IGN's Palestinian Aid Article

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Mitch Dyer @MitchyD May 17 I don't believe for a second that anyone you know wrote this. ... My heart goes out to the IGN editors who are doing their best to make a difference and save civilian lives - and are being silenced and spoken for by the soulless people above them. IGN @IGN · May 17 Across IGN, our hearts are heavy as we follow the events in Israel, Palestine and across the region. Our first thought is always for the broader IGN community – our employees, readers, and partners – and our hopes for their safety and well-being. We have a track record of supporting humanitarian efforts and charities across the globe. In the instance of our recent post regarding how to help civilians in the Israel- Palestinian Conflict, 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. That was not our intention and we sincerely regret the error. We do intend to continue to use our platforms and resources to aid those civilian lives impacted across the entire area. As part of this effort, we have made a donation of $25,000 to Save The Children, an organization that works to support children everywhere and provides emergency aid in natural disasters, war and other conflicts.

Across IGN, our hearts are heavy as we follow the events in Israel, Palestine and across the region. Our first thought is always for the broader IGN community – our employees, readers, and partners – and our hopes for their safety and well-being. We have a track record of supporting humanitarian efforts and charities across the globe. In the instance of our recent post regarding how to help civilians in the Israel- Palestinian Conflict, 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. That was not our intention and we sincerely regret the error. We do intend to continue to use our platforms and resources to aid those civilian lives impacted across the entire area. As part of this effort, we have made a donation of $25,000 to Save The Children, an organization that works to support children everywhere and provides emergency aid in natural disasters, war and other conflicts. Thank you for your support and for always engaging with us. Our community is a huge part of what makes IGN special. We will continue to follow global events and look for ways to lend our support in productive, helpful ways.

IGN Israel O is in Tel Aviv, Israel. 10 hrs · O גו לשים יקרם גם אנחנו נדהמו לגלות הבוקר קמפיין תרומה מטעה ומבלבל א באתר IGN האמריקאי חשובלנו להדגיש שאנחנןו מגנים את הפעולה הזו ואיננ לקון חלק בה אן היינו מודעים לה ,זו לא דרכנן אנחנו בGNו שראל תומכים במדינת ישראל (מן הסתם) ותומכים בחייליצה יל אשר עושים הכל כדי לשמור על כולנו בם קשחים אלה אנחנו פןעלים בכל הרכים האפשריות כדי להסיר את התוכן המטעה הזה מהמהדןרה האמריקאי אשך אנה מייצג את דעותיה של כלל מהדורות GNו Dear netizens, we were also amazed to discover this morning a misleading and confusing donation campaign found on the American IGN website It is important for us to emphasize that we condemn this action and we did not take part in it or were aware of it, it is not our way We at IGN israel support the israel state (obviously) and support the IDF soldiers who are doing everything to keep us all safe these tough days We are working in all possible ways to remove this misleading content from the American edition which does not represent the views of any IGN editions Translated IGN ISRAEL

Migraines are a choice @ldahoBones WOw IGN 12:54 AM · May 15, 2021 · Twitter Web App

IGN Store News Videos Reviews B How to Help Palestinian Civilians By IGN Staff Updated: 14 May 2021 11:51 pm Posted: 14 May 2021 9:38 pm Palestinian civilians are currently suffering in great numbers in Jerusalem, Gaza, and West Bank, due to Israeli forces. 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. Below are charities and organizations on the ground in those areas where you can donate funds to help those most in need. We will continue to update this article with other ways you can help.

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Overview

IGN's Palestinian Aid Article refers to a post made by gaming outlet IGN linking to Palestinian aid groups amid airstrikes taking place during the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis. IGN also added the Palestinian flag next to their logo on the website. The article surprised people, as it was unusual to see a gaming publication take a stance in the conflict, and cheered by progressives and pro-Palestine supporters. However, the piece was later removed by upper management, who posted a statement that IGN supports "all people affected by tragic events." This caused the editorial staff at IGN to post an open letter to upper management expressing their frustration at being superseded and asking that the original post be republished.

Background

On May 14th, IGN^[1] published an article titled "How to Help Palestinian Civilians," writing:

Palestinian civilians are currently suffering in great numbers in Jerusalem, Gaza, and West Bank, due to Israeli forces. 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.

The article linked to several humanitarian and charity groups to which readers could donate to aid civilians. IGN also added the Palestinian flag next to their logo.

Developments

IGN's article initially surprised and was celebrated by Twitter users. User @IdahoBones^[3] tweeted a screenshot of the IGN logo and simply wrote, "wow," gaining over 1,000 retweets and 16,000 likes (shown below, left). User @BaselAnabtawi^[2] tweeted, "In all my years witnessing the news over Palestine, I've never seen a major western publication lean in like this. Well done @IGN," gaining over 80 retweets and 210 likes (shown below, right).

IGN Israel, meanwhile, condemned the statement on its social channels^[4] (shown below).

Early in the morning on May 17th, 2021, the piece was removed from IGN and the IGN Twitter account^[5] published a statement saying the article "mistakenly left the impression" IGN was aligned with a political side in the conflict and that IGN supported all people affected by tragedy (shown below, left). The statement was met with skepticism, as Twitter users suspected that it was composed by upper management and not the editorial staff that wrote the original piece. User @MitchyD^[6] tweeted, "I don’t believe for a second that anyone you know wrote this" (shown below, right).

Those suspicions were affirmed when, later on May 17th, the IGN editorial staff published an open letter addressed to "Leadership at IGN, Ziff Davis, and J2 Global," their owning companies, that they were greatly disappointed and frustrated by the removal of the piece.^[7] The piece included statements such as:

We, the undersigned employees of IGN, are appalled by the recent management decision to subvert our editorial autonomy and remove our post directing aid to the Palestinian civilians currently suffering a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.

Following an IGN-wide meeting this morning, we have come to understand that this was a clear instance of corporate overreach and demonstrated blatant disregard for the most basic standards of journalistic integrity and editorial independence.

As of May 18th, 2021, the article has not been republished.