29 sept 2016
Qudsuna for Human Rights has sent a strongly worded letter to Google's management calling for correcting the wrong definition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in its maps application.
In the letter, director of Qudsuna Khaled Zabarqa demanded Google to swiftly correct this description in its application in accordance with the historical, legal and political information about Jerusalem city.
In 10 pages, the letter highlighted and clarified the most important facts and resolutions on Jerusalem as well as its legal status
In the letter, director of Qudsuna Khaled Zabarqa demanded Google to swiftly correct this description in its application in accordance with the historical, legal and political information about Jerusalem city.
In 10 pages, the letter highlighted and clarified the most important facts and resolutions on Jerusalem as well as its legal status
Facebook administration removed Wednesday evening Safa news agency’s page as part of its latest agreement with Israeli government.
Safa’s Facebook page which has more than 1 million followers is mainly concerned with Palestinian daily news.
The news agency strongly condemned the Facebook administration’s measure, calling for reconsidering it. It also called on its followers to subscribe on its social media accounts.
The agency was earlier banned from publishing photos or videos on its Facebook page for a whole month.
The Facebook administration closed over the past few days several pro-Palestinian pages and accounts, some of which were banned for the tenth time.
A number of online activists accused the administration of online social networking service Facebook of deliberately suspending their accounts to silence the pro-Palestinian pages.
The Facebook’s restrictions came shortly after two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties. The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network.”
Safa’s Facebook page which has more than 1 million followers is mainly concerned with Palestinian daily news.
The news agency strongly condemned the Facebook administration’s measure, calling for reconsidering it. It also called on its followers to subscribe on its social media accounts.
The agency was earlier banned from publishing photos or videos on its Facebook page for a whole month.
The Facebook administration closed over the past few days several pro-Palestinian pages and accounts, some of which were banned for the tenth time.
A number of online activists accused the administration of online social networking service Facebook of deliberately suspending their accounts to silence the pro-Palestinian pages.
The Facebook’s restrictions came shortly after two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties. The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network.”
Israeli extremist groups are preparing for a massive break-in into al-Aqsa Mosque next week starting from Sunday to celebrate the Jewish holidays, QPress revealed.
Israeli police forces declared a state of high alert to protect thousands of settlers during their collective break-in into the holy shrine.
The Israeli alleged Temple organizations called on their websites and Facebook pages for mass participation in the planned break-ins next month.
QPress pointed out that Israeli break-ins into the compound have intensively escalated after Eid al-Adha in coincidence with the almost-daily arrest campaigns against Palestinian youths in occupied Jerusalem and within the Green Line.
Israeli police forces declared a state of high alert to protect thousands of settlers during their collective break-in into the holy shrine.
The Israeli alleged Temple organizations called on their websites and Facebook pages for mass participation in the planned break-ins next month.
QPress pointed out that Israeli break-ins into the compound have intensively escalated after Eid al-Adha in coincidence with the almost-daily arrest campaigns against Palestinian youths in occupied Jerusalem and within the Green Line.
27 sept 2016
Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights expressed deep concern over the recent agreement signed by the Israeli government and Facebook administration to restrict freedom of expression.
During the 33rd session of Human Rights Center, the Euro-Mediterranean expressed concern over the new Facebook administration’s restrictions on freedom of expression based on racial discrimination.
The agreement signed between the Israeli government and Facebook administration would strengthen the Israeli story and neglect the Palestinian truth, the rights group said.
The agreement would restrict freedom of expression for Palestinian journalists, according to the center.
The Facebook administration closed over the past few days several pro-Palestinian pages and accounts, some of which were banned for the tenth time.
A number of online activists accused the administration of online social networking service Facebook of deliberately suspending their accounts to silence the pro-Palestinian pages.
The Facebook’s restrictions came shortly after two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties.
The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network.”
During the 33rd session of Human Rights Center, the Euro-Mediterranean expressed concern over the new Facebook administration’s restrictions on freedom of expression based on racial discrimination.
The agreement signed between the Israeli government and Facebook administration would strengthen the Israeli story and neglect the Palestinian truth, the rights group said.
The agreement would restrict freedom of expression for Palestinian journalists, according to the center.
The Facebook administration closed over the past few days several pro-Palestinian pages and accounts, some of which were banned for the tenth time.
A number of online activists accused the administration of online social networking service Facebook of deliberately suspending their accounts to silence the pro-Palestinian pages.
The Facebook’s restrictions came shortly after two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties.
The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network.”
At a hearing for a class action lawsuit against Facebook for incitement by Israeli victims of terrorism, Judge Nicholas Garaufis accuses Facebook of not doing enough to stop incitement and not taking global terrorism seriously enough.
A federal judge in New York scolded Facebook Thursday night and said the social media giant has not done enough to discourage terrorists from using its platform.
The comments were made in the New York District Court during a hearing on a class-action lawsuit filed against Facebook on behalf of 20,000 Israelis for incitement and encouraging violence. The plaintiffs sought to prove that Facebook doesn’t implement the same measures against blatant incitement against Israelis, while allowing Palestinians to continue with inflammatory statements unabatedly.
During the hearing, Judge Nicholas Garaufis accused Facebook of not taking global terrorism and the killing of innocent people seriously enough. The judge also harshly criticized Facebook for sending an associate to the hearing, saying, "I think it's shocking, irresponsible and insulting." The judge ordered Facebook to send a more senior attorney to the hearing scheduled for the 28th of September, saying, "I want to talk to someone who can speak with the senior management of Facebook."
The judge is currently involved in two different suits against Facebook that were filed by civil rights organization Shurat HaDin — the Israel Law Center. One is a class action lawsuit against Facebook and the other is a damages claim of a $1 billion against Facebook. The judge said that despite these claims being problematic, as American law exempts content published by individuals from liability, it does not mean Facebook doesn't need to take the issue seriously.
"Let's put the law aside and talk about reality," said the judge. "Less than a week ago a bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan and wounded 29 people, and the reality is that these people were communicating via social media, whether it be Facebook or Google, and as a result of that communication, there is a potentially dangerous situation that can cause damage in terms of international terrorism."
Garaufis admitted that federal judges have limited abilities to deal with terrorism and can't always be involved with such cases until someone is arrested and charged with a crime, but that doesn't mean that "Facebook shouldn't be socially responsible for world citizens."
The judge went on to ask if there are other ways to find a solution to this complicated reality without involving the courts or the legal system.
Facebook said in response, "Facebook is obligated to make people feel safe using our social network. Our community standards are clear—there is no place on Facebook for groups or content engaged in terrorist activity or express support for such activities. We are working all the time to remove this content when it is reported to us. We sympathize with the victims of these terrible crimes. "
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, chairman of Shurat HaDin, added, "Facebook is beginning to understand that they can no longer ignore the reality in which incitement to terrorism on their pages leads to people being murdered in the street. Facebook needed to get a reprimand from the judge in order to start to take this phenomenon seriously. We will continue to act to stop this incitement in social media. Social media must be socially responsible."
A federal judge in New York scolded Facebook Thursday night and said the social media giant has not done enough to discourage terrorists from using its platform.
The comments were made in the New York District Court during a hearing on a class-action lawsuit filed against Facebook on behalf of 20,000 Israelis for incitement and encouraging violence. The plaintiffs sought to prove that Facebook doesn’t implement the same measures against blatant incitement against Israelis, while allowing Palestinians to continue with inflammatory statements unabatedly.
During the hearing, Judge Nicholas Garaufis accused Facebook of not taking global terrorism and the killing of innocent people seriously enough. The judge also harshly criticized Facebook for sending an associate to the hearing, saying, "I think it's shocking, irresponsible and insulting." The judge ordered Facebook to send a more senior attorney to the hearing scheduled for the 28th of September, saying, "I want to talk to someone who can speak with the senior management of Facebook."
The judge is currently involved in two different suits against Facebook that were filed by civil rights organization Shurat HaDin — the Israel Law Center. One is a class action lawsuit against Facebook and the other is a damages claim of a $1 billion against Facebook. The judge said that despite these claims being problematic, as American law exempts content published by individuals from liability, it does not mean Facebook doesn't need to take the issue seriously.
"Let's put the law aside and talk about reality," said the judge. "Less than a week ago a bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan and wounded 29 people, and the reality is that these people were communicating via social media, whether it be Facebook or Google, and as a result of that communication, there is a potentially dangerous situation that can cause damage in terms of international terrorism."
Garaufis admitted that federal judges have limited abilities to deal with terrorism and can't always be involved with such cases until someone is arrested and charged with a crime, but that doesn't mean that "Facebook shouldn't be socially responsible for world citizens."
The judge went on to ask if there are other ways to find a solution to this complicated reality without involving the courts or the legal system.
Facebook said in response, "Facebook is obligated to make people feel safe using our social network. Our community standards are clear—there is no place on Facebook for groups or content engaged in terrorist activity or express support for such activities. We are working all the time to remove this content when it is reported to us. We sympathize with the victims of these terrible crimes. "
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, chairman of Shurat HaDin, added, "Facebook is beginning to understand that they can no longer ignore the reality in which incitement to terrorism on their pages leads to people being murdered in the street. Facebook needed to get a reprimand from the judge in order to start to take this phenomenon seriously. We will continue to act to stop this incitement in social media. Social media must be socially responsible."
26 sept 2016
The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) prevented Palestinian online activists, who were earlier arrested for Facebook posts, from further using social media networks for different periods of time.
Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies said that Israeli authorities recently released a group of detained online activists on condition of not using social media for a limited period, in addition to imposing different fines and placing them under house arrest.
Since the beginning of 2015, 185 Palestinian activists including 30 women were detained for incitement to violence on social media. Last year, 120 activists were arrested under the same charge.
Over the past few days, two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties.
The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network,” according to the Israeli press.
Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies said that Israeli authorities recently released a group of detained online activists on condition of not using social media for a limited period, in addition to imposing different fines and placing them under house arrest.
Since the beginning of 2015, 185 Palestinian activists including 30 women were detained for incitement to violence on social media. Last year, 120 activists were arrested under the same charge.
Over the past few days, two Israeli government ministers met top Facebook officials to discuss ways of collaboration between the two parties.
The Israeli ministers and Facebook officials have agreed to work together to determine “how to tackle incitement on the social media network,” according to the Israeli press.
The Ofer military court postponed once again the hearing into the case of Professor Imad Barghouti, 54, till October 9, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) affirmed Monday.
The professor was arrested in April and put behind bars without any trial for an initial three months detention.
On May 26, an Israeli military court issued his release order and asked the prison authorities to free the man by Sunday 29 May.
However, after the court order, the Israeli prosecutor appealed to further detain the professor at Ofer prison. The Israeli prosecutor accused prisoner Barghouti of incitement to violence on social media and called for his continued detention.
The PPS pointed out that since October 2015 nearly 200 Palestinians were arrested for Facebook posts including online bloggers, academics, and journalists.
The professor was arrested in April and put behind bars without any trial for an initial three months detention.
On May 26, an Israeli military court issued his release order and asked the prison authorities to free the man by Sunday 29 May.
However, after the court order, the Israeli prosecutor appealed to further detain the professor at Ofer prison. The Israeli prosecutor accused prisoner Barghouti of incitement to violence on social media and called for his continued detention.
The PPS pointed out that since October 2015 nearly 200 Palestinians were arrested for Facebook posts including online bloggers, academics, and journalists.
The boycott campaign against Facebook on Sunday received a widespread response from social media users in parallel with active participation on the Twitter hashtag page #fbcensorspalestine.
Although the campaign was intended to last for two hours, scores of Facebook users have stopped to use their pages for a long time and contributed to making the hashtag #fbcensorspalestine a trending topic on Twitter.
The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) also took part in the campaign and stopped publishing any news content on its Facebook page.
The campaign was launched after Facebook deleted the accounts of several Palestinian journalists, activists, and media centers in compliance with a previous deal with the Israeli government to rein in content advocating resistance activities.
The campaign seems to have paid off after Facebook apologized yesterday for disabling Palestinian accounts. In a related context, the Israeli occupation authority has announced it will hold trials against 145 Palestinian social media activists for their Facebook postings.
Although the campaign was intended to last for two hours, scores of Facebook users have stopped to use their pages for a long time and contributed to making the hashtag #fbcensorspalestine a trending topic on Twitter.
The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) also took part in the campaign and stopped publishing any news content on its Facebook page.
The campaign was launched after Facebook deleted the accounts of several Palestinian journalists, activists, and media centers in compliance with a previous deal with the Israeli government to rein in content advocating resistance activities.
The campaign seems to have paid off after Facebook apologized yesterday for disabling Palestinian accounts. In a related context, the Israeli occupation authority has announced it will hold trials against 145 Palestinian social media activists for their Facebook postings.
