US streaming service Hulu has been criticized for broadcasting an Israeli propaganda video that suggests that Gaza could have been a global tourist destination if not for the presence of Hamas.
The 38-second video, released by the National Public Diplomacy Directorate at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, highlights Gaza’s “stunning beaches” and tells viewers they can enjoy Middle Eastern food, culture, tradition and nightlife before adding, “this is what Gaza could have been like, without Hamas.”
As the advert’s message changes so too do the images, which turn from idyllic views of Gaza and smiling faces to darker clips of child poverty, Hamas Resistance fighters, and Hamas chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
The scale of destruction across Gaza has been described as being among the worst in modern history. Al Jazeera’s Nada Qaddourah illustrates the extent of the damage through maps ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/dJ8R75oO1r
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 9, 2024
“This is what Gaza could have been like if Hamas hadn’t built a nation of terror, instead of a nation of peace,” the video also claims.
Before ending with: “Free Gaza from Hamas now.”
Aside from broadcasting a propaganda video from a government that is actively engaged in a genocide in Gaza, the majority of all Gaza infrastructure was bombed, razed, and burned by the Israeli military in one of the greatest acts of destruction in modern warfare.
Western backed Zionist thugs are celebrating the destruction of Gazan homes. The collective West is funding this genocide as well as the efforts to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from #Gaza. Nevertheless, Israel and the West will fail.#GazaHolocaust pic.twitter.com/LUI7sAVsEP
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) February 5, 2024
‘Tasteless’
Additionally, the baseless claims included in the video provide no reference to Israel’s 75-year occupation of Gaza, the 17-year siege it has imposed on the enclave through which it has restricted the entry of even the most basic supplies.
Or the fact that Palestinians in Gaza have been held in prison-like conditions, as a result of Israel’s actions, and are unable to leave the Strip even to seek urgent medical attention. Nor are foreign nationals allowed in without Israeli approval.
Israeli soldiers from the 55 Paratroopers Brigade have recently posted videos on their unofficial community page, in which one scene reveals the deliberate targeting of an unarmed Palestinian and the destruction of entire neighborhood blocks in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/xgt4dFKife
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 8, 2024
Details of Israel’s regular bombing campaigns and its restrictions on the entry of building materials to allow “boardwalks” and “five star hotels” to be built or for the area to be developed and allowed to flourish are also not raised in the advert.
The advert has been slammed as “factually incorrect and tasteless” by viewers who highlighted that “Gaza is the way it is today in large part because of Israel’s occupation, apartheid system.”
Worse than Dresden – WSJ Analyzes Israel’s Destruction in Gaza
‘Mature-Rated’?
Hulu defended its decision to air the ad and noted that it was only shown during mature-rated content.
Yet, the advert is being aired at a time when Israel has displaced 85 per of Gaza’ population, destroyed most of the infrastructure and housing in the Strip and forced more than one million Palestinians to move into the southernmost city of Rafah in search of safety.
Israel extended its military operation into Rafah this week, leaving Palestinians with nowhere to go.
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: 27,947 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,459 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG:https://t.co/4Q1wACJ6Lt pic.twitter.com/hLd1HEEAId
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) February 9, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 27,947 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,459 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 8,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(MEMO, PC)
This Hulu platform should be included as accomplice in the genocide case vs Nazi Israel in the present ICJ case. The nerve to show this kind of advert by these landgrabbers, looters and thieves in the present history duplicating even more than what the original Hitler did to them.
Hulu is now complicit in genocide. I think that should be broadcast on every social media platofrm/channel available.
But it’s true. As A PALESTINIAN BORN AND RAISED if we didn’t have these Hamas bullies running us we couldve had access to egypt, jordan and vise versa.