Netflix faced backlash when it removed 19 films by or about Palestinians from the streaming platform in mid-October.
The anchor said in a statement Palestinian story The 32-film collection launches in October 2021 as part of a three-year licensing agreement. “These licenses have now expired. As always, we continue to invest in a variety of high-quality films and TV shows that meet the needs of our members and celebrate voices from around the world.
The decision not to renew Palestinian stories as part of a content licensing deal led a coalition of human rights groups, led by Freedom Forward, to write an open letter to Netflix’s executive team explaining why 19 films made by or about Palestinians were removed.
“We urge you to explain your decision and reinstate every film by or about Palestinians that Netflix removed last week. We are deeply concerned that when more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to genocide by Israeli forces As Netflix removes nearly its entire library of Palestinian films, it will further marginalize Palestinian voices, say Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos.
After Netflix responded to the activist boycott, Freedom Forward executive director Sunjeev Bery criticized the licensing agreement for allowing it to expire in his own statement.
“Why doesn’t Netflix renew its licensing agreement to play these 19 Palestinian films? Netflix is a $300 billion company that can afford to renew licenses for the films and films it cares about. Palestinians are experiencing extraordinary suffering, and Netflix should do everything it can to Instead, Netflix has allowed almost its entire library of Palestinian films to disappear,” Berry said.
Licensing agreements result in changes to the availability of certain movies and TV shows on Netflix and other streaming media in the United States and other countries. For example, it’s no secret that Netflix no longer streams content friends The show was released in the United States after Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the show for its Max streaming service. mr robot The show is also no longer available on Netflix in Arab countries.
Netflix still has works from Palestinian creators on its service. However, the only movie Palestinian story “Slate” is a 2019 documentary Ibrahim a definition of destinyDirected by Lena El Abed.
The Arab American Action Network, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the National Network of Arab American Communities and the American Palestinian Community Network also signed the Freedom Forward Alliance letter.
