The Lach Yerushalayim organization and right-wing watchdog group Im Tirzu have contacted Facebook upon learning a Palestinian media outlet with over one million followers has been using the social media platform to incites terrorism online.
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The network, by the name of Jerusalem Square, operates from the city, issuing daily reports on terrorist operatives killed or wounded while working against "operation forces."
In one such post on Aug. 12, the network commemorated the 27th anniversary of the "martyrdom" of terrorists who abducted Sgt. Nachshon Wachsman, a dual US-Israeli citizen, in 1994 and then murdered him when IDF forces attempted to rescue him.
On its Facebook page, the organization expresses support for these activists, glorifying them and campaigning for their release. The network also expresses support for imprisoned Sheik Raed Salah, head of the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and the man believed to be behind the Facebook page.
Lach Yerushalayim, which promotes Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, and Im Tirzu researchers contacted Facebook upon discovering a series of posts that amount to incitement, including by glorifying terrorist "martyrs" and terrorists in recent weeks. The social media giant, however, has refused to remove the page, claiming it did not violate community guidelines.
Lach Yerushalayim Chairman Maor Tzemach said: "The terrorist and incitement organizations are taking advantage of social media to glorify terrorists. We demand Facebook and Twitter immediately remove Jerusalem Square's incitement pages. Likewise, we demand Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev immediately order the closure and removal of the Hamas organization-aligned Jerusalem Square from Jerusalem."
Im Tirzu head Matan Peleg said, "Under our noses, a network was established that is in fact a ticking time bomb. Campaigns for the release of terrorist bodies and imprisoned terrorists, the glorification of murderers, posts about the 1929 Hebron massacre of dozens of Jews, and intense coverage" of the inciting Sheikh Raed Salah. All this certainly justifies the immediate removal of the Facebook page, but despite our complaints to Facebooks, the page has not been removed.
"I call on the Israel Police to act within the speediest and most efficient framework of the law to prevent the continued incitement happening on Facebook and Instagram on Jerusalem Square's page. If Facebook and Instagram do not remove the page, the police will need to protect Israeli citizens. Every day this page [continues to] exist, every day this network's offices exist is a serious threat to the citizens of Israel."
Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich said: "There is no place for incitement to murder on social media. When Facebook wants to, they know how to block [content].
"A few weeks ago, I contacted Facebook management to report pages that praise terrorist operatives, the pages were temporarily blocked. I call on Facebook to block the pages in support of terrorists and stop the terrible incitement against Israel's citizens."
World Zionist Organization Chairman and acting Jewish Agency head Yaakov Hagoel noted that "at a Knesset hearing, Facebook committed to acting forcefully against antisemitic activity online. Activities that call for terrorism against Jews are antisemitism in the most blatant sense. I demand Facebook remove this page immediately and intend to contact Facebook's management on the subject."
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