27 dec 2016
Israeli ministers have advanced the so-called “Facebook bill” that would allow Israeli officials to force the social media giant to remove certain content through a court order if there are suspicions of “incitement” after an Israeli ministerial committee approved the bill on Sunday.
According to the Israeli media outlet the Times of Israel, the bill, proposed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked -- members of right-wing Israeli parties Jewish Home and Likud respectively -- would “only be invoked in cases of suspected incitement, where there is a real possibility that the material in question endangers the public or national security.”
Despite Facebook complying with 95 percent of the Israeli government’s removal requests in recent months, members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, have consistently expressed their indignation that Facebook has not taken enough action to remove content inciting “acts of terror against Jews.”
Just a few weeks prior to the introduction of the Facebook bill, a meeting was held in the Knesset, with Knesset member for the Likud party and Minister of National Infrastructure Yuval Steinitz pointing out what he believed was preferential treatment to block posts considered “incitement to murder Christians, Yazidis, Kurds, Americans and Europeans” that were reported by United States President Barack Obama.
“When big America said ISIS content can lead to terrorism and violence, Facebook respected that and took steps to remove ISIS messages, justifiably so. So, in the same way, we must demand that content and messages from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and from individuals calling to murder, destroy, and expel Jews must be removed,” Steinitz said at the time.
The Times of Israel reported that Erdan had said on Sunday that France, Germany, and other European countries already have adopted similar legislation. However, critics have accused the Israeli government of utilizing “terrorism” discourse in order to justify and further entrench the Israeli military’s half-century occupation of the West Bank and near decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip.
Erdan also defended the bill’s application to Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory, using the Israeli term “Judea and Samaria,” and underscored his concerns that Facebook did not recognize Israeli military control over the West Bank.
“If someone writes something problematic and they live in Judea and Samaria , [Facebook] won’t cooperate with us and they say it’s outside of Israel and therefore they can’t cooperate,” the Times of Israel reported Erdan as saying.
In recent months, Israel has detained scores of Palestinians for social media activity, alleging that a wave of unrest that first swept the occupied Palestinian territory last October was encouraged largely by "incitement." The violence has left 245 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers, as well as some 34 Israelis killed by Palestinians.
Palestinians have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel's decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the rise of unrest.
Israel has responded to the perceived threat of social media incitement by blaming Facebook for not doing more to censor posts promoting "terrorism" against Israelis.
Following a series of deadly incidents, Erdan reportedly said that Facebook chairman and cofounder Mark Zuckerberg had “blood on his hands” for not adequately cooperating with Israel to remove content.
In July, an Israeli lawyer filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook Inc., claiming that the social media platform allowed members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to plan and carry out attacks against Americans and Israelis.
Commenting on the suit against them, Facebook referenced its community standards, and highlighted its ‘report’ tool, which allows and encourages Facebook users to flag content that they deem as encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech.
Facebook also cited its track record regarding incitement, referencing a case in March when the company took down a page promoting a Palestinian uprising against Israel because it made “direct calls for violence,” in violation of company policies.
In September, Erdan and Shaked met with Facebook’s vice president of public policy, Joel Kaplan, head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, and the head of policy and communications in Israel, Jordana Cutler -- who was the chief of staff at the Israeli embassy in the United States prior to working with Facebook.
Among the specific terminology Shaked and Erdan were reportedly looking to have removed and censored were “intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” “shahid,” -- the Arabic word for "martyr," often used colloquially to designate anyone whose death has a political and or social significance -- and “death to Jews,” which they claimed all led to incitement against the state of Israel.
Shaked and Erdan also allegedly included the phrase “death to Arabs” -- a slogan often heard in protests and mobs of extremist Israelis -- saying that it too, led to incitement in general.
In response to incitement claims against Palestinians, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat condemned the current Israeli government for its failure to “entrench a culture of peace and coexistence within Israeli society” in a statement in July.
Erekat flipped the script, holding Israel responsible for incitement, saying “official Israeli discourse entrenches hatred, racism, and discriminatory attitudes against Palestinians. The discourse is only further entrenched by the institutional protection that is given to those who commit or incite violence against Palestinians.”
Shaked herself has used Facebook in the past to advocate for the killing of the mothers of slain Palestinians, referring to them as ‘snakes.’
“They should follow their sons. Nothing would be more just. They should go as should the physical houses in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise more little snakes are raised,” she wrote on the social media platform in the summer of 2014, just one day before a group of Israeli settlers attacked, beat, and burned alive Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager from occupied East Jerusalem.
According to the Israeli media outlet the Times of Israel, the bill, proposed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked -- members of right-wing Israeli parties Jewish Home and Likud respectively -- would “only be invoked in cases of suspected incitement, where there is a real possibility that the material in question endangers the public or national security.”
Despite Facebook complying with 95 percent of the Israeli government’s removal requests in recent months, members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, have consistently expressed their indignation that Facebook has not taken enough action to remove content inciting “acts of terror against Jews.”
Just a few weeks prior to the introduction of the Facebook bill, a meeting was held in the Knesset, with Knesset member for the Likud party and Minister of National Infrastructure Yuval Steinitz pointing out what he believed was preferential treatment to block posts considered “incitement to murder Christians, Yazidis, Kurds, Americans and Europeans” that were reported by United States President Barack Obama.
“When big America said ISIS content can lead to terrorism and violence, Facebook respected that and took steps to remove ISIS messages, justifiably so. So, in the same way, we must demand that content and messages from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and from individuals calling to murder, destroy, and expel Jews must be removed,” Steinitz said at the time.
The Times of Israel reported that Erdan had said on Sunday that France, Germany, and other European countries already have adopted similar legislation. However, critics have accused the Israeli government of utilizing “terrorism” discourse in order to justify and further entrench the Israeli military’s half-century occupation of the West Bank and near decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip.
Erdan also defended the bill’s application to Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory, using the Israeli term “Judea and Samaria,” and underscored his concerns that Facebook did not recognize Israeli military control over the West Bank.
“If someone writes something problematic and they live in Judea and Samaria , [Facebook] won’t cooperate with us and they say it’s outside of Israel and therefore they can’t cooperate,” the Times of Israel reported Erdan as saying.
In recent months, Israel has detained scores of Palestinians for social media activity, alleging that a wave of unrest that first swept the occupied Palestinian territory last October was encouraged largely by "incitement." The violence has left 245 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers, as well as some 34 Israelis killed by Palestinians.
Palestinians have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel's decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the rise of unrest.
Israel has responded to the perceived threat of social media incitement by blaming Facebook for not doing more to censor posts promoting "terrorism" against Israelis.
Following a series of deadly incidents, Erdan reportedly said that Facebook chairman and cofounder Mark Zuckerberg had “blood on his hands” for not adequately cooperating with Israel to remove content.
In July, an Israeli lawyer filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook Inc., claiming that the social media platform allowed members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to plan and carry out attacks against Americans and Israelis.
Commenting on the suit against them, Facebook referenced its community standards, and highlighted its ‘report’ tool, which allows and encourages Facebook users to flag content that they deem as encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech.
Facebook also cited its track record regarding incitement, referencing a case in March when the company took down a page promoting a Palestinian uprising against Israel because it made “direct calls for violence,” in violation of company policies.
In September, Erdan and Shaked met with Facebook’s vice president of public policy, Joel Kaplan, head of global policy management, Monika Bickert, and the head of policy and communications in Israel, Jordana Cutler -- who was the chief of staff at the Israeli embassy in the United States prior to working with Facebook.
Among the specific terminology Shaked and Erdan were reportedly looking to have removed and censored were “intifada,” “Nazis,” “stabbings,” “shahid,” -- the Arabic word for "martyr," often used colloquially to designate anyone whose death has a political and or social significance -- and “death to Jews,” which they claimed all led to incitement against the state of Israel.
Shaked and Erdan also allegedly included the phrase “death to Arabs” -- a slogan often heard in protests and mobs of extremist Israelis -- saying that it too, led to incitement in general.
In response to incitement claims against Palestinians, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat condemned the current Israeli government for its failure to “entrench a culture of peace and coexistence within Israeli society” in a statement in July.
Erekat flipped the script, holding Israel responsible for incitement, saying “official Israeli discourse entrenches hatred, racism, and discriminatory attitudes against Palestinians. The discourse is only further entrenched by the institutional protection that is given to those who commit or incite violence against Palestinians.”
Shaked herself has used Facebook in the past to advocate for the killing of the mothers of slain Palestinians, referring to them as ‘snakes.’
“They should follow their sons. Nothing would be more just. They should go as should the physical houses in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise more little snakes are raised,” she wrote on the social media platform in the summer of 2014, just one day before a group of Israeli settlers attacked, beat, and burned alive Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager from occupied East Jerusalem.
The Israeli Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court extended on Monday the remand of the Arab MK Bassel Ghattas for two days for phone-smuggling allegations.
The decision was made after Israeli police requested that he remain in remand for additional days pending investigation.
Dozens of the Democratic Party’s supporters and Arab MKs had gathered since the morning hours outside the court in solidarity with Ghattas.
Ghattas was arrested last week over allegations that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Ktzi'ot prison.
Ghattas has earlier agreed to surrender his parliamentary immunity so that he might be investigated by Israeli police over the allegations.
Standing in solidarity with Ghattas, fellow Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka said that Ghattas’ arrest came as part of Israeli ongoing incitement against Arab political leadership in Israel.
No member of the Knesset has been before arrested, he pointed out.
Along the same line, Israeli Security Minister called for questioning Arab MK Hanin Zoabi over incitement allegations after posting a tweet in solidarity with MK Ghattas.
The decision was made after Israeli police requested that he remain in remand for additional days pending investigation.
Dozens of the Democratic Party’s supporters and Arab MKs had gathered since the morning hours outside the court in solidarity with Ghattas.
Ghattas was arrested last week over allegations that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Ktzi'ot prison.
Ghattas has earlier agreed to surrender his parliamentary immunity so that he might be investigated by Israeli police over the allegations.
Standing in solidarity with Ghattas, fellow Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka said that Ghattas’ arrest came as part of Israeli ongoing incitement against Arab political leadership in Israel.
No member of the Knesset has been before arrested, he pointed out.
Along the same line, Israeli Security Minister called for questioning Arab MK Hanin Zoabi over incitement allegations after posting a tweet in solidarity with MK Ghattas.
18 dec 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested three Palestinian civilians from Iskaka village in Salfit province after claiming they started fires near the settlement of Ariel, Hebrew media reported on Sunday.
Hamdan Lami, 19, Jawwad Thaher, 19, and Yazid Lami, 24, were arrested on November 26, according to the Israeli report.
In another context, the Israeli prosecution on Sunday pressed charges against four Jerusalemites for supporting Hamas and incitement via Facebook
According to the Israeli website Walla, the four Jerusalemites, from 17 to 20 years old, have been charged with “inciting to terrorism and violence” on Facebook in addition to supporting a “terrorist group” and other charges.
Hamdan Lami, 19, Jawwad Thaher, 19, and Yazid Lami, 24, were arrested on November 26, according to the Israeli report.
In another context, the Israeli prosecution on Sunday pressed charges against four Jerusalemites for supporting Hamas and incitement via Facebook
According to the Israeli website Walla, the four Jerusalemites, from 17 to 20 years old, have been charged with “inciting to terrorism and violence” on Facebook in addition to supporting a “terrorist group” and other charges.
11 dec 2016
A Jewish group has launched a media campaign against Facebook in the USA, claiming its administration is not doing enough to stop incitement to violence on its pages against the Jewish people.
Israel Today newspaper said that a Jewish law enforcement group in the US was leading the campaign recently and started to take legal steps to demand Facebook to pay one billion dollars in compensation for Israeli citizens who were affected by way or another by incitement published on its pages.
This Jewish group claims the social networking site provides a propaganda platform hostile to Israel.
The group also released a short film blaming Facebook for terror attacks around the world.
Israel Today newspaper said that a Jewish law enforcement group in the US was leading the campaign recently and started to take legal steps to demand Facebook to pay one billion dollars in compensation for Israeli citizens who were affected by way or another by incitement published on its pages.
This Jewish group claims the social networking site provides a propaganda platform hostile to Israel.
The group also released a short film blaming Facebook for terror attacks around the world.
8 dec 2016
‘NYT’ bias amazes: long article about online incitement in Israel/Palestine only blames Palestinians
Ayelet Shaked
I expected more from Peter Baker. The new New York Times Jerusalem correspondent today published an article about online incitement, headlined, “Facebook Struggles to Put Out Online Fires in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” and it’s so one-sided the only word for it is awful.
Baker starts by quoting Palestinians urging on the recent wildfires in Haifa:
On his Facebook page, [businessman Anas] Abudaabes wrote that “we should call our thugs to do what is necessary,” noting that “dry grass is faster to burn.” Arabs should pray for lightning and strong winds, he wrote. . .
Baker then suggests to readers that he is going to tell us about both Israel and Palestine.
Facebook has become the battleground in a global struggle between free speech and incitement, and in few places is that more pronounced than in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
But he baits and switches. The article turns out to be exclusively devoted to Palestinians inciting against Israel, even though there are plenty of examples of vicious online racism that Israelis in settlements and elsewhere direct against Palestinians.
The one-sidedness continues. Baker notes that:
Terrorism is an everyday reality, and the role that Facebook and other social media sites may play in inspiring it generates deep emotion.
Nowhere does he point out that occupation, blockade and repression — and 2 AM house raids, and house demolitions, as Jeremy Ben-Ami described Palestinian life under occupation to a New York synagogue last week — are also an everyday reality.
Baker’s bias is astonishingly revealed when he quotes Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s Justice Minister, who offers what looks to be a nuanced argument:
“I personally really believe in freedom of speech,” Ms. Shaked said in an interview. “But when you’re calling to kill someone or when you’re calling for terrorist attacks, it’s violence. I’m not going to try to remove the words ‘Free Palestine.’ But if they’re showing how to stab Jews, that should be removed.”
This would be a good time to remind New York Times readers that just two years ago, Shaked herself posted an article by an Israeli settler who called Palestinian children “snakes,” online, and Shaked endorsed this vicious characterization:
This is a war between two people. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people. . . the people who started the war, that whole people, is the enemy. . . including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.
And the morality of war knows that it is not possible to refrain from hurting enemy civilians. . . .
Now this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons, nothing would be more just. They should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there.
The Times article is long, and I was sure I would eventually run into a few token paragraphs quoting incitement by Israelis. But nothing.
I hoped for better from Peter Baker. I suspect he may be trying to cajole Israeli officials who control his access and can make his job harder. But he should remember that Jodi Rudoren, his predecessor, spent years writing such suckup pieces hoping to get an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. She never did.
I expected more from Peter Baker. The new New York Times Jerusalem correspondent today published an article about online incitement, headlined, “Facebook Struggles to Put Out Online Fires in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” and it’s so one-sided the only word for it is awful.
Baker starts by quoting Palestinians urging on the recent wildfires in Haifa:
On his Facebook page, [businessman Anas] Abudaabes wrote that “we should call our thugs to do what is necessary,” noting that “dry grass is faster to burn.” Arabs should pray for lightning and strong winds, he wrote. . .
Baker then suggests to readers that he is going to tell us about both Israel and Palestine.
Facebook has become the battleground in a global struggle between free speech and incitement, and in few places is that more pronounced than in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
But he baits and switches. The article turns out to be exclusively devoted to Palestinians inciting against Israel, even though there are plenty of examples of vicious online racism that Israelis in settlements and elsewhere direct against Palestinians.
The one-sidedness continues. Baker notes that:
Terrorism is an everyday reality, and the role that Facebook and other social media sites may play in inspiring it generates deep emotion.
Nowhere does he point out that occupation, blockade and repression — and 2 AM house raids, and house demolitions, as Jeremy Ben-Ami described Palestinian life under occupation to a New York synagogue last week — are also an everyday reality.
Baker’s bias is astonishingly revealed when he quotes Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s Justice Minister, who offers what looks to be a nuanced argument:
“I personally really believe in freedom of speech,” Ms. Shaked said in an interview. “But when you’re calling to kill someone or when you’re calling for terrorist attacks, it’s violence. I’m not going to try to remove the words ‘Free Palestine.’ But if they’re showing how to stab Jews, that should be removed.”
This would be a good time to remind New York Times readers that just two years ago, Shaked herself posted an article by an Israeli settler who called Palestinian children “snakes,” online, and Shaked endorsed this vicious characterization:
This is a war between two people. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people. . . the people who started the war, that whole people, is the enemy. . . including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure.
And the morality of war knows that it is not possible to refrain from hurting enemy civilians. . . .
Now this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons, nothing would be more just. They should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there.
The Times article is long, and I was sure I would eventually run into a few token paragraphs quoting incitement by Israelis. But nothing.
I hoped for better from Peter Baker. I suspect he may be trying to cajole Israeli officials who control his access and can make his job harder. But he should remember that Jodi Rudoren, his predecessor, spent years writing such suckup pieces hoping to get an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. She never did.