How the conflict between Palestine and Israel affected the US gaming community
Several American publications spoke at once about the situation around the aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Some of the publications later disappeared from the sites. IGN employees, whose post was also deleted, wrote an angry letter to the leadership demanding the return of a note calling for help to the Palestinians. Other representatives of the gaming industry also reacted to this.How did it all start?
The conflict between Palestine and Israel escalated again at the end of April after clashes in Jerusalem.
On May 8, thousands of Palestinians gathered near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, some of whom were armed with cold weapons. This happened against the background of protests over the possible eviction of Palestinian families and the settlement of Jewish settlers in their place.
Israeli police used rubber bullets and stun grenades against the protesters. The Hamas group demanded that the police leave the Temple Mount, and on May 10 began rocket attacks on Israeli cities.
Israel retaliated by launching several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of the building where the offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press were located. The Israeli authorities said that Hamas used one of the premises in it. An hour before that, the military informed the owner of the building about the impending strike.
The conflict continues to this day, and since its beginning, the death toll on both sides has exceeded 200 people.
Conflict in the gaming media and communityThe IGN portal was the first representative of the gaming industry to speak about the situation, which published an appeal to readers on May 15.
A similar note appeared on Game Informer, but soon disappeared from the site.
The IGN editorial board openly sided with Palestine, stating the need to support the affected residents. The article contained links to several charitable organizations, and the flag of Palestine appeared on the IGN logo.
Soon the Israeli division of the portal reacted to the post. The editors stated that they knew nothing about the intentions of their American colleagues (the post has now been deleted). IGN Israel employees supported the leadership of their country and noted that they would seek the removal of the publication.
As
a result, IGN’s post in support of Palestine was deleted, and on May 17, a detailed comment of the publication appeared on the official Twitter account. It said that the portal would support all the victims, not just the Palestinians. At the same time, IGN reported that it had already donated $25,000 to the charity Save the Children.The staff of the publication decided to contact the management directly.
Screenshot of a deleted IGN articleThe essence of IGN’s claims
On May 18, an open letter was published to the IGN management represented by the media conglomerate Ziff Davis and its parent company J2 Global.
At the moment, more than 70 employees of the publication have subscribed to the appeal.
The
editorial board stated that in its original post for the site, it only wanted to give readers the opportunity to financially support the affected Palestinians. The authors believe that such actions cannot be regarded otherwise as assistance to victims of a military conflict.IGN employees also noted that the post was deleted a day and a half later — it happened on a weekend morning, and the authors themselves knew nothing about the company’s intentions. In their opinion, such actions harm not only the reputation of the portal, but are also disrespectful to the entire team.
Most of all, the IGN editorial board did not like the statement of the management, which was published on behalf of the publication. The authors noted that the company cannot make such appeals without the consent of employees, since they do not reflect a common position. According to the editorial board of the portal, the management distorted the original message of the publication, shifting the focus from helping victims to the ambiguity of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Now IGN demands to return the original post and organize a personal meeting with representatives of J2 Global and Ziff Davis. The editorial board calls the management’s actions “a clear manifestation of excessive corporate pressure and blatant disregard for the elementary norms of journalistic honesty and editorial independence.”
Gaming Industry ReactionGene Park of the Washington Post stated that the actions of the IGN leadership — regardless of the position and the side chosen by the editorial board — are a gross violation and restriction of the rights of journalists.
Jason Schreier also called it “corporate censorship.”
No matter one’s feelings on Israel and Palestine, it’s hard to see this as anything but corporate censorship of an editorial outlet. Solidarity with the staff of IGN as they band together to take on executive interference: https://t.co/VB5K4A2Wci
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) May 18, 2021
Previously, he has repeatedly spoken out on political topics and actively criticized the military shooter Six Days in Fallujah about the war in Iraq.
Posts with appeals for help to the Palestinians appeared on Kotaku and GameSpot. Unlike IGN and Game Informer publications, they are still available on websites.