Brazil: More Journalists and Notables condemn YouTube censorship of AND

We share an unofficial translation of the article by A Nova Democracia

As part of the campaign against Zionist censorship of AND, international pro-Palestinian journalists such as Ahmed Eldin and Alina Duarte, activists such as Thiago Ávila, and YouTubers, democrats and progressives such as João Carvalho and ‘Chavoso from USP’, continue to speak out in support of the intrepid work of the Brazilian independent and democratic newspaper.

The independent journalist Ahmed Eldin, who worked for more than 20 years with international monopoly newspapers such as the New York Times, BBC and Al Jazeera, spoke in an interview in support of AND stating that: “Publications like A Nova Democracia are essential for progress and to held those guilty accountable who do not want to be challenged by journalists […] That is why I was very worried and disappointed to know that A Nova Democracia was silenced and removed from the YouTube platform. And I think this is not only an indication of the integrity of the publication, but also demonstrates a broader reality.” The interview was carried out by AND presenter Ana Nascimento at the pro-Palestinian Tawasol international media forum, which is now taking place in Turkey.

At the same international forum, Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila stated in another interview that “he gives all his solidarity to the newspaper A Nova Democracia, a communication tool of greatest importance for popular struggles in Brazil and is suffering persecution from Big Techs, who know how damaging it is for the project of domination to have an independent media outlet so connected with the people’s struggles and that has been doing work for many years.”

Alina Duarte, an independent Mexican journalist, also declared: “I would like to express all my solidarity to A Nova Democracia […] it is not fortuitous that the attacks are against independent newspapers, against combative newspapers, and therefore, I call for solidarity, so everyone keeps fighting.”

In addition to the notables present at the Tawasol forum, the newspaper AND had already promptly received solidarity from Palestinian organizations, such as the president of the Brazil Palestine Institute (Ibraspal), Ahmed Shehada, expressed solidarity in a video recorded by AND: “We express all our solidarity to the channel of A Nova Democracia and we call on everyone to denounce this attack against the AND channel and we call on all defenders of the Palestinian cause to defend this channel which on October 7th was a main defender of the Palestinian cause”; as well as the Palestinian Arab Federation of Brazil (Fepal), which published the note of support “Youtube excludes Brazilian newspaper channel that denounces “Israeli” genocide in Gaza” on its official portal, the Free Palestine Front of Santa Catarina and the organization Arabs and Jews for Peace. Other democratic organizations such as the Combative Struggle Front – USP collective and Proletarian Expression also spoke out.

National and international newspapers such as Palestine Chronicle , The Red Herald , the Jornal dos Trabalhadores and Trabalhadoras , and the Diário da Causa Operária (DCO) also defended the AND from Zionist censorship. Progressive digital communicators such as João Carvalho, Thiago Torres (‘Chavoso from USP’), João Pedro Fragoso (Canal ‘Rompendo com Velhas Ideias’), Ramon Ortiz and Zawacki, from ‘Tecnologia e Classe’ channel, collaborated, publicized and/or commented on the denunciation publications shared by AND.

Democratic intellectuals and journalists such as the journalist and columnist for ‘Monitor do Oriente’, Lucia Helena Issa ; Bruno Lima Rocha Beaklini, political scientist, professor of International Relations and journalist; and the geographer and writer on the agrarian issue in Brazil, Maria José de Melo, also demonstrated their rejection of Zionist censorship and defended the committed work of AND.

Censorship against independent, popular, democratic and pro-Palestinian journalism

Since January 14, with the demonetization of its channel and subsequent banning of the monopolistic platform YouTube, the newspaper A Nova Democracia has carried out an international campaign denouncing Zionist censorship, the attack on press freedom, and once again defending the right of the Palestinian people to resist.

The newspaper channel A Nova Democracia, which held the ‘Plantão Palestina’, was accused of “publishing content on YouTube that supports, promotes or helps criminal organizations or violent extremists”.

The newspaper A Nova Democracia, in an article published denouncing the censorship of its channel, stated about what happened: “For the Editorial Board of AND, it is only possible to assume that YouTube considers the historic coverage of our platform on the revolutionary peasant war fought in all corners of Brazil, in which peasants, indigenous people and Quilombolas boldly face the crimes of paramilitary gangs from the latifundium (as in the coverage of the peasant struggle in the Camps Manoel Ribeiro and Tiago Campin dos Santos, in 2021 and 2022, or the Guarani-Kaiowá struggle in Douradina, in 2024) as a violation of reactionary guidelines; or, in the same way, that the platform considers the coverage, by AND, of the national liberation war of the Palestinian people as a violation of Zionist guidelines, coverage that has always included the transmission of videos from the Palestinian National Resistance, in which Arab guerrillas sweep the Zionist occupation of their territories with daring military actions.”

Since then, the newspaper has received solidarity from various personalities and organizations committed to the Palestinian cause and the fight to defend press freedom.

Previous post La Cause du Peuple – Ceasefire in Gaza: victory for the Palestinian National Resistance!
Next post Red Sun: Weekly Newsletter