YouTube Deletes Palestinian Rights Groups’ Channels Citing US Sanctions

By Staff, Agencies

The Intercept revealed Wednesday that YouTube has permanently removed the official channels of three prominent Palestinian human rights organizations — Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) — erasing years of documentation of "Israeli" war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The takedowns, carried out in early October, deleted hundreds of videos, including investigations into the killing of Palestinian civilians, home demolitions, and the murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

YouTube confirmed the move followed a review triggered by US State Department sanctions against the three groups. “Google is committed to compliance with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws,” company spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle told The Intercept, noting that the platform enforces restrictions on entities under US sanctions.

The Trump administration imposed the sanctions in September, citing the organizations’ cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its war crimes investigations targeting "Israeli" officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former so-called Security Minister Yoav Gallant.

Human rights advocates condemned the removals as an attempt to erase evidence of "Israeli" atrocities and silence Palestinian civil society online.