days to promote its disturbing call to action against Israel. Notably, the clip appeared to explicitly violate YouTube’s policy on “violent extremists or criminal organizations.” Despite this, YouTube acknowledged that it received MRC researchers’ questions but did not immediately respond to them. Upon a follow-up, YouTube yet again did not respond but later took the disturbing video down.
Haniyeh’s remarks were heard loud and clear, igniting concerns for the safety of Jewish communities around the globe. In France, a teacher was stabbed by a suspected Islamist terrorist. The New York Police Department called on all uniformed officers to report for duty in response to the global “Day of Jihad.” Tens of thousands of rioters took to the streets around the world. In the U.S., some protestors burned the U.S. and Israeli flags. Law enforcement increased security around Jewish sites in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact YouTube at 650-253-0000 and demand they stop promoting terrorist organizations and their bid to destroy Israel.
