Netflix has come under fire over its non-renewal of 19 movies that were part of its “Palestinian Stories” collection launched in October of 2021.
These movies will soon exit the service because the rights acquired by Netflix as part of its licensing deal will end at the end of the month.
The standard content licensing practice is also the reason why “Friends” is no longer available in the U.S. or Mr. Robot” is no longer available in Arabic countries.
The giant streamer still has titles by Palestinian creators on its service.
“We are deeply concerned by Netflix’s decision to delete at least 19 films by Palestinian filmmakers or about Palestinian stories from your platform last week” human rights organization Freedom Forward said in a letter to the streamer posted on their website.
The organization noted that the “Palestinian Stories” page now shows only one film that is available for viewing.
“Netflix has deleted almost all of its Palestinian films and has failed to explain why, despite global outcry from thousands of people via social media,” Freedom Forward added.
The titles for which rights have expired include Rani Massalha’s “Giraffada”, Jessica Habie’s “Mars at Sunrise” and Elia Souleiman’s “Chronicle of a Disappearance.”
“We launched this licensed collection of films in 2021 for three years,” Netflix said in a statement. “Those licenses 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 Freedom Forward letter is also signed by Arab American Action Network, Council on American Islamic Relations, Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, National Network for Arab American Communities, and U.S. Palestinian Community Network, among many others.
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