13 may 2020
The leader of the prosecution process against Prime Minister Netanyahu receives dozens of messages that include warnings of violence and abusive slurs and images
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has filed a complaint with police on Wednesday after receiving threats and abusive messages on his phone throughout the night and morning.
According to the attorney general's testimony, he received dozens of messages from different numbers calling him a "crook" and "corrupt."
Other messages took a more threatening tone, even wishing him death and reminding him he is "vulnerable."
Mandelblit said he also received doctored photos of himself in prison garments.
A Justice Ministry statement said that Mandelblit received threats mainly through text messages in the last day.
"These harassments and threats, apparently organized, continued throughout the night and morning. The harassment included threats, and hateful and incitement speech," read the statement.
Senior judiciary officials estimated last weekend that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters will escalate the attacks on the attorney general as the prime minister's trial approaches, mainly through social media.
"Netanyahu's associates will try to turn the attorney general from the accuser to the defendant," a senior prosecutor said.
"The prime minister's goal is to come to trial with Mandelblit disgraced as if he were the felon... According to this narrative, Mandelblit will be presented as someone who is not fit to lead the prosecution against Netanyahu."
Earlier this week, a video containing inciteful messages circulated on social media and was shared mainly by right-wing activists opposing the legal process against Netanyahu.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has filed a complaint with police on Wednesday after receiving threats and abusive messages on his phone throughout the night and morning.
According to the attorney general's testimony, he received dozens of messages from different numbers calling him a "crook" and "corrupt."
Other messages took a more threatening tone, even wishing him death and reminding him he is "vulnerable."
Mandelblit said he also received doctored photos of himself in prison garments.
A Justice Ministry statement said that Mandelblit received threats mainly through text messages in the last day.
"These harassments and threats, apparently organized, continued throughout the night and morning. The harassment included threats, and hateful and incitement speech," read the statement.
Senior judiciary officials estimated last weekend that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters will escalate the attacks on the attorney general as the prime minister's trial approaches, mainly through social media.
"Netanyahu's associates will try to turn the attorney general from the accuser to the defendant," a senior prosecutor said.
"The prime minister's goal is to come to trial with Mandelblit disgraced as if he were the felon... According to this narrative, Mandelblit will be presented as someone who is not fit to lead the prosecution against Netanyahu."
Earlier this week, a video containing inciteful messages circulated on social media and was shared mainly by right-wing activists opposing the legal process against Netanyahu.
5 may 2020
Facebook on Monday evening removed dozens of accounts run by Palestinian activists and journalists without prior notice.
Some accounts were deleted for no reason and other users were informed they “violated the site’s policies”.
Sada Social Center on Tuesday said it had received dozens of reports from Palestinian Facebook users that their accounts were arbitrarily deleted.
Sada Social said the deleted accounts belong to Palestinian activists and journalists who use the social networking site to publish daily news.
The center is currently making a list of the removed accounts in order to contact the Facebook administration to recover them.
Some accounts were deleted for no reason and other users were informed they “violated the site’s policies”.
Sada Social Center on Tuesday said it had received dozens of reports from Palestinian Facebook users that their accounts were arbitrarily deleted.
Sada Social said the deleted accounts belong to Palestinian activists and journalists who use the social networking site to publish daily news.
The center is currently making a list of the removed accounts in order to contact the Facebook administration to recover them.
27 apr 2020
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh Center) found out in a new research on the YouTube policies and violations of the Palestinian digital content that the global platform repeatedly and systematically discriminates against Palestinians.
As the second most important popular platform in Palestine, the research revealed that YouTube’s policies and practices are violating the digital rights of Palestinians.
7amleh Center researcher Amal Nazzal conducted the study using the method of interpretive qualitative research methods and included literature review and in-depth interviews with human rights defenders, activists and journalists.
The findings showed that there is an unclear definition of violence and what is considered "violent content" based on YouTube policies, which, as a result, caused the removal of many Palestinian videos.
Nazal found out that policies discriminatory against Palestinian content such as spatial discrimination, surveillance, and punishment by stopping channels and withholding monetization result in Palestinian feelings of exclusion, discrimination, isolation, anger, and disappointment, and the development of coping strategies and techniques to resist these discriminatory practices.
The report called on YouTube to ensure clarity, transparency, equality and fairness in YouTube’s content policies, including ensuring equal access to information, clarification of policies and guidelines, reducing the use of erroneous artificial intelligence to monitor Palestinian content, enabling an appeals-process and publishing transparency reports.
“This research is a call to encourage collaboration and mobilization at the international, and in particular the Palestinian, levels to show how YouTube violates Palestinian rights and to resist it,” said Nazzal. “Counter to YouTube’s promise to be a space where every user has equal rights of participating and belonging, this research reveals how YouTube’s policies and practices are biased and discriminate against Palestinians.
This discrimination includes techniques of high-surveillance, which lead to incidents of exclusion, isolation, and demotivation.”
As the second most important popular platform in Palestine, the research revealed that YouTube’s policies and practices are violating the digital rights of Palestinians.
7amleh Center researcher Amal Nazzal conducted the study using the method of interpretive qualitative research methods and included literature review and in-depth interviews with human rights defenders, activists and journalists.
The findings showed that there is an unclear definition of violence and what is considered "violent content" based on YouTube policies, which, as a result, caused the removal of many Palestinian videos.
Nazal found out that policies discriminatory against Palestinian content such as spatial discrimination, surveillance, and punishment by stopping channels and withholding monetization result in Palestinian feelings of exclusion, discrimination, isolation, anger, and disappointment, and the development of coping strategies and techniques to resist these discriminatory practices.
The report called on YouTube to ensure clarity, transparency, equality and fairness in YouTube’s content policies, including ensuring equal access to information, clarification of policies and guidelines, reducing the use of erroneous artificial intelligence to monitor Palestinian content, enabling an appeals-process and publishing transparency reports.
“This research is a call to encourage collaboration and mobilization at the international, and in particular the Palestinian, levels to show how YouTube violates Palestinian rights and to resist it,” said Nazzal. “Counter to YouTube’s promise to be a space where every user has equal rights of participating and belonging, this research reveals how YouTube’s policies and practices are biased and discriminate against Palestinians.
This discrimination includes techniques of high-surveillance, which lead to incidents of exclusion, isolation, and demotivation.”
20 apr 2020
|
|
A mayor of a small town in the United States sparked an international incident after saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son has sent them a shipment of sought-after medical gear as a gesture of goodwill in the wake of coronavirus crisis.
In a now deleted tweet posted Wednesday, Mayor Sandy Stimpson from the town of Mobile, Alabama thanked Yair Netanyahu for sending them 1,000 sought-after N95 masks. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Israeli government has been frantically trying to obtain the needed protective medical gear, even placing an order with a company in Turkey. "Halalujia! Today, we received an unexpected gift of 1,000 N95 masks from my friend Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," wrote the mayor in a now-deleted tweet. "Yair visited my office last year to share ideas on how to improve law enforcement. |
We are incredibly blessed by his donation, which is sorely needed.”
The tweet was deleted 24 hours later and Stimpson changed the name of the donor from Yair Netnayhau to Yisroel Stefansky, the President of The Advanced Security Training Institute (ASTI).
ASTI is a self-proclaimed non-profit the deals in emergency training for police, defense and medical staff.
However, an earlier tweet by Stimpson praising Yair for the masks was not deleted.
"We got to know Yair when he visited Mobile last year to learn more about our approach to law enforcement," the tweet said. "These masks are sorely needed and will be put to immediate use by our first responders and health care workers who are on the front lines in the fight against coronavirus."
In another tweet the day after, Stimpson said that "We immediately made arrangements to deliver 500 N95 masks to Crowne Health Care. We know this much-needed equipment, donated to us this week by our friend Yair Netanyahu of Israel, will be put to good use."
In addition, a video of Stimpson with Jim Jewell, the head of the FBI's Mobile Division, was also posted online. In the video, Jewell praises Yair for sending the protective face masks as "a token of thanks for the visit here last year."
Stimpson in the video said that both Stafinsky and Netanyahu visited the town last year where they taught and learned from our first responders and police.
"Not in our wildest dreams would we think they will remember us in this crisis."
When asked about the donation to the city of Mobile, the prime minister's son denied any connection to the delivery.
"The organization that Yair worked for (ASTI) was the one who procured the masks and sent them to Mobile in his name, without his knowledge, as part of a pro-Israeli publicity campaign led by the organization," said a spokesperson for the Netanyahu family.
Yair himself blasted the media and said he was not involved with the shipment of the gear.
"They [the media] have completely lost their minds to the point that they need to be institutionalized," he said on his Twitter account. "I was in Mobile as part of a speaking tour across the United States.
The organization I worked for gave those masks in my name without me knowing and even then, they [the media] complain and ruin good publicity for Israel."
The tweet was deleted 24 hours later and Stimpson changed the name of the donor from Yair Netnayhau to Yisroel Stefansky, the President of The Advanced Security Training Institute (ASTI).
ASTI is a self-proclaimed non-profit the deals in emergency training for police, defense and medical staff.
However, an earlier tweet by Stimpson praising Yair for the masks was not deleted.
"We got to know Yair when he visited Mobile last year to learn more about our approach to law enforcement," the tweet said. "These masks are sorely needed and will be put to immediate use by our first responders and health care workers who are on the front lines in the fight against coronavirus."
In another tweet the day after, Stimpson said that "We immediately made arrangements to deliver 500 N95 masks to Crowne Health Care. We know this much-needed equipment, donated to us this week by our friend Yair Netanyahu of Israel, will be put to good use."
In addition, a video of Stimpson with Jim Jewell, the head of the FBI's Mobile Division, was also posted online. In the video, Jewell praises Yair for sending the protective face masks as "a token of thanks for the visit here last year."
Stimpson in the video said that both Stafinsky and Netanyahu visited the town last year where they taught and learned from our first responders and police.
"Not in our wildest dreams would we think they will remember us in this crisis."
When asked about the donation to the city of Mobile, the prime minister's son denied any connection to the delivery.
"The organization that Yair worked for (ASTI) was the one who procured the masks and sent them to Mobile in his name, without his knowledge, as part of a pro-Israeli publicity campaign led by the organization," said a spokesperson for the Netanyahu family.
Yair himself blasted the media and said he was not involved with the shipment of the gear.
"They [the media] have completely lost their minds to the point that they need to be institutionalized," he said on his Twitter account. "I was in Mobile as part of a speaking tour across the United States.
The organization I worked for gave those masks in my name without me knowing and even then, they [the media] complain and ruin good publicity for Israel."
29 mar 2020
After 8 months of campaigning to demand that Microsoft drop their investment in AnyVision, the Israeli facial recognition company, the hi-tech giant finally announced its divestment from the former.
"This is a huge and sorely needed victory at a time when corporations and governments have begun to use COVID-19 as an excuse to violate human rights," said a statement by the international campaign to demand Microsoft divestment from AnyVision, adding: "A win against a massive corporation like Microsoft is meaningful and important."
The campaign said that "with Microsoft workers, community leaders in Seattle, MPower Change, and SumOfUs – we can make significant change happen and get a corporate giant to do the right thing."
The campaign explained that as soon as Microsoft announced a $74 million investment in AnyVision last June, a campaign was launched "demanding they drop the facial recognition tech company, which an investigation found was secretly surveilling Palestinians."
"AnyVision's surveillance violates Palestinians' human rights, privacy, and basic dignity.
Over 75,000 people signed our combined petitions to Microsoft, and we held a powerful action at Microsoft HQ where we delivered those names in person."
"This is a huge and sorely needed victory at a time when corporations and governments have begun to use COVID-19 as an excuse to violate human rights," said a statement by the international campaign to demand Microsoft divestment from AnyVision, adding: "A win against a massive corporation like Microsoft is meaningful and important."
The campaign said that "with Microsoft workers, community leaders in Seattle, MPower Change, and SumOfUs – we can make significant change happen and get a corporate giant to do the right thing."
The campaign explained that as soon as Microsoft announced a $74 million investment in AnyVision last June, a campaign was launched "demanding they drop the facial recognition tech company, which an investigation found was secretly surveilling Palestinians."
"AnyVision's surveillance violates Palestinians' human rights, privacy, and basic dignity.
Over 75,000 people signed our combined petitions to Microsoft, and we held a powerful action at Microsoft HQ where we delivered those names in person."
16 mar 2020
The Israeli occupation police on Sunday summoned Palestinian lawyer Khaled Zabarqa to interrogate him about his support for the Aqsa Mosque on social media.
“They want to interfere in the way we think, our faith, and our religious and political positions,” Zabarqa said in press remarks after the police finished interrogating him.
“The Aqsa Mosque will remain the symbol of our pride and the meaning of our existence on this land. Do not test us. We decided our options long time ago,” he added.
Lawyer Zabarqa — known for defending Palestinian activists in Jerusalem — criticized on social media the Israeli occupation authority for closing several gates of the Aqsa Mosque and preventing the Islamic Awqaf from opening them while allowing Jewish settlers to defile the holy site through al-Maghariba Gate.
The Israeli police on Sunday morning gave themselves the right to close most the Aqsa Mosque’s doors to Muslim worshipers, claiming it was a preventive measure to limit the spread of coronavirus.
However, they did not shut al-Maghariba Gate used daily by Jewish settlers to enter the Aqsa Mosque and allowed dozens of them to tour its courtyards in the morning.
“They want to interfere in the way we think, our faith, and our religious and political positions,” Zabarqa said in press remarks after the police finished interrogating him.
“The Aqsa Mosque will remain the symbol of our pride and the meaning of our existence on this land. Do not test us. We decided our options long time ago,” he added.
Lawyer Zabarqa — known for defending Palestinian activists in Jerusalem — criticized on social media the Israeli occupation authority for closing several gates of the Aqsa Mosque and preventing the Islamic Awqaf from opening them while allowing Jewish settlers to defile the holy site through al-Maghariba Gate.
The Israeli police on Sunday morning gave themselves the right to close most the Aqsa Mosque’s doors to Muslim worshipers, claiming it was a preventive measure to limit the spread of coronavirus.
However, they did not shut al-Maghariba Gate used daily by Jewish settlers to enter the Aqsa Mosque and allowed dozens of them to tour its courtyards in the morning.
