By Richard Silverstein
I mean the title of this article in two ways: first, the Shabak is at war with Palestinians using social media in order to express their nationalist political views. Second, the Israeli far-right is using Facebook as a potent means to advance its own genocidal views against Palestinians. If that sounds like a double standard…well, welcome to Israel, the land of hypocrisy and double standards.
For example, last week the Shabak hauled a Palestinian in for interrogation because he called Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, the “mayor of Occupation.” Haaretz notes that four months ago, the police arrested 13 young East Jerusalem bloggers who complained about the “politics of Occupation” and damage to Al Aqsa Mosque. Their lawyer pointed out that charges were filed against eight of them, but none of the charges involved anything they’d posted. All charges were dredged up in the subsequent interrogation and applied post facto.
Another Palestinian social media activist was jailed on charges that his Twitter and Facebook postings supported a “terror organization.” His detention was extended by the court with the claim that his alleged crimes were “serious” and if he was released he would likely endanger the public peace and security and damage the investigation. All this due to a tweet!! Who’d have thought they could be so subversive as to threaten an entire nation?
After his release, his lawyer discovered that the posts the police grilled him about were anywhere from a year to two years old.
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