Back In mid-January, Mara Kronenfeld was googling the name of the nonprofit she runs, which raises money in the US on behalf of the leading humanitarian aid provider in Gaza. Atop the search results for her organization—UNRWA USA, partner to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)—she saw a surprising ad. It read like a promo from the UN agency, but the link directed to an Israeli government website. Kronenfeld says she had found the beginnings of a months-long online advertising campaign by Israel to discredit and defund UNRWA.

After seeing the ads—paid for by the Israeli Government Advertising Agency, according to details shown when clicking on the menu button beside them—Kronenfeld and her staff of seven quickly appealed to Google for help fighting what they viewed as a misinformation campaign. What has happened since shows the delicate relationship Google has kept with its advertising client, Israel, and the limits of the company’s policing of alleged misinformation in ads.

Several current and former Google employees tell WIRED the anti-UNRWA campaign is just one volley of ads that Israel has orchestrated in recent months that have drawn complaints both inside and outside of the company. The ads about UNRWA and another campaign targeting the Middle East have not been previously reported.

  • TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Yeah, no, sorry bud, it’s genocide. Just because it’s not overt genocide does not mean it’s not a thing. It’s not just happening in Gaza, it’s happening in the West Bank, here is Stephen Colbert talking about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqK3_n6pdDY

    Just because they have more of an excuse in Gaza to do it much more flagrantly doesn’t mean it isn’t happening throughout Israel. Covert genocide, it’s a thing.