Anything “controversial” will likely be flagged by a sufficient number of users; this doesn’t reflect a particular position, only how heated of a topic it is. Many don’t like political content, and it goes against HN guidelines to a certain degree; then again, it is not applied in any systematic fashion.

From the guidelines: “Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity.”

There are already so many forums across the Internet, where you could discuss Israel and Palestine if you want. There’s no reason that every discussion forum has to discuss all topics.

As far as censorship, everyone above a certain karma is able to flag stories, and some number of flags will kill a story. I am but a n00b but at various times I have flagged articles I’ve seen about Israel and Palestine simply because the articles and the ensuing arguments seem to violate the community guideline about politics. I’m sure others do the same.

Additionally, some specific posters seem intent on hijacking the forum, and submit endlessly on this topic, and almost nothing else. That feels like abuse to me and behaviour worthy of being flagged.