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https://www.themarysue.com/ign-palestinian-aid-censorship/
As of midday Monday, at least 200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during this most recent week-long series of Israeli bombings (part of a decade and a half-long occupation). At least 59 of those were children. Over 1200 people have been injured. Thousands have lost their homes and a building housing the offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press was also destroyed.
On Friday of last week, the video game and entertainment website IGN posted a list of resources for people looking for ways to help Palestinian civilians.
“Palestinian civilians are currently suffering in great numbers in Jerusalem, Gaza, and West Bank, due to Israeli forces,” IGN’s staff wrote. “The NYTimes reported that most of the deaths so far have occurred in Gaza. We want to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Palestine because, while there has been fighting in the region for decades, recent escalations have seen a catastrophic loss of Palestinian lives.”
Soon after that article was published, IGN Israel posted a tweet condemning it and expressing their support for the Israeli Defense Forces who have been carrying out the attacks in Gaza. The tweet also called the post “misleading” and said they were working to have it removed.
“IGN Israel upset to learn IGN tries to raise money for Palestinian children harmed by Israeli bombs” is so cartoonesquely evil that I don’t even know what to say https://t.co/JY0tXJ2Tfq
— Rami Ismail (رامي) (@tha_rami) May 15, 2021
At some point over the weekend, IGN did, in fact, remove the article, along with their tweet promoting it. And to be clear, when I say IGN, I am not referring to the editorial staff, who made the admirable decision to publish the article in the first place and presumably had no say whatsoever in its removal. It’s likely that the article was removed under the demand of IGN’s parent company Ziff Davis, although according to a report from Kotaku, that hasn’t been confirmed one way or the other.
Kotaku also notes that another games site, Game Informer, had their own list of charities offering aid to Palestinians removed over the weekend. And “as with IGN, there has been no public indication as to why this post was removed or if it will return.”
Late Sunday night, IGN posted a statement to Twitter stating that “our philanthropic instincts to help those in need was not in-line with our intent of trying to show support for all people impacted by tragic events.”
“By highlighting only one population, the post mistakenly left the impression that we were politically aligned with one side,” the statement continues. “That was not our intention and we sincerely regret the error.”
Yes, apparently the problem with the original article about how to support the victims of an ongoing ethnic cleansing was that it wasn’t both-sidesy enough. (By contrast, by the way, Israel has reported approximately 10 deaths in this most recent period of violence, including two children. Tragic, absolutely, but we can see the difference and why a both-sides approach isn’t exactly appropriate.)
IGN’s statement is written in the plural first-person “we” but again, it’s hard to believe this was a decision made by the site’s editorial team. This looks like pure censorship.
This is censorship. The real, powerful, harmful kind. Shame on IGN corporate for undermining the work of the editorial team by “both sides”ing genocide.
The next tweet is an archived version of the page — support one of the organisations listed if you can. https://t.co/bMPfS0xIH0
— Kate Gray (@hownottodraw) May 17, 2021
This reads like it was written at gunpoint and I’m so sorry to everyone at IGN for the corporate leadership at @j2global & @ziffdavis demanding this of them.
If you’re angry about this, please don’t direct it at the wrong people. https://t.co/3G9Zn7UneP
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) May 17, 2021
Thank you to every member of the IGN and Game Informer teams that took the incredibly brave step of voicing their support for people that needed. Regardless of what happened, you did the right thing and you should be proud of that. You truly have made a difference.
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) May 16, 2021
Understand how important this is: clearly @IGN and @gameinformer editorial posted this under their editorial freedom. If these posts are gone, it very likely means their corporate owners stepped across the editorial barrier & forced the censorship of those humanitarian resources. pic.twitter.com/u51BTQ8hQz
— Rami Ismail (رامي) (@tha_rami) May 16, 2021
as someone who used to work at IGN i can almost guarantee this happened against the will of the good people working there. you can have the most passionate, caring staff and it’ll mean nothing when there’s some cowardly exec somewhere getting scolded by the shitty parent company https://t.co/TPmyDjtnwx
— Lonnie (@veryfriendly) May 16, 2021
You can still see an archived version of IGN’s article here and read about the organizations they chose to highlight. As a note, the links to the orgs where you can donate all then also go to archived versions of those websites, so cut and paste the URLs into the browser bar, or you can click the links below, provided here to make things as easy as possible. Thank you to the IGN staff for the recommendations for all the ways to help.
Here are the organizations they listed:
—Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: www.pcrf.net
—Anera: www.anera.org
—United Nations Relief and Works Agency: www.unrwa.org/gaza-emergency
—Medical Aid for Palestinians: www.map.org.uk
—Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org
(image: SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The post IGN Published a List of Ways To Help Palestinian Civilians. This Should Not Have Been Controversial. first appeared on The Mary Sue.
IGN Published a List of Ways To Help Palestinian Civilians. This Should Not Have Been Controversial.
As of midday Monday, at least 200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during this most recent week-long series of Israeli bombings (part of a decade and a half-long occupation). At least 59 of those were children. Over 1200 people have been injured. Thousands have lost their homes and a building housing the offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press was also destroyed.
On Friday of last week, the video game and entertainment website IGN posted a list of resources for people looking for ways to help Palestinian civilians.
“Palestinian civilians are currently suffering in great numbers in Jerusalem, Gaza, and West Bank, due to Israeli forces,” IGN’s staff wrote. “The NYTimes reported that most of the deaths so far have occurred in Gaza. We want to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Palestine because, while there has been fighting in the region for decades, recent escalations have seen a catastrophic loss of Palestinian lives.”
Soon after that article was published, IGN Israel posted a tweet condemning it and expressing their support for the Israeli Defense Forces who have been carrying out the attacks in Gaza. The tweet also called the post “misleading” and said they were working to have it removed.
“IGN Israel upset to learn IGN tries to raise money for Palestinian children harmed by Israeli bombs” is so cartoonesquely evil that I don’t even know what to say https://t.co/JY0tXJ2Tfq
— Rami Ismail (رامي) (@tha_rami) May 15, 2021
At some point over the weekend, IGN did, in fact, remove the article, along with their tweet promoting it. And to be clear, when I say IGN, I am not referring to the editorial staff, who made the admirable decision to publish the article in the first place and presumably had no say whatsoever in its removal. It’s likely that the article was removed under the demand of IGN’s parent company Ziff Davis, although according to a report from Kotaku, that hasn’t been confirmed one way or the other.
Kotaku also notes that another games site, Game Informer, had their own list of charities offering aid to Palestinians removed over the weekend. And “as with IGN, there has been no public indication as to why this post was removed or if it will return.”
Late Sunday night, IGN posted a statement to Twitter stating that “our philanthropic instincts to help those in need was not in-line with our intent of trying to show support for all people impacted by tragic events.”
“By highlighting only one population, the post mistakenly left the impression that we were politically aligned with one side,” the statement continues. “That was not our intention and we sincerely regret the error.”
Yes, apparently the problem with the original article about how to support the victims of an ongoing ethnic cleansing was that it wasn’t both-sidesy enough. (By contrast, by the way, Israel has reported approximately 10 deaths in this most recent period of violence, including two children. Tragic, absolutely, but we can see the difference and why a both-sides approach isn’t exactly appropriate.)
IGN’s statement is written in the plural first-person “we” but again, it’s hard to believe this was a decision made by the site’s editorial team. This looks like pure censorship.
This is censorship. The real, powerful, harmful kind. Shame on IGN corporate for undermining the work of the editorial team by “both sides”ing genocide.
The next tweet is an archived version of the page — support one of the organisations listed if you can. https://t.co/bMPfS0xIH0
— Kate Gray (@hownottodraw) May 17, 2021
This reads like it was written at gunpoint and I’m so sorry to everyone at IGN for the corporate leadership at @j2global & @ziffdavis demanding this of them.
If you’re angry about this, please don’t direct it at the wrong people. https://t.co/3G9Zn7UneP
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) May 17, 2021
Thank you to every member of the IGN and Game Informer teams that took the incredibly brave step of voicing their support for people that needed. Regardless of what happened, you did the right thing and you should be proud of that. You truly have made a difference.
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) May 16, 2021
Understand how important this is: clearly @IGN and @gameinformer editorial posted this under their editorial freedom. If these posts are gone, it very likely means their corporate owners stepped across the editorial barrier & forced the censorship of those humanitarian resources. pic.twitter.com/u51BTQ8hQz
— Rami Ismail (رامي) (@tha_rami) May 16, 2021
as someone who used to work at IGN i can almost guarantee this happened against the will of the good people working there. you can have the most passionate, caring staff and it’ll mean nothing when there’s some cowardly exec somewhere getting scolded by the shitty parent company https://t.co/TPmyDjtnwx
— Lonnie (@veryfriendly) May 16, 2021
You can still see an archived version of IGN’s article here and read about the organizations they chose to highlight. As a note, the links to the orgs where you can donate all then also go to archived versions of those websites, so cut and paste the URLs into the browser bar, or you can click the links below, provided here to make things as easy as possible. Thank you to the IGN staff for the recommendations for all the ways to help.
Here are the organizations they listed:
—Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: www.pcrf.net
—Anera: www.anera.org
—United Nations Relief and Works Agency: www.unrwa.org/gaza-emergency
—Medical Aid for Palestinians: www.map.org.uk
—Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org
(image: SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
The post IGN Published a List of Ways To Help Palestinian Civilians. This Should Not Have Been Controversial. first appeared on The Mary Sue.
For most of us, lighting a candle is our chance to escape the grind of our everyday lives. There’s something so special in creating an atmosphere where you can relax and instantly feel comfortable. Trust us, the right candle can be just what you need to let the stresses melt away.
What’s more? These days you can find a scented candle in practically any scent you want. Whether you need an excuse to daydream or a reason to focus, light up these candles for the perfect chill session.
From uber luxury picks to affordable favorites, these are the best candles you should light next.
The post Top 6 Candles You Should Burn Next appeared first on Essence.
George Lucas changed filmmaking forever with the original Star Wars, as we all know. Yet the assembly versions of the film were pretty much a disaster. Early cuts screened for Lucas’ filmmaker friends had them telling the young filmmaker “better luck next time.” The film was ultimately saved by an editing team consisting of Richard Chew, Paul Hirsch, and Marcia Lucas, George’s then-wife. Nevertheless, this early “Lost Cut” of Star Wars remains a fan obsession.
As this video essay from YouTuber Film Spaced (via Boing Boing) explains, there’s a lot more to this lost cut of Star Wars than most fans are aware. Some things cut out of the film eventually found their way back in, thanks to the 1997 Special Edition version. Scenes like Jabba the Hutt and Han’s confrontation, and Luke’s reunion with his buddy Biggs. Yet, a lot more never did. You can watch the full video explaining the lost cut of A New Hope right here:
Aside from the omissions most fans know about, this cut (which isn’t lost at all really, just locked away in the Lucasfilm archives) has tons of other little trims here and there. Reactions from characters that just slow the film down, or just don’t land, all eventually went away. Editors Chew, Hirsch, and Marcia Lucas were wise to cut the film down to a much faster pace. They removed needless “walk and talks” between Vader and random Imperials. Also scenes like Aunt Beru getting some blue milk from a dispenser. (Well, we assume it’s blue, since this footage is black and white).
Lucasfilm
The Lost Cut also has a much longer Rebel attack on the Death Star. It doesn’t have the added threat of the battle station planning to destroy the Yavin IV base, something later edited in. This is maybe the biggest genius move from the editors, and totally alters the tone of the whole finale. It would definitely be fascinating to see the Lost Cut for academic purposes. A fascinating “what if?” story to one of the most important films of all time. But as this video illustrates, the cut we got back in 1977 was ultimately far superior.
The post Video Essay Details the ‘Lost’ Cut of the Original STAR WARS appeared first on Nerdist.