[News] Sadistic Facebook shuts down Gaza health ministry page

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/sadistic-facebook-shuts-down-gaza-health-ministry-page
Sadistic
Facebook shuts down Gaza health ministry pageAli Abunimah
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah> - 26 August 2020
------------------------------
[image: Man in mask places gloved hand on protective screen]

A worker in Khan Younis during a lockdown imposed following the discovery
of the first coronavirus cases in the Gaza Strip outside of quarantine
centers, 25 August.
APA images

When I heard the news on Monday that the first coronavirus cases
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israels-crimes-must-be-met-arms-embargo>
had been confirmed in Gaza outside of quarantine centers, I headed
immediately for the Facebook page of Gaza’s health ministry
<http://www.moh.gov.ps/portal/>.

It’s the place I go for information or livestreams of press conferences
from health officials serving the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of
whom are children.

This was the moment
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-has-no-plan-prevent-gaza-outbreak>
everyone dreaded
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/portent-covid-19/30076> and had
managed to stave off since the start of the pandemic: a potentially
uncontained outbreak in a besieged enclave whose health
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza-health-care-system> and sanitation
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/life-septic-tank/20826> systems
have been on their knees for years due to successive Israeli military
attacks and 14 years of illegal blockade
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/un-undermines-justice-tiptoeing-around-israel>
.

To my dismay, however, the Facebook page was gone
<https://www.facebook.com/MOHGaza1994/>.

Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, the health ministry’s spokesperson, confirmed to The
Electronic Intifada that Facebook shut the page down about 10 days ago.
This is the third time Facebook has shut down the ministry’s page.

Al-Qedra said the pretext Facebook gave was that the ministry had used the
words “martyr” or “resistance.”

The word *shahid* in Arabic – often translated as “martyr” – is used almost
universally by Palestinians to describe any person, whether a civilian or a
combatant, killed in the context of the conflict with Israel.

I have written to Facebook’s media office twice this week asking for an
explanation. I have yet to receive any reply.
Campaign of censorship

For years, Facebook <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/facebook> has been
waging a campaign in cahoots
<https://theintercept.com/2016/09/12/facebook-is-collaborating-with-the-israeli-government-to-determine-what-should-be-censored/>
with Israeli occupation authorities to silence and censor Palestinian media.

It has shut down the accounts
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/palestinian-authority-blocks-59-news-outlets>
and pages of dozens of Palestinian journalists and publications
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-censors-palestinian-news-outlet-1>
– on the Israeli-supplied pretext
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/facebook-follows-israels-script/30446>
that criticism of Israel and its crimes against Palestinians constitute
“incitement.”

It has labeled
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-labels-palestinian-journalism-hate-speech>
Palestinian journalism as “hate speech.”

Facebook has even appointed an Israeli government censor
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/facebook-appoints-israeli-censor-oversight-board>
to its “oversight board.”

Meanwhile, Facebook has allowed covert Israel lobby influence and
disinformation campaigns to run freely on its platform
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-gives-nod-secret-pro-israel-campaign>
.
Cruel and unconscionable

Given Facebook’s silence, it is only fair to conclude that the shutting
down of the health ministry’s page is part of this censorship campaign.

But what “incitement” could the health ministry possible have engaged in?

Every person and journalist who has visited its page knows that the health
ministry uses Facebook to supply information – whether about people killed
or injured in Israeli attacks, or about the enormous efforts to hold back
the spread of COVID-19.

“The Facebook page is very important for our work, to keep a connection
with people and to post information and guidance,” al-Qedra said.

“Facebook has become a basic information source all around the world, and
in Gaza it’s the most used outlet.”

It is cruel and unconscionable for Facebook to deprive Palestinians of
information at any time, but during a pandemic it is positively sadistic.

It is also hypocritical: When Facebook claims
<https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/blog/working-to-stop-misinformation-and-false-news>
it is working to “stop misinformation and false news,” how can it possibly
help by shutting down vital sources of health information for vulnerable
people?

Faced with this outrageous censorship, the health ministry in Gaza is
working to launch a new page, according to al-Qedra.

But every time Facebook shuts down an organization’s page, it loses all its
followers and must start from scratch building up its audience again.

The ministry also still has a Facebook page
<https://www.facebook.com/CoronaMOH2019/> created in March specifically to
focus on COVID-19.

That page on Wednesday announced
<https://www.facebook.com/CoronaMOH2019/posts/171926987748125> the first
death of a Palestinian with the virus outside of quarantine in Gaza.

The ministry stated that 61-year-old Rabah Labad was seriously ill and on a
ventilator when he passed away.

Health officials also announced nine more cases
<https://www.facebook.com/CoronaMOH2019/posts/171924177748406> in different
parts of Gaza on Wednesday.

Things are difficult enough for Palestinians in Gaza. Facebook must stop
contributing to their misery by censoring vital health information.

*Sarah Algherbawi contributed reporting from Gaza.*

*Since initial publication this article has been updated with comments from
the health ministry spokesperson.*
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