The 75 million evangelical Christians who combat antisemitism on the Facebook page of the Jerusalem Prayer Team have reason to celebrate. The page, which was shut down for some three months after it attracted over 2 million antisemitic posts during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May has been reactivated.
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"Our goal is to build Israel's brand and to make friends of Zion by fundamentally educating m millennials and combating antisemitism," New York Times bestselling author Mike Evans said.
Evans was in Israel preparing to host a global Facebook event on May 19 to mobilize support for Israel during the operation against Hamas infrastructure in Gaza when he was informed the page was shut down. Christian broadcasters, politicians, faith leaders and celebrities, including President of the Billy Graham Association Rev. Franklin Graham, President of the CBN Network Gordon Robertson, former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Governor Mike Huckabee, Pastor Robert Jeffress, Jon Voight, Pat Boone and Pastor Jack Graham were scheduled to take part in the event.
From May 12-14, more than 2 million antisemitic comments were posted to the Jerusalem Prayer Team page. Facebook shut down the page and notified the Jerusalem Prayer Team on May 16.
Leaders throughout the world came to the support of the Jerusalem Prayer Team and Mike Evans during the crisis; including Fox News host Sean Hannity, Senator Ted Cruz, former presidential candidate and Governor Mike Huckabee and former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert.
"I'm absolutely appalled by the decision of Facebook to cut you off from the network. I have full competence in the dedication, devotion, principle and support that you have manifested to the State of Israel," Olmert said. "I think the basic principles and value of freedom of speech must allow you the opportunity to share your opinion and support and attitudes towards the State of Israel with all the tens of millions of followers that are dedicated to you."
Evans believes the Facebook page closure appears to have been part of a larger misinformation attack against Facebook that took place during the operation. NBC News reported in May that pro-Palestinian activists are running a coordinated campaign to downgrade Facebook's app review ratings to protest the company's alleged censorship of Palestinian accounts and posts.
The targeted cyberattack changed the average star rating for the social network was down from over 4 out of 5 to 2.3 out of 5 on Apple's App Store and 2.4 out of 5 on the Google Play store Saturday evening after receiving thousands of one-star reviews. Many of the reviews included comments mentioning Facebook's alleged silencing of Palestinian voices and hashtags such as #FreePalestine or #GazaUnderAttack, according to the report.
The Daily Pakistan website reported on May 22 that the Facebook application has a rating of 2.5 on the Google Play Store and 2.4 on the Apple App Store. It has dropped from over 4. People rate these applications based on their services.
Many of the users posted complaints on play stores about how Facebook wiped out their "right to express themselves."
The rating of social applications is likely to drop even further over the coming days as many hashtags are currently trending, condemning these apps for censoring Palestinian posts and allowing provocative Israeli content.
The Jerusalem Prayer Team founded the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, in which the late ninth president of the State of Israel Shimon Peres served as the founding chairman. The Friends of Zion award had been given to more than 20 world leaders, including two US presidents, George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump.
Evans said, "Though Facebook claimed it closed the page due to inauthentic behavior and spam, I believe what the Pakistan Daily quoted is in fact what fueled all this," Evans added, "Though Facebook continues to believe the page was shut down due to inauthentic behavior and spam by the Jerusalem Prayer Team, I am thankful the page is back up."
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