How Israel Is Exploiting Google Ads to Discredit a UN Aid Agency

What Kronenfeld says genuinely worries her is that Americans are being exposed to Israel’s propaganda portion trying to recognize UNRWA’s relation successful the ongoing crisis. Beside the hunt ads, Israel has aired video ads successful the US done Google that accidental “UNRWA is inseparable from Hamas” and that it “keeps employing terrorists.” Public misunderstanding could further jeopardize enactment from the US government, which until the warfare had been the largest donor to UNRWA.

“There is an incredibly almighty run to dismantle UNRWA,” Kronenfeld says. “I privation the nationalist to cognize what’s happening and the insidious quality of it, particularly astatine a clip erstwhile civilian lives are nether onslaught successful Gaza.”

Google spokesperson Jacel Booth tells WIRED that governments tin tally ads that adhere to the company’s policies and that users and employees are invited to study alleged violations. “We enforce them consistently and without bias,” Booth says of the rules. “If we find ads that interruption those policies, we instrumentality swift action."

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs successful New York acknowledged but did not respond to aggregate requests for remark connected this communicative implicit the past 4 months.

UNRWA Takes Action

Using astir $1.5 cardinal annually successful donor support, UNRWA employs astir 30,000 radical to educate, feed, and supply attraction for millions of Palestinian refugees successful Gaza and neighboring areas. UNRWA supporters accidental Israel doesn’t similar that the bureau preserves Palestinians’ exile status, which arguably gives them a amended changeable astatine reclaiming occupied onshore someday.

Israel for decades has accused UNRWA of lasting successful the mode of lasting bid by protecting Hamas and enabling the US-designated violent enactment to indoctrinate procreation aft procreation with hateful ideology.

The bureau has acted successful effect to Israel’s accusations. UNRWA this twelvemonth has fired 13 employees, including 9 whom an oversight assemblage determined whitethorn person been involved successful past year’s Hamas onslaught based connected grounds provided by Israel. The US has paused backing to UNRWA since January, portion different countries that chopped disconnected dollars to the bureau this year, including Germany and Switzerland, pledged to reopen the spigot.

UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, has said that his enactment plays a neutral and captious relation successful the portion and that it engages successful screening and grooming to support Hamas sympathizers retired of its ranks.

Kronenfeld, who is Jewish, says Lazzarini’s transparency and good-faith efforts person near her feeling comfy astir her role. She joined UNRWA USA successful 2020 due to the fact that her gramps had escaped Nazi Germany and instilled successful her that nary 1 should beryllium brutalized ever again based connected wherever they were born. Among her initiatives was ramping up online advertising, with the purpose of bringing successful astatine slightest $3.90 for each $1 spent.

Driven by the war, the instrumentality connected concern has been $25 connected each $1 spent this year, but the contention from Israel connected Google has meant UNRWA USA is winning less advertizing auctions and apt getting its connection shown to less users.

After Kronenfeld and colleagues complained to Google successful January astir Israeli ads featuring headlines specified arsenic “UNRWA for Human Rights,” they accidental a institution typical told them, without providing a reason, that the ads successful question had been removed. Google’s Booth says determination was nary argumentation violation.

By May, per screenshots seen by WIRED, Israel was backmost to promoting the aforesaid contented but with tweaked verbiage—“UNRWA Neutrality Compromised,” “Israel Unveils UNRWA Issues,” and “Israel Advocates for Safer, Transparent Humanitarian Practices”—that much intelligibly previewed what users would get if they clicked.