French author and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy at Tel Aviv University (Wikipedia)
While posts promoting violence and anti-Semitism frequently appear on Facebook, users were recently shocked to see that a poignant pro-Israel piece was apparently removed by the management. It reappeared, seemingly due to intervention by a prominent human-rights group.
A powerful article published by The Algemeiner last week, slamming Palestinian terrorists for the current wave of terror against Israelis, mysteriously disappeared from the many Facebook pages on which it had been posted.
Titled Things We Need to Stop Hearing About the ‘Stabbing Intifada’ and written by internationally renowned French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, the article was published by The Algemeiner, posted on the news site’s Facebook page and shared by many.
As The Algemeiner explains, the article refers to the “popular use of Facebook as a tool for Islamists to build support for their cause, and highlights a slew of injustices surrounding the latest wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israeli Jews sweeping the Holy Land.”
Users were dismayed to see that the article was suddenly missing from the Facebook pages.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a media watchdog, originally informed the news site about the article’s disappearance. It was also removed from The Algemeiner‘s Facebook page, “where it had amassed some 40,000 views,” The Algemeiner continues. “Other readers also noted that it had been removed from their own Facebook pages, and a Facebook search for the article came up empty.”
Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder of Shurat HaDin Israeli Law Center. (Facebook)
French-Jewish artist and activist Ron Agam, The Algemeiner reports, was incensed upon discovering that the article had been removed from his Facebook wall. “I am stunned that Facebook had the audacity and brashness to silence one of the most important Jewish voices in the world,” Agam told The Algemeiner. “I am furious and disappointed… Israelis are being stabbed and killed [because of] incitement with an ideology of hate funneled by Facebook while they find the time to silence a man of peace and conciliation.”
The posts with Levy’s article reappeared on Facebook a few days later, apparently due to queries made by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), The Algemeiner reports. “A representative told SWC that the post had not been banned because of its content and that further inquiries would be made to determine why it had been removed.”
Coincidentally, some 20,000 Israelis joined a class-action lawsuit against Facebook this month, charging that the social media platform is tolerating posts that include Palestinian incitement and calls to murder Jews
According to Shurat Hadin Law Center, an Israel-based human rights group, which is spearheading this venture, Facebook has become a “paradise” for the spread of Palestinian incitement and terrorism.
By: United with Israel Staff
(With files from The Algemeiner)
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