The imagery is by Sana Kassem, and the video was posted by Norman Finkelstein yesterday on youtube. The song is "Wings to Fly," by Susan Boyle. The copy accompanying the video was simply: "A video dedicated to the people of Gaza as they struggle to break out of Israel's infernal prison."
Then Youtube took it down today, Finkelstein says, and he and Kassem have posted it now on Vimeo.
Youtube sent Finkelstein a notice that suggests that it regarded the video as a "sensational" and "shocking" incitement to "violence" or "dangerous activities."
Upon review, we've determined that it violates our guidelines. We've removed it from YouTube and assigned a Community Guidelines strike, or temporary penalty, to your account...Finkelstein comments on the removal on his own site, and satirizes Youtube's policy:
If a video contains violent or graphic content that appears to be posted in a shocking, sensational, or disrespectful manner, it's less likely to be allowed on YouTube. We also don't allow content that's intended to incite violence or encourage dangerous activities.
However, Youtube will continue to post videos like this:Sana Kassem is a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Lebanon and works as a Chemistry teacher in Athens. She has been working with Finkelstein for almost 10 years as his website master and administrator of all his social media. "I really hope that you use the story of this censorship to highlight the situation in Gaza. I feel that the international community (including myself) is not standing up enough to all the sacrifices of the brutally imprisoned people of Gaza," she says.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iBVxLPqsc , [a stabbing attack in Rishon Lezion, evidently of a Jewish victim, in Nov. 2015]
and like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-u2mVStPRA [the video concerns two Israelis killed by an Arab]
"Youtube wants visitors to know that this was not an easy decision to make. However, after many hours of agonizing reflection we concluded that, whereas all lives are worthy, some lives are more worthy than others.
For a time this video parodying Lorde's song "Royals" to highlight Palestinian conditions was also barred by Youtube, a few weeks ago. Now it's back up.
Comment: Israeli authorities routinely incite violence against Palestinians - for instance by commending snipers who kill unarmed men, or by calling for the rape of young Ahed Tamimi - but videos in support of victims are 'shocking' and 'sensational'. The double standard has never been more obvious, or more egregious.
Further reading: