"I Am Banned From Facebook": Palestinian Photo-Journalist Motaz AzaizaFamous Palestinian photo-journalist Motaz Azaiza posted on his X handle that he has been banned on Facebook. Motaz Azaiza has been an important voice since the war broke out in Israel on October 7 last year in documenting the harrowing realities of Israel’s genocidal bombing on Gaza. Now shifted to Qatar, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) photo-journalist chronicled everyday catastrophe from the besieged Strip, ranging from displaced children to scattered body parts of civilians due to brutal and indiscriminate Israeli bombing.
As a result of his ground breaking work in Gaza as it was being bombed and attacked by Israeli Defence Forces, the 25 year-old Deir al-Balah Camp native was named Man of the Year by GQ Middle East 2023 and a work by him was named in Time’s top 10 photos of 2023.
“I’m banned from using Facebook,” Motaza Azaiza wrote on Friday. Facebook is owned by Mark Zuckerburg’s Meta and there have been allegations earlier that the social media giant and Meta’s another famous product Instagram have been blocking pro-Palestinian content and users.
Motaz was evacuated from Gaza after spending 108 days of war in the besieged Strip. Ever since, he was evacuated to Qatar, Motaz has never stopped talking about raising the Palestinian issue. Within 24 hours of reaching Qatar, he gave interview to Al Jazeera, and never stopped since. He has been meeting with ministers, diplomats and media to speak louder about Palestine.
He has given interview to several international media, who asked him to share his experience.
However, Motaz came to a conclusion after giving interviews to the renowned media outlets. “It’s not about the 7th of October”. Exposing the western media, he said they have been cutting his answers because “they actually don’t like my answer”.