In recent weeks, Netflix has found itself at the centre of an emerging boycott campaign after failing to respond to a petition against the non-renewal of its Palestinian Stories collection, a set of 32 films about Palestinian life or by Palestinian filmmakers.
The petition was first published on 25 October, as a coalition effort led by Freedom Forward, which campaigns to end US support for non-democratic governments. It was signed by over 30 organisations, including the women’s activism group CODEPINK, which works to cultivate local “peace economies.”
To date, CODEPINK has supported a number of successful BDS campaigns, raising public awareness of brands such as Ahava beauty products and SodaStream. As a result of these robust and ongoing BDS efforts, Ahava has temporarily closed its visitor centre and factory in Mitzpe Shalem, while SodaStream was forced to shut down its factory in the illegal West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumim.
The letter expressed concern over the quiet “erasure” of at least 19 Palestinian titles just days after the world marked one year of Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza. The petition raised several questions about the circumstances surrounding the decision to remove these films, but activists say Netflix has yet to address their concerns.
“Netflix hasn’t responded to the coalition letter that Freedom Forward sent along with over 30 other organisations,” Freedom Forward co-founder Sunjeev Bery tells The New Arab. “It only sent their generic statement, which does not answer any of our seven questions in that letter.”
After activists alerted Sunjeev to Netflix’s removal of Palestinian titles, he swiftly rallied concerned groups to sign a joint letter to petition for their reinstatement.
“Bad foreign policy is often incubated by biased narratives in the media. When Netflix or other major entertainment or news media remove or silence Palestinian voices, it enables Western governments to continue supporting the oppression of Palestinians and other communities in the Middle East,” Sunjeev adds.
Netflix’s response
Currently, searching for Palestinian Stories on Netflix will populate one or two titles for viewers in the US and UK, respectively.
Responding to the removal of the films, a Netflix spokesperson, in a statement to The New Arab, said the removal was due to an expired license, rather than Netflix holding a political stance.
The spokesperson did not respond to questions about Netflix becoming a BDS target.
“We launched this licensed collection of films in 2021 for three years. Those licences have now expired. As always, we continue to invest in a wide variety of quality films and TV shows to meet our members' needs, and celebrate voices from around the world,” the statement said.
Netflix likened this content licensing practice to other moves that have resulted in the removal of Friends from its US offering or Mr. Robot from its Arabic offering. Additional licensed Palestinian titles are available to stream in Arab countries.
For Nour Jaghama, CODEPINK's Palestine campaign manager, Netflix’s rebuttal is not good enough.
“Netflix is a $300 billion company. They have the resources to renew these stories. Things don’t happen, or at least they shouldn’t happen so mindlessly,” Nour says.
“We need to assert that as consumers, we’re not going to continue to support these companies that don't reflect our interests. We see the connections between these companies and ourselves and the impact it has on the world.”
She has also been disheartened by Netflix’s lack of engagement with the campaign, as so far, no executives have been willing to sit down and talk with them.
This, Nour says, is a statement in itself.
Next steps
Frustrated by Netflix’s lack of engagement with the letter, CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans — who has worked as a Netflix producer — took matters into her own hands on 31 October by delivering copies of a public petition to the streaming giant’s headquarters in Los Gatos, Netflix’s Hollywood office, and the home of CEO Ted Sarandos.
"A genocide is not the time to be silent about Palestine, instead we must raise up Palestinian stories and voices and humanise those being dehumanised," Jodie had said at the time.
“When I went to deliver the petitions and they wouldn't let me in, I said ‘I do happen to know where Ted lives and I'm trying to be really polite here. I’m going to give you ten minutes and if he doesn’t come, I'm just going to deliver it to his house,” Jodie says.
Eventually, a security guard advised Jodie to place the petition on the ground and said they would pick it up. CODEPINK has also mailed and emailed copies of the petition, which is fast approaching 20,000 signatures. But still, they have been met with radio silence from Netflix.
“It’s kind of like the burning of books. You have privatised the library and now you’re burning the books,” says Jodie. “It’s not okay and we’re not going to let you get away with it.”
The organisation is now calling on customers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions and send the team an image of them doing so. CODEPINK has also created a pre-written call script for viewers who want Netflix to know they are cancelling their subscriptions. Furthermore, they have compiled a list of Palestinian media for viewers to educate themselves on the reality of life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Sunjeev added that Freedom Forward is also engaged in discussions about the next steps towards an escalation in its campaign and calling for an official boycott.
Not the first time
The removal of Palestinian films and the revoking of access to online information is not the first backlash Netflix has faced.
In 2018, Netflix caught the attention of the BDS movement for platforming the Israeli television show Fauda, an Arabic word for chaos. The show was created by former IDF soldiers Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff and focused on an Israeli undercover anti-terror unit operating in the West Bank.
The BDS movement dubbed it “racist Israeli propaganda” and argued that the show was legitimising violent acts committed against Palestinians. They called on Netflix to remove the show from its offering or face legal action, but 50 Hollywood executives signed a letter in support of Netflix and the show. Today, all four seasons of Fauda are available to stream on the platform.
“It is a heavy reliance on misinformation, the Israeli propaganda narrative that has dominated since the start of the occupation, and the lack of Palestinian voices in the narrative that really manufactured consent for this genocide campaign,” Nour notes.
She adds that the abstract erasure of Palestinian voices — and their humanity — has led to the physical erasure of families and cities in Gaza.
Nour stresses the humanising abilities of visual storytelling, noting that film and television are some of the many ways to tell the stories of Palestinians in a way that people aren’t often exposed to. They also convey the reality of life under occupation to the extent that the average person is informed enough about the subjugation of Palestinians to call for their freedom.
For Nour, these stories are also a vital tool in the act of cultural preservation, and they must continue to be told.
“In Palestinian culture, to preserve our identity, sharing our stories has always been a crucial part of our resistance, and keeping our identity alive is one of the most accessible ways we’ve been able to keep our identity alive despite the violent erasure we face.”
Armani Syed is a British journalist specialising in world affairs and global culture. She has previously reported out of the London bureaus of TIME magazine and Business Insider. She writes at the intersection of major events and world news, including the impact of Qatar’s World Cup on migrant workers, protest action in Iran, and how climate change is affecting Hajj. She also covers art, cinema, and music from the global majority