US media platforms censor top Palestinian activist under Israeli pressure

US social media companies have canceled under alleged pressure from Israeli lobbies a webinar that was due to be held at an American university by a senior member of a Palestinian resistance group.

The webinar was supposed to feature Leila Khaled, a top Palestinian activist and resistance icon, but was blocked by major Silicon Valley companies of Facebook, YouTube and Zoom.

Khaled, who is also a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was due to deliver a speech through the webinar at San Francisco State University (SFSU) on Wednesday.

The video conferencing platform, Zoom, initially prohibited the university from using its software to host the event, titled "Whose NARRATIVES? Gender, Justice and Resistance,” and the webinar was also restricted by Facebook, which has a lengthy history of censoring Palestinians on behalf of Israel.

Later, the event went ahead via YouTube but shortly after it began, the company cut off the video stream and replaced it with a notice that said, “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Terms of Service.”

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Many Palestinians and rights activists censured the social media platforms for censoring the webinar’s content and limiting free speech, and said the event was cancelled due to pressure from the Israeli regime and Zionist lobbying groups.

Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, one of the organizers of the event, shared an email he sent to the San Francisco State University regarding the cancellation of the webinar and lashed out at the obnoxious move.

“This censorship violates our freedom of speech and academic freedom as a faculty to teach, deprives our student from the right to learn, and denies the general public the right to hear from speakers who are not readily available on mainstream media," the email read.

"We therefore expect the university to seriously and publicly challenge Zoom’s attempt to control higher education and the content of our curriculum and classrooms,” it added.

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Over 2,000 people also signed a petition to support academic freedom on Palestine in support of the webinar and underlined that, “The SFSU is under attack from the ultra-right-wing Zionists for hosting a conversation with Palestinian freedom fighter, Leila Khaled.”

The petition described Khaled as a “powerful, inspiring figure,” and said, “She’s more than just a freedom fighter. Leila is a mother, a wife, and a national icon. Leila Khaled proved that a woman and a mother have a place in resisting Israeli occupation and colonialism. What Leila proves to us most is that everyone has a place in the Liberation of Palestine.”

Reports said Israel’s lobby organizations attempted to get federal and state governments involved in shutting down the webinar, with the Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel group that uses lawsuits to harass supporters of Palestinian rights, recently sending a letter to the National Security Division of the US Department of Justice to dissuade the SFSU from hosting Khaled.

Moreover, Israeli authorities have expressed satisfaction about the cancellation of the webinar and a number of pro-Israel groups have also taken credit for pressuring the platforms to call off the event.

The event is the latest example of US-based media platforms censoring Palestinian content online.

Earlier this year, more than 50 Palestinian journalists and activists had their profiles deleted or deactivated by Facebook, for what the social platform claimed "not following Community Standards", leaving many frustrated and confused about the real reason behind the move.

US President Donald Trump has given Tel Aviv the green light to annex large parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley in his self-proclaimed “deal of the century,” which was unveiled in January with the aim of legitimizing Israel’s occupation and re-drawing the Middle East map.

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US President Donald Trump

Trump’s scheme largely gives in to Israel’s demands while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and allowing the regime to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

The United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and some Arab countries have all said annexation would violate international law and undermine the prospects of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 boundaries.

The Palestinians want the occupied West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

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