By Palestine Chronicle Editors
Despite constant restrictions imposed on The Palestine Chronicle, even before the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, the tri-lingual global Palestinian news network has managed to make it to the top ranking on various Google pages.
On February 15, Palestine Chronicle topped Google search on several keywords related to Palestine, including ‘Palestinian Newspaper English’ and ‘Palestinian newspapers’.
Also, on the same day, it became the second result under the more encompassing category of ‘Palestine News’, following Al Jazeera.
Additionally, the Palestine Chronicle continues to compete with leading news organizations, including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and many others, for top spots on Google search results related to Palestine and Palestinian news.
Particularly rewarding is that the Palestine Chronicle is the top search result for the phrase ‘Palestinian Resistance News’. This is particularly important because social media companies have imposed severe restrictions on any news related to Palestinian Resistance, in all of its forms, whether in Gaza or anywhere else in Palestine.
Several issues make this achievement particularly exciting:
First, The Palestine Chronicle is fiercely independent and has no factional or party affiliation whatsoever; it also has no allegiance to any governments or individuals.
Second, the Palestine Chronicle budget is very limited, to the extent that our annual budget is far less than the daily budget of most competing media, including Israel’s Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and many others.
“This fact should give us all hope at independent, grassroots and community-supported media, that persistence, skills and knowledge can ultimately make all the difference,” Palestinian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud, said.
Third, according to a report issued on October 24 by the website security service Deflect, the Palestine Chronicle is one of the two most targeted websites regarding the situation in Palestine anywhere else in the world.
“The targeting is not only the outcome of countless attempts at hacking our pages by well organized hacking groups, but also by relentless censorship of most social media companies, lead amongst them META, which has imposed a severe shadow ban on our accounts and our editors,” Romana Rubeo, the Palestine Chronicle Managing Editor, said.
“Indeed, the shadow ban has extended to reach other social media websites, forcing us to constantly find ways to deliver our message to millions of readers and viewers around the world, and in multiple languages,” she added.
“Our impact on the narrative is now felt around the world,” Baroud said, adding that “this impact is not only measured by numbers and Google ranking, but in the way that our original content and focused and principled editorial line has influenced the conversation on Palestine, even in major media organizations.”
An elderly Palestinian woman, who had gone viral for saying that she was “older than Israel” in a video circulating online, was killed by an Israeli sniper.https://t.co/lrv3JCvoUD pic.twitter.com/mQl3gyI7TI
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 8, 2023
Rubeo agrees. “We are succeeding despite the numerous obstacles, which have actually made us better and more resourceful,” she said.
“Our readers, millions of them since the start of the war, have made it clear that their priorities lie in understanding the Palestinian viewpoint, not just regarding the war in Gaza but the situation in Palestine, and the larger geopolitical dynamics that control the Middle East as well,” she said.
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The editors say that they have the readers to thank for this, some of them have been faithful readers and contributors to this non-profit educational organization for many years.
“Because of them, and because of our fantastic team, we managed to impose a unique Palestinian political discourse, one that is situated in the hopes, rights, and aspirations of the Palestinian people, regardless of where they are,” Baroud concluded.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
“we managed to impose a unique Palestinian political discourse, one that is situated in the hopes, rights, and aspirations of the Palestinian people, regardless of where they are,” Baroud concluded. ”
…and beyond – you have supported the rights of indigenous people around the world.