A month after the launch of a Facebook group calling for a third Intifada, Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein sent a letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday, demanding that the page calling a Palestinian uprising be shut down immediately.
The Facebook group was launched less than a month ago with the number of members growing dramatically, with nearly 250,000 people expressing support for launching a third Intifada on May 15, marked by Arabs as Nakba Day – a day where Palestinians mark the "catastrophe of Israel's establishment."
The founders of the Facebook group claim that they got the idea for the page from the recent uprisings throughout the Middle East that led to the ousting of the Tunisian and Egyptian leaders and the fall of their regimes.
There is no need to explain what the outrageous incitement on the page in question can cause – from harming innocent Jews and Israelis and through to an armed struggle against Israel, Minister Edelstein wrote in a letter to the founder of the popular social network.
Group's goal: Israel's downfall
In his letter, Edelstein stressed that he wasn't writing in his official capacity but as someone who shares the values of freedom of expression, and said he believed that there must be a discernable difference between freedom of expression and freedom to incite.
The founders of the group hope that a popular uprising like those that broke out in the Arab world would also bring about the downfall of the State of Israel, with the help of groups supporters in the Palestinian Authority and countries bordering on Israel.
Muslim boycott
The group's doctrines include a call for simultaneous protests on the Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian borders while Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza will launch attacks on Israeli settlements. Moreover, they ask for "the help of our brothers in Lebanon" who will assist by raining missiles down on Israel.
Since its launch, the Facebook group has received a great deal of coverage in the Palestinian and Arab media. Its founders, who remain anonymous, warned Facebook that shutting down their page would lead the Muslim world to boycott Facebook.
It seems that the threat did little to impress the site managers as one of the group's founders who calls himself "Son of Palestine" reported calls for violence.
Son of Palestine also accused Facebook's management team of forging the number of supporters the group has, claiming that the number is much higher than 250,000.
Third Palestinian Intifada - الانتفاضة الفلسطينية الثالثة"Hi Michelle, you may want to advertise the existence of this disgusting Facebook page and ask people to click on "report this page" and choose reasons like violence, hatred, etc."
Dear Friends and Members,
Imagine if there was a group on facebook that called for the destruction of the United States, the United Kingdom or China. How long would it be before facebook deleted that page? Well, there is a facebook group that calls for the destruction of Israel, but the staff of facebook seems to think that the group does not violate any rules. A so-called "Palestinian" flag has been used as a map that covers the entire state of Israel. That means that the final goal of this group is the complete destruction of Israel.
I have been advised that the staff of facebook has no intention of deleting this page any time soon. Please take a look at this anti-Israel hate fest. It incites members and threatens to kill Jews and destroy Israel. There are countless messages indicating that the end of Israel will be on May 15, 2011. The title alone is enough evidence of the contents of this page. It contains hate speech and death threats against a specific group.
Let your voice be heard. I ask you to please report this page because it ought to be a violation of facebook rules.
Notice at the bottom of the page. It is written as follows: "If facebook blocks this page, all Muslims will boycott facebook forever."
Although somewhat ineffective, this is a direct threat to facebook!
Please look to the left of this sentence and click on 'Report.'
MOST IMPORTANTLY, PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR LIST.
Thank you very much,
Michelle Cohen
