A petition signed by over 12,000 Netflix subscribers organized by anti-war organization CODEPINK is being delivered to Netflix headquarters in Hollywood today, asking for the company to reinstate at least 19 films by Palestinian filmmakers that have recently been removed from the subscription service.
The collection, entitled Palestinian Stories, was first released on Netflix in 2021. It contained 32 films either led by Palestinian filmmakers or explicitly about Palestinian stories. At the time, Netflix claimed the collection was “a tribute to the creativity and passion of the Arab film industry as Netflix continues to invest in stories from the Arab world” and that it would “showcase the depth and diversity of the Palestinian experience, exploring people’s lives, dreams, families, friendships, and love.”
However, the collection’s hub page was recently removed from Netflix, and its online hub page now simply shows an error code. In addition, at least 19 films contained in the selection have also been removed. Netflix has stated to outlets like Variety that this was due to the films having a three-year licensing agreement which is now expired.
In response, anti-war charity Code Pink: Women for Peace has organized a petition that at the time of this writing has over 12,000 signatures, asking Netflix to restore the 19 removed films. The petition highlights the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023 and has been described as a genocide by United National Human Rights Experts.
CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans will deliver the petition to Netflix today at 11 a.m. PT. IGN has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
