Israeli NGO Mattot Arim, which says that it advocates "peace for peace," filed an urgent complaint to YouTube last night.
The complaint is against an Arabic-language clip, in which a singer exhorts his 53 million Arab-speaking viewers to violence.
The video was posted last year but has many views and feedbacks from the past few days, apparently on the backdrop of Hamas’s recent unprovoked attack on Israel’s citizenry.
The singer exhorts, “The machine gun is ready. Attend the shrouds, the funerals...I announce an alert with the sound of the guns”. “The time has come for a fierce war”, he sings, adding that “the smell of gunpowder is more pleasant than perfume”. Visually, the singer brandishes a gun and also loads a case of automatic weapons into his car. He draws his finger across his throat threateningly, at minute 3.50.
The Mattot Arim complaint was under the category of “Hateful or abusive content” which “Promotes hatred or violence”. Only a very short message to youtube is permitted.
The YouTube standard automated response to the complaint was: “ If we find this content to be in violation of our Community Guidelines, we will remove it.”
Wikihow stresses that “the reality of the situation is that there is no reliable way to contact YouTube and receive a response. Keep in mind that YouTube doesn't have an email address or phone number you can use to contact them directly”.