10 july 2016
After issuing a slew of racist epithets against Sephardim on his Facebook page, Gidi Orsher was suspended from his position on Army Radio. Orsher: 'Next time you have a heart attack, don't do the bypass operation. Instead, put a chicken foot on your head.'
Gidi Orsher, a film critic for Army Radio, is in hot water after posting a racist post against on his Facebook page, in which he claims that Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews reject integration and cling onto the past.
"From those who support Shas and (Finance Minister Moshe) Kahlon, all the way to those who are professional drivellers from the east; the next time you have a heart attack, don't do the bypass operation. Instead, put a chicken foot on your head. The next time you're hiding in a bomb shelter because rockets are falling on your heads, forget about Iron Dome, and instead start praying and wait for the matriarch Rachel to come protect you. The next time you're having trouble getting pregnant, avoid in-vitro at the hospital and go circle a holy man's tomb in the Galilee seven times," Orsher wrote.
He went on to say that "the next time you want to announce your festivities, get off the computer, ignore modern apps, and go back to writing on parchment and sending smoke signals and yelling (wait, you all already do that). The next time you sign a letter, you don’t need to add the 'Doctor' title, which you don't believe in, from the university you despise."
"The next time you insult Western culture, which brought about all progress and success here, the next time you call any dissenting opinion 'arrogance' or 'racism' in order to inflame emotions and try to win a few more political points, put a rabbit's foot or baby's foreskin on your head and hope for a miracle. And wait. And wait," Orsher's vitriol continued.
The post was quickly met with outrage. Culture Minister Miri Regev called for Orsher to be fired, saying that "I went to the commander of Army Radio and requested that he immediately fire Gidi Orsher following his racist comments against Sephardic people, against the Jewish religion and Jewish customs, and against an entire public to which he doesn't belong but believes that he can openly despise."
"Gidi Orsher is one of the people opening up the Jerusalem Film Festival on Thursday, " Regev's post continued. "There will be all types of elitists there who seek to tear themselves away from the nation and want to create an elitist culture for themselves, completely homogenous, patronizing and alienating others. Orsher proves that this patronizing culture is deeply rooted in the media and amongst the Left. However, in my opinion, he's nothing."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized Orsher's post, saying his comments were "blatant smears," and deserve condemnation. "Someone with this type of dark and racist opinions doesn't deserve to be on public broadcasts in Israel," he said, continuing "we must work against these people who are trying to divide our country, and work together as a unified nation."
Orsher said in an interview that his statements were made as a result of anger that had been building up inside him for years. "It can't be that these people hold a hateful grudge against everything which we did herein the first years of the state. It can't be that they allow themselves to be so slanderous," he said.
He seemed genuinely surprised over the outrage his statements caused, saying he never had any of his posts cause such a reaction. He said he is also weighing the possibility of writing an apology or a clarification post.
Army Radio was quick to suspend Orsher from his position.
"There's no place for what he said, and we completely disapprove of (his statements). The station head spoke with him and expressed his contempt of the comments. As a public Israeli station, we will continue to work to promote the freedom of expression for the entirety of Israeli society," the station said.
Gidi Orsher, a film critic for Army Radio, is in hot water after posting a racist post against on his Facebook page, in which he claims that Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews reject integration and cling onto the past.
"From those who support Shas and (Finance Minister Moshe) Kahlon, all the way to those who are professional drivellers from the east; the next time you have a heart attack, don't do the bypass operation. Instead, put a chicken foot on your head. The next time you're hiding in a bomb shelter because rockets are falling on your heads, forget about Iron Dome, and instead start praying and wait for the matriarch Rachel to come protect you. The next time you're having trouble getting pregnant, avoid in-vitro at the hospital and go circle a holy man's tomb in the Galilee seven times," Orsher wrote.
He went on to say that "the next time you want to announce your festivities, get off the computer, ignore modern apps, and go back to writing on parchment and sending smoke signals and yelling (wait, you all already do that). The next time you sign a letter, you don’t need to add the 'Doctor' title, which you don't believe in, from the university you despise."
"The next time you insult Western culture, which brought about all progress and success here, the next time you call any dissenting opinion 'arrogance' or 'racism' in order to inflame emotions and try to win a few more political points, put a rabbit's foot or baby's foreskin on your head and hope for a miracle. And wait. And wait," Orsher's vitriol continued.
The post was quickly met with outrage. Culture Minister Miri Regev called for Orsher to be fired, saying that "I went to the commander of Army Radio and requested that he immediately fire Gidi Orsher following his racist comments against Sephardic people, against the Jewish religion and Jewish customs, and against an entire public to which he doesn't belong but believes that he can openly despise."
"Gidi Orsher is one of the people opening up the Jerusalem Film Festival on Thursday, " Regev's post continued. "There will be all types of elitists there who seek to tear themselves away from the nation and want to create an elitist culture for themselves, completely homogenous, patronizing and alienating others. Orsher proves that this patronizing culture is deeply rooted in the media and amongst the Left. However, in my opinion, he's nothing."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized Orsher's post, saying his comments were "blatant smears," and deserve condemnation. "Someone with this type of dark and racist opinions doesn't deserve to be on public broadcasts in Israel," he said, continuing "we must work against these people who are trying to divide our country, and work together as a unified nation."
Orsher said in an interview that his statements were made as a result of anger that had been building up inside him for years. "It can't be that these people hold a hateful grudge against everything which we did herein the first years of the state. It can't be that they allow themselves to be so slanderous," he said.
He seemed genuinely surprised over the outrage his statements caused, saying he never had any of his posts cause such a reaction. He said he is also weighing the possibility of writing an apology or a clarification post.
Army Radio was quick to suspend Orsher from his position.
"There's no place for what he said, and we completely disapprove of (his statements). The station head spoke with him and expressed his contempt of the comments. As a public Israeli station, we will continue to work to promote the freedom of expression for the entirety of Israeli society," the station said.
Israeli so-called temple mount organizations backed up a request made by the family of the Israeli female settler, Hillel Yaffe, to storm al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday.
The break-in aims at performing funeral oration for the female settler Hillel who was killed in Kiryat Arba settlement in al-Khalil and Rabbi Michael Mark who was killed days earlier.
A funeral oration is expected to be performed all along the event. According to the PIC reporter, the family invited 250 settlers to participate in the event.
Israeli police affirmed that they will approve the request in case of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval.
The temple mount organizations addressed dozens of its fanatic backers on social media networks calling on them to participate in Sunday's incursion.
The break-in aims at performing funeral oration for the female settler Hillel who was killed in Kiryat Arba settlement in al-Khalil and Rabbi Michael Mark who was killed days earlier.
A funeral oration is expected to be performed all along the event. According to the PIC reporter, the family invited 250 settlers to participate in the event.
Israeli police affirmed that they will approve the request in case of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval.
The temple mount organizations addressed dozens of its fanatic backers on social media networks calling on them to participate in Sunday's incursion.
7 july 2016
Justice Minister Shaked and Public Security Minister Erdan seek to codify legislation allowing removal of threatening content from social media sites within hours; Authors say it won't infringe on freedom of speech.
Draft legislation is currently being prepared by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and the Deputy Attorney General Raz Nazari, which will enable authorities to expedite the process of removing content defined as terror-related.
In order to facilitate swift removal of such content, an administrative court order may be required to. Only thereafter would authorities need to proceed with a criminal investigation against a suspect - a process which usually takes time to execute.
Today, when security services or the National Cyber Association discover content which constitutes incitement to commit acts of terror published by way of a social media post or an internet article, an appeal is usually made to the networks such as Facebook for the removal which, in most cases, is enforced.
However, given the protracted nature of the process, efforts are often rendered futile. Formulators of the new legislation therefore are seeking to circumvent this delaying obstacles by granting authorities to immediately remove incitement material by taking the appeal to the state attorney, or to an individual acting on his behalf, who will then consider whether the the content constitutes an assault against state security, against public security or against individual security.
Moreover, it will also examine whether the content exceeds the limits of freedom of expression. If it is decided to remove the content, the district courts will immediately be notified and the content will be removed in a matter of hours.
Noting the potential threat the proposed law poses to freedom of speech, the Ministry of Justice clarified that content-removal decrees will be issued sparingly, only in extreme cases and will be directed solely against threatening content.
As part of the struggle against terror organizations, an amendment will also be made to the existing legislation on the issue, which currently grants the authority to close places used for crimes such as pedophilia, gambling and drugs. Terror will also be added to theses categories.
Consequently, authorities will have the power to close down virtual sites and networks used for criminal purposes. Moreover, they will be authorized to disable websites that recruit terrorists, remove their content and calls to terror and document the actions of its moderators and users. Israel would not be the first to pass such legislation with similar laws already existing in other countries such as Australia and France.
Two weeks ago, Ministers Shaked and Erdan instructed the head of the State Attorney's Cyber Office, Dr. Haim Wismonski and police cyber units to coordinate the removal of harmful material such as expressions of support for terror, shaming and defaming public officials.
In cases in which illicit posts are uploaded, the justice ministry will approach the various social networks and internet sites such as Facebook and Google and inform them that the content violates the provisions stipulated in the Israeli Penal Code and is therefore a violation of the terms of use.
Israeli security officials have clashed with Facebook in recent days over what Israel views as a cavalier attitude in addressing the problem of incitment posted on its webiste.
Israeli Government Targeting Facebook Activists
On the morning of August 28, 2014, two days after the end of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Sohaib Zahda hopped into a shared taxi in Hebron that was going to Ramallah, where he had a job interview.
Thirty-three-year-old Zahda, who owns a paintball company, is an unlikely terrorist. An avid cyclist who speaks Arabic, Italian, French, and English, he is a member of Youth Against Settlements, a nonviolent organization that protests against Israeli settlers who live in and around Hebron.
He is opposed to Hamas firing rockets into Israel. He likes to tell visitors his grandfather had Jewish friends in Hebron in the 1920s.
Hebron and Ramallah are about 25 miles apart. To get between them, Palestinians must pass through the “container checkpoint,” manned by Israeli soldiers on a road that connects the southern West Bank to its central and northern cities.
At the checkpoint — named for a shipping container once located at the barrier — Palestinian pedestrians queue up to get their IDs checked, while cars wait for inspection and for soldiers to wave them through. When Zahda’s taxi drove up, masked Israeli soldiers stopped the vehicle, asked him to get out, and then handcuffed him.
They took his mobile phone and his bag and brought him to a room near the checkpoint. After two hours, he was told he was being investigated for threatening an Israeli army leader. The alleged threat was made on a Facebook page calling for an uprising in Hebron. Zahda was then blindfolded and placed in an Israeli military jeep.
The soldiers took Zahda to a counterterror unit of the Israeli police, which held him for the crime of incitement to violence.
At one point during Zahda’s interrogation, the police showed him content they had collected from his personal Facebook page. But Zahda wrote Facebook posts from the West Bank, an area governed not by Israeli civilian law but by Israeli military law.
The police had no jurisdiction over Zahda, said Nery Ramati, his attorney. Instead of releasing him, the police transferred Zahda to an Israeli military prison. When asked about his arrest and interrogation, the Israeli army responded, “Because Mr. Zahda’s case is still open, we are unable to elaborate on any specific details.” The Israeli police did not respond to detailed requests about the interrogation.
Zahda’s case, still ongoing, is part of a new battleground in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians using social media to spread news about arrests and deaths, and Israeli intelligence and law enforcement officers scouring the web for clues about the next stabbing or protest.
Facebook has not changed the fundamental contours of the conflict, but it has accelerated it. A demonstration against the Israeli occupation can be organized in a matter of hours, while the monitoring of Palestinians is made easier by the large digital footprint they leave on their laptops and mobile phones.
Israeli officials have blamed social media for inciting a wave of violent attacks by Palestinians that began in October 2015. Since then, Israeli security forces have arrested about 400 Palestinians for social media activity, according to Palestinian rights groups Addameer and Adalah. Most of the arrests have been for postings on Facebook, a popular network among Palestinians.
In that year alone, the Israeli attorney general opened 155 investigations into alleged social media incitement, a marked increase from previous years, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (although the law on social media incitement applies to all citizens and residents, the vast majority of cases have been directed at Arabs in Israel).
The arrests of Palestinians for Facebook posts open a window into the practices of Israel’s surveillance state and reveal social media’s darker side.
What was once seen as a weapon of the weak has turned into the perfect place to ferret out potential resistance.
Draft legislation is currently being prepared by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and the Deputy Attorney General Raz Nazari, which will enable authorities to expedite the process of removing content defined as terror-related.
In order to facilitate swift removal of such content, an administrative court order may be required to. Only thereafter would authorities need to proceed with a criminal investigation against a suspect - a process which usually takes time to execute.
Today, when security services or the National Cyber Association discover content which constitutes incitement to commit acts of terror published by way of a social media post or an internet article, an appeal is usually made to the networks such as Facebook for the removal which, in most cases, is enforced.
However, given the protracted nature of the process, efforts are often rendered futile. Formulators of the new legislation therefore are seeking to circumvent this delaying obstacles by granting authorities to immediately remove incitement material by taking the appeal to the state attorney, or to an individual acting on his behalf, who will then consider whether the the content constitutes an assault against state security, against public security or against individual security.
Moreover, it will also examine whether the content exceeds the limits of freedom of expression. If it is decided to remove the content, the district courts will immediately be notified and the content will be removed in a matter of hours.
Noting the potential threat the proposed law poses to freedom of speech, the Ministry of Justice clarified that content-removal decrees will be issued sparingly, only in extreme cases and will be directed solely against threatening content.
As part of the struggle against terror organizations, an amendment will also be made to the existing legislation on the issue, which currently grants the authority to close places used for crimes such as pedophilia, gambling and drugs. Terror will also be added to theses categories.
Consequently, authorities will have the power to close down virtual sites and networks used for criminal purposes. Moreover, they will be authorized to disable websites that recruit terrorists, remove their content and calls to terror and document the actions of its moderators and users. Israel would not be the first to pass such legislation with similar laws already existing in other countries such as Australia and France.
Two weeks ago, Ministers Shaked and Erdan instructed the head of the State Attorney's Cyber Office, Dr. Haim Wismonski and police cyber units to coordinate the removal of harmful material such as expressions of support for terror, shaming and defaming public officials.
In cases in which illicit posts are uploaded, the justice ministry will approach the various social networks and internet sites such as Facebook and Google and inform them that the content violates the provisions stipulated in the Israeli Penal Code and is therefore a violation of the terms of use.
Israeli security officials have clashed with Facebook in recent days over what Israel views as a cavalier attitude in addressing the problem of incitment posted on its webiste.
Israeli Government Targeting Facebook Activists
On the morning of August 28, 2014, two days after the end of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Sohaib Zahda hopped into a shared taxi in Hebron that was going to Ramallah, where he had a job interview.
Thirty-three-year-old Zahda, who owns a paintball company, is an unlikely terrorist. An avid cyclist who speaks Arabic, Italian, French, and English, he is a member of Youth Against Settlements, a nonviolent organization that protests against Israeli settlers who live in and around Hebron.
He is opposed to Hamas firing rockets into Israel. He likes to tell visitors his grandfather had Jewish friends in Hebron in the 1920s.
Hebron and Ramallah are about 25 miles apart. To get between them, Palestinians must pass through the “container checkpoint,” manned by Israeli soldiers on a road that connects the southern West Bank to its central and northern cities.
At the checkpoint — named for a shipping container once located at the barrier — Palestinian pedestrians queue up to get their IDs checked, while cars wait for inspection and for soldiers to wave them through. When Zahda’s taxi drove up, masked Israeli soldiers stopped the vehicle, asked him to get out, and then handcuffed him.
They took his mobile phone and his bag and brought him to a room near the checkpoint. After two hours, he was told he was being investigated for threatening an Israeli army leader. The alleged threat was made on a Facebook page calling for an uprising in Hebron. Zahda was then blindfolded and placed in an Israeli military jeep.
The soldiers took Zahda to a counterterror unit of the Israeli police, which held him for the crime of incitement to violence.
At one point during Zahda’s interrogation, the police showed him content they had collected from his personal Facebook page. But Zahda wrote Facebook posts from the West Bank, an area governed not by Israeli civilian law but by Israeli military law.
The police had no jurisdiction over Zahda, said Nery Ramati, his attorney. Instead of releasing him, the police transferred Zahda to an Israeli military prison. When asked about his arrest and interrogation, the Israeli army responded, “Because Mr. Zahda’s case is still open, we are unable to elaborate on any specific details.” The Israeli police did not respond to detailed requests about the interrogation.
Zahda’s case, still ongoing, is part of a new battleground in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians using social media to spread news about arrests and deaths, and Israeli intelligence and law enforcement officers scouring the web for clues about the next stabbing or protest.
Facebook has not changed the fundamental contours of the conflict, but it has accelerated it. A demonstration against the Israeli occupation can be organized in a matter of hours, while the monitoring of Palestinians is made easier by the large digital footprint they leave on their laptops and mobile phones.
Israeli officials have blamed social media for inciting a wave of violent attacks by Palestinians that began in October 2015. Since then, Israeli security forces have arrested about 400 Palestinians for social media activity, according to Palestinian rights groups Addameer and Adalah. Most of the arrests have been for postings on Facebook, a popular network among Palestinians.
In that year alone, the Israeli attorney general opened 155 investigations into alleged social media incitement, a marked increase from previous years, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (although the law on social media incitement applies to all citizens and residents, the vast majority of cases have been directed at Arabs in Israel).
The arrests of Palestinians for Facebook posts open a window into the practices of Israel’s surveillance state and reveal social media’s darker side.
What was once seen as a weapon of the weak has turned into the perfect place to ferret out potential resistance.
4 july 2016
Social network defends policy on moderating hateful content, but Israel's justice minister wants it to be more proactive
Israel has accused Facebook of not doing enough to curb online content that incites violence against the state, with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan describing the social network as a "monster" during a television interview on Saturday.
Facebook defended its moderation policy in a statement to Reuters on Sunday, saying that it works closely with Israel to remove hateful or abusive content. The company did not directly address Erdan's comments.
Israel has seen a wave of street attacks carried out by Palestinians in recent months. Since October, 34 Israelis and two Americans have been killed in Palestinian street attacks, while Israeli forces have killed at least 201 Palestinians, according to Reuters. (Israel says that 137 of those killed were attackers.)
The Israeli government says that much of the violence has been encouraged on Facebook, and has called on the site to more proactively police hateful content. A 19-year-old Palestinian who killed an Israeli girl last week praised terrorists on Facebook prior to the attack, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports, and expressed his desire to die as a martyr.
In an interview on Israel's Channel 2 Saturday, Erdan accused Facebook of "sabotaging" police efforts to curb the violence by not cooperating in investigations in the West Bank, adding that the site has "a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts."
"Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of Daesh and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster," Erdan said, using an Arab term for ISIS. He also called on Israelis to "flood" Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "in every possible place with the demand to monitor the platform he established and from which he earns billions."
In its statement to Reuters, Facebook encouraged users to report content that violates its community standards, so it can "can examine each case and take quick action."
"We work regularly with safety organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook," the company said. "There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform."
In an interview with Israel's Army Radio, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called on social media companies to more proactively police content published on their platforms. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently preparing legislation that would require social media sites to remove content that the state considers threatening.
"We want the companies not to approve and to themselves remove posts by terrorist groups and incitement to terrorism without us having to flag each individual post, in just the same manner, for example, that they today do not allow posts and pages with child pornography," Shaked said.
"Putting the onus on the companies to act as censors is wrong."
Facebook, Twitter, and other major tech companies have come under increased pressure to crack down on hate speech and terrorist propaganda, following attacks in Europe and the US.
In May, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft agreed to an EU "code of conduct" that obliges the companies to review and remove hateful content within 24 hours, and to promote "independent counter-narratives" to propaganda. Last month, Reuters reported that major tech companies are exploring systems that would automatically identify and remove hateful content published online.
Governments have described such efforts as critical to combating ISIS and other terrorist groups, but civil liberties groups have expressed concerns over delegating so much power to private companies.
"Putting the onus on the companies to act as censors is wrong; corporations do not have users' best interests or right to free expression at heart, and lack the expertise to make good decisions about who is or isn't a terrorist," Jillian York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in an email to The Verge. "This becomes particularly problematic at Facebook's size; Facebook has more users than any country in the world has citizens."
Israel has accused Facebook of not doing enough to curb online content that incites violence against the state, with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan describing the social network as a "monster" during a television interview on Saturday.
Facebook defended its moderation policy in a statement to Reuters on Sunday, saying that it works closely with Israel to remove hateful or abusive content. The company did not directly address Erdan's comments.
Israel has seen a wave of street attacks carried out by Palestinians in recent months. Since October, 34 Israelis and two Americans have been killed in Palestinian street attacks, while Israeli forces have killed at least 201 Palestinians, according to Reuters. (Israel says that 137 of those killed were attackers.)
The Israeli government says that much of the violence has been encouraged on Facebook, and has called on the site to more proactively police hateful content. A 19-year-old Palestinian who killed an Israeli girl last week praised terrorists on Facebook prior to the attack, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports, and expressed his desire to die as a martyr.
In an interview on Israel's Channel 2 Saturday, Erdan accused Facebook of "sabotaging" police efforts to curb the violence by not cooperating in investigations in the West Bank, adding that the site has "a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts."
"Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of Daesh and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster," Erdan said, using an Arab term for ISIS. He also called on Israelis to "flood" Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "in every possible place with the demand to monitor the platform he established and from which he earns billions."
In its statement to Reuters, Facebook encouraged users to report content that violates its community standards, so it can "can examine each case and take quick action."
"We work regularly with safety organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook," the company said. "There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform."
In an interview with Israel's Army Radio, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called on social media companies to more proactively police content published on their platforms. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently preparing legislation that would require social media sites to remove content that the state considers threatening.
"We want the companies not to approve and to themselves remove posts by terrorist groups and incitement to terrorism without us having to flag each individual post, in just the same manner, for example, that they today do not allow posts and pages with child pornography," Shaked said.
"Putting the onus on the companies to act as censors is wrong."
Facebook, Twitter, and other major tech companies have come under increased pressure to crack down on hate speech and terrorist propaganda, following attacks in Europe and the US.
In May, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft agreed to an EU "code of conduct" that obliges the companies to review and remove hateful content within 24 hours, and to promote "independent counter-narratives" to propaganda. Last month, Reuters reported that major tech companies are exploring systems that would automatically identify and remove hateful content published online.
Governments have described such efforts as critical to combating ISIS and other terrorist groups, but civil liberties groups have expressed concerns over delegating so much power to private companies.
"Putting the onus on the companies to act as censors is wrong; corporations do not have users' best interests or right to free expression at heart, and lack the expertise to make good decisions about who is or isn't a terrorist," Jillian York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in an email to The Verge. "This becomes particularly problematic at Facebook's size; Facebook has more users than any country in the world has citizens."
With 80 percent of Palestinians getting their news from Facebook and Twitter, Hamas leads in exploiting those networks for explaining how best to stab and glorifying 'martyrs.'
Just over a year ago, a survey was conducted in the West Bank to ascertain the various channels through which Palestinians receive the news. The results were astonishing: More than 80 percent of Palestinians receive their news from Facebook and Twitter. Palestinian terrorist groups were among the first to identify this trend, and they therefore began devoting significant resources into online efforts.
Hamas leads in its exploitation of this trend. The abilities of the the organization to operate freely in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is limited by the operations undertaken by the IDF and the Palestinian security apparatus.
But the cyber world is open to all. Besides the shared posts on Facebook about what is done in the West Bank, Hamas began embedding its message on the pages inciting its readers to violence, glorifying terrorists, and aggressively encouraging persons to go out and commit more attacks.
During the recent months, which have been marked by a deterioration in the security situation, social media have been flooded with graphics, cartoon pictures, and animated videos depicting terrorist attacks. Even more seriously, training videos are posted explaining how to stab one's victims in the most effective way to maximize damage.
In this way, Hamas has managed to entrench itself in the hearts of the Palestinians—especially in the hearts of the younger generation, which has grown tired of the Palestinian Authority.
Several months after the the outbreak of violence that began in the autumn of 2015, the IDF established a system to monitor social networks. The goals was to reach the inciting individuals and to arrest them.
The Israeli police also operates in a similar fashion in East Jerusalem, the area which witnessed the most significant decline at the outset of the current wave of terrorism. Since last October, the IDF has arrested 85 Palestinians from the West Bank for inciting to violence on Facebook. However, the Palestinians techniques employed on social media have proven that the success has been only partially successful.
In addition to the hatred spewed against Israel on social media, Hamas also incites against the PA and its security cooperation with Israel.
Just over a year ago, a survey was conducted in the West Bank to ascertain the various channels through which Palestinians receive the news. The results were astonishing: More than 80 percent of Palestinians receive their news from Facebook and Twitter. Palestinian terrorist groups were among the first to identify this trend, and they therefore began devoting significant resources into online efforts.
Hamas leads in its exploitation of this trend. The abilities of the the organization to operate freely in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is limited by the operations undertaken by the IDF and the Palestinian security apparatus.
But the cyber world is open to all. Besides the shared posts on Facebook about what is done in the West Bank, Hamas began embedding its message on the pages inciting its readers to violence, glorifying terrorists, and aggressively encouraging persons to go out and commit more attacks.
During the recent months, which have been marked by a deterioration in the security situation, social media have been flooded with graphics, cartoon pictures, and animated videos depicting terrorist attacks. Even more seriously, training videos are posted explaining how to stab one's victims in the most effective way to maximize damage.
In this way, Hamas has managed to entrench itself in the hearts of the Palestinians—especially in the hearts of the younger generation, which has grown tired of the Palestinian Authority.
Several months after the the outbreak of violence that began in the autumn of 2015, the IDF established a system to monitor social networks. The goals was to reach the inciting individuals and to arrest them.
The Israeli police also operates in a similar fashion in East Jerusalem, the area which witnessed the most significant decline at the outset of the current wave of terrorism. Since last October, the IDF has arrested 85 Palestinians from the West Bank for inciting to violence on Facebook. However, the Palestinians techniques employed on social media have proven that the success has been only partially successful.
In addition to the hatred spewed against Israel on social media, Hamas also incites against the PA and its security cooperation with Israel.
Family members of Miki Mark, who was murdered in a terror attack on Friday, opposed calls for avenging his death. Mark's daughter-in-law Yiska emphasized on social media the fact that the first people to assist the victims after the attack were a Palestinian couple.
Miki Mark and his wife Chava supported the Ben Ami family for 16 years. Its patriarch, Eliyahu, was killed in a terror attack. Miki and Chava's son Shlomi even eventually married Eliyahu's daughter, Yiska. On Friday, he lost his father in a nearly-identical way to how Yiska lost her father years ago. In addition, Chava's nephew, Yonadav Hirschfeld, was killed eight years ago in a terror attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Despite their loss, the Mark family's humanity has remained intact. When one of Yiska Mark's Facebook friends wrote to console her for her father-in-law's murder with the words: "murderous, scum-of-the-earth Arabs," she emphasized the fact that the first people on the scene of the accident, who gave the Mark family first aid and whose cell phone was used to call authorities to the scene of the attack, were Palestinian Arabs.
"I really have to tell you that the first to arrive at the scene was a Palestinian vehicle with an Arab couple who exited and took care of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They gave them a cell phone to call (the authorities), and stayed with them in those difficult moments," she wrote. "I think you should write terrorists and not Arabs because not every Arab is a terrorist, and I say this from experience."
This was not the only time when thr Mark family demonstrated their disapproval for revenge. During Miki Mark's funeral, when several youths began yelling "revenge" during the procession, Shlomi Mark called on them to stop and leave. They were also silenced by the crowd. When they continued, one of the people present urged them to "respect the family."
A short distance separates the areas where Miki Mark and Eliyahu Ben Ami were killed. Mor Leibovich, Eliyahu Ben Ami's daughter and Yiska Mark's sister, wrote on social media of the experience of learning about the attack. "Her voice was trembling," she said as she recalled the phone call with Yiska. "I was sure she was calling to tell me that we had forgotten something at their place. 'There was a terrorist attack near Otniel. (Chava) and Miki are seriously wounded. They say there's a man who was killed, and we're worried it's Miki.' My legs freeze and my breath shortens. No, no, no, God. Please no. Not again. Not Miki and (Chava).
They're the parents of Shlomi, my brother-in-law, my sister's father-in-law and mother-in-law. Wonderful and amazing people whom I have known since childhood, in Otniel, the town where I grew up, all one big family. 'Please don’t let it be Miki, Please don’t let it be Miki, Please don’t let it be Miki.' I cry silently. Later, the bitter truth was revealed to me. Miki is gone."
Leibovich later added, "Miki, the man who supported (my) mother and us so much since my father was killed. Miki, who hosted us just last Shavuot. His voice stil rings in my ears. Miki, who always greeted us with a smile on his face, with giggles and humor, the man with that huge heart."
Chava Mark is still hospitalized in the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital stated Sunday that she has regained consciousness. She is also reportedly breathing independently and is in stable condition. Hadassah Ein Kerem Shock Trauma Unit director Prof. Avi Ribkind said that Mark has woken up, but is still not speaking. She does, however, respond when her name is called.
Chava Mark has, sadly, experienced grief of this king before. Her nephew Yonadav Hirschfeld was killed in the 2008 terrorist attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. "On Friday, when I heard of the attack, I sent Miki a 'how are you?' message and he didn't answer," said Tzemach Hirschfeld, Yonadav's father. "I was feeling unwell up to the point that my wife's brother called and said that their car had been hit. I had to tell my wife's mother that her son-in-law had been killed. We went into the Sabbath when (Chava), my wife's sister, was still in the operating room, and the we didn't know her condition for the entire Sabbath."
Of his feelings in the attack's aftermath, Hirschfeld said, "There are two levels. On the personal level, it's very hard. The first thought is 'Oh no, not again.' On the national level – we aren't doing what we need to do. We have enemies – it starts with incitement, stones, bottles, and firearms."
Miki Mark and his wife Chava supported the Ben Ami family for 16 years. Its patriarch, Eliyahu, was killed in a terror attack. Miki and Chava's son Shlomi even eventually married Eliyahu's daughter, Yiska. On Friday, he lost his father in a nearly-identical way to how Yiska lost her father years ago. In addition, Chava's nephew, Yonadav Hirschfeld, was killed eight years ago in a terror attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Despite their loss, the Mark family's humanity has remained intact. When one of Yiska Mark's Facebook friends wrote to console her for her father-in-law's murder with the words: "murderous, scum-of-the-earth Arabs," she emphasized the fact that the first people on the scene of the accident, who gave the Mark family first aid and whose cell phone was used to call authorities to the scene of the attack, were Palestinian Arabs.
"I really have to tell you that the first to arrive at the scene was a Palestinian vehicle with an Arab couple who exited and took care of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They gave them a cell phone to call (the authorities), and stayed with them in those difficult moments," she wrote. "I think you should write terrorists and not Arabs because not every Arab is a terrorist, and I say this from experience."
This was not the only time when thr Mark family demonstrated their disapproval for revenge. During Miki Mark's funeral, when several youths began yelling "revenge" during the procession, Shlomi Mark called on them to stop and leave. They were also silenced by the crowd. When they continued, one of the people present urged them to "respect the family."
A short distance separates the areas where Miki Mark and Eliyahu Ben Ami were killed. Mor Leibovich, Eliyahu Ben Ami's daughter and Yiska Mark's sister, wrote on social media of the experience of learning about the attack. "Her voice was trembling," she said as she recalled the phone call with Yiska. "I was sure she was calling to tell me that we had forgotten something at their place. 'There was a terrorist attack near Otniel. (Chava) and Miki are seriously wounded. They say there's a man who was killed, and we're worried it's Miki.' My legs freeze and my breath shortens. No, no, no, God. Please no. Not again. Not Miki and (Chava).
They're the parents of Shlomi, my brother-in-law, my sister's father-in-law and mother-in-law. Wonderful and amazing people whom I have known since childhood, in Otniel, the town where I grew up, all one big family. 'Please don’t let it be Miki, Please don’t let it be Miki, Please don’t let it be Miki.' I cry silently. Later, the bitter truth was revealed to me. Miki is gone."
Leibovich later added, "Miki, the man who supported (my) mother and us so much since my father was killed. Miki, who hosted us just last Shavuot. His voice stil rings in my ears. Miki, who always greeted us with a smile on his face, with giggles and humor, the man with that huge heart."
Chava Mark is still hospitalized in the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital stated Sunday that she has regained consciousness. She is also reportedly breathing independently and is in stable condition. Hadassah Ein Kerem Shock Trauma Unit director Prof. Avi Ribkind said that Mark has woken up, but is still not speaking. She does, however, respond when her name is called.
Chava Mark has, sadly, experienced grief of this king before. Her nephew Yonadav Hirschfeld was killed in the 2008 terrorist attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. "On Friday, when I heard of the attack, I sent Miki a 'how are you?' message and he didn't answer," said Tzemach Hirschfeld, Yonadav's father. "I was feeling unwell up to the point that my wife's brother called and said that their car had been hit. I had to tell my wife's mother that her son-in-law had been killed. We went into the Sabbath when (Chava), my wife's sister, was still in the operating room, and the we didn't know her condition for the entire Sabbath."
Of his feelings in the attack's aftermath, Hirschfeld said, "There are two levels. On the personal level, it's very hard. The first thought is 'Oh no, not again.' On the national level – we aren't doing what we need to do. We have enemies – it starts with incitement, stones, bottles, and firearms."
3 july 2016
Social media giant Facebook has defended itself after the company refused Israeli requests to take down content which incites violence against Jews; Facebook: 'There is no room for content that promotes violence.'
Facebook is doing its share to remove abusive content from the social network, it said on Sunday in an apparent rejection of Israeli allegations that it was uncooperative in stemming messages that might spur Palestinian violence.
Beset by a 10-month-old surge in Palestinian terror attacks, Israel says that Facebook has been used to perpetuate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is drafting legislation to enable it to order social media sites to remove incitement.
Ramping up the pressure, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Saturday accused Facebook of "sabotaging" Israeli police efforts by not cooperating with inquiries about potential suspects in the West Bank and by "set(ting) a very high bar for removing incitement in content and posts".
Facebook did not respond directly to Erdan's criticism, but said in a statement that it conferred closely with Israel.
"We work regularly with security organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook. There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform," the statement said.
It appeared to place an onus on Israeli authorities, as with any other users, to flag offensive content to Facebook monitors.
"We have a set of community standards designed to help people understand what's allowed on Facebook, and we call on people to use our report if they find content they believe violates these rules, so that we can examine each case and take quick action," the statement said.
Erdan, who urged Israelis to "flood" Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with demands for a policy change, expanded on the Netanyahu government's complaint in remarks published on Sunday.
Of 74 "especially inciting and extremist posts" Israel had brought to Facebook's attention, 24 were removed, Erdan told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, adding that jurisdiction was an issue.
"The big problem is in Judea and Samaria, because Facebook does not recognize Israeli control there and is not prepared to turn over information,” Erdan said.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called on social media companies to pre-emptively curb content deemed by Israel to be a security threat.
"We want the companies not to approve and to themselves remove posts by terrorist groups and incitement to terrorism without us having to flag each individual post, in just the same manner, for example, that they today do not allow posts and pages with child pornography," she told Israel's Army Radio.
Facebook is doing its share to remove abusive content from the social network, it said on Sunday in an apparent rejection of Israeli allegations that it was uncooperative in stemming messages that might spur Palestinian violence.
Beset by a 10-month-old surge in Palestinian terror attacks, Israel says that Facebook has been used to perpetuate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is drafting legislation to enable it to order social media sites to remove incitement.
Ramping up the pressure, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Saturday accused Facebook of "sabotaging" Israeli police efforts by not cooperating with inquiries about potential suspects in the West Bank and by "set(ting) a very high bar for removing incitement in content and posts".
Facebook did not respond directly to Erdan's criticism, but said in a statement that it conferred closely with Israel.
"We work regularly with security organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook. There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform," the statement said.
It appeared to place an onus on Israeli authorities, as with any other users, to flag offensive content to Facebook monitors.
"We have a set of community standards designed to help people understand what's allowed on Facebook, and we call on people to use our report if they find content they believe violates these rules, so that we can examine each case and take quick action," the statement said.
Erdan, who urged Israelis to "flood" Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with demands for a policy change, expanded on the Netanyahu government's complaint in remarks published on Sunday.
Of 74 "especially inciting and extremist posts" Israel had brought to Facebook's attention, 24 were removed, Erdan told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, adding that jurisdiction was an issue.
"The big problem is in Judea and Samaria, because Facebook does not recognize Israeli control there and is not prepared to turn over information,” Erdan said.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called on social media companies to pre-emptively curb content deemed by Israel to be a security threat.
"We want the companies not to approve and to themselves remove posts by terrorist groups and incitement to terrorism without us having to flag each individual post, in just the same manner, for example, that they today do not allow posts and pages with child pornography," she told Israel's Army Radio.
