A prominent Israeli Arab social media influencer said Sunday that he is being blocked from posting on YouTube for the fourth time since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza over his unabashedly pro-Israel stance.
“I did not violate any rule, and yet time after time I find myself being banned simply because of my open support for Israel,” Yoseph Haddad told JNS. “At a time when social media, especially YouTube, is filled with anti-Israel propaganda and incitement, the few pro-Israel accounts need to be defended.”
The Haifa-born, Nazareth-raised Haddad, an Orthodox Christian, volunteered for service in the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Infantry Brigade and was severely wounded in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
The 38-year-old is a prominent voice and international public speaker on behalf of Israel and CEO of the Together—Vouch for Each Other association that works to connect the Arab Israeli community to the broader Israeli society.
Haddad said that he expected the YouTube Israel office to intervene.
“I do not intend to surrender and I will never give up,” he said.
Last year, Haddad was accosted on a flight back from Dubai by two Arab passengers over his support for Israel.
