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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"
dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-censors-palestinian-news-outlet-1">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-censors-palestinian-news-outlet-1</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Facebook censors Palestinian news
outlet</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali
Abunimah</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2018-03-26T19:12:25+00:00">26 March 2018</span></span>
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<figure id="file-58081"><source media="(min-width:
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<p>Facebook has shut down the <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/safaps">page</a> of a
major Palestinian news outlet, in what appears to be a
blatant instance of pro-Israel censorship.</p>
<p>The Safa Palestinian Press Agency <a
href="http://safa.ps/post/232169">reported that on
Saturday</a> its page, which had more than 1.3
million followers, was shut down without warning.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">As part of its unabated
campaign against pro-Palestinian content on its
platform, Facebook removes the page of the
Palestinian Press Agency (SAFA) today. <a
href="https://t.co/0jeytF12XP">pic.twitter.com/0jeytF12XP</a></p>
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) <a
href="https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/977559010365857792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March
24, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>According to Safa, the next day its website was
hijacked and replaced with threatening statements,
before the publication’s technologists managed to
restore control of their site.</p>
<p>On Monday, Safa <a href="http://safa.ps/post/232218">reported</a>
that its page on the photo sharing network Instagram,
which is owned by Facebook, had also been shut down
without any warning. The account had more than 70,000
followers.</p>
<p>This appears to be an escalation of Facebook’s
persistent blocking of the accounts of Palestinian
journalists and publications.</p>
<p>Safa reports a mix of local and international news
typical of other news organizations and asserts it has
done nothing to violate Facebook’s rules.</p>
<p><a href="http://safa.ps/post/232169">According</a> to
Safa, Facebook has in recent days shut down about 100
accounts belonging to Palestinian media and activists.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://safaps.com/post/232226">statement</a>
Monday, Safa managers condemned Facebook’s action as a
continuation of Israel’s assault on the Palestinian
people and an attempt to silence reporting about
reality.</p>
<p>The publication urged local and international press
freedom defenders to speak out against the censorship,
and called on Facebook to restore Safa’s accounts.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, journalists in Gaza held a
demonstration to <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/how-facebook-protects-israel">protest
censorship</a> by Facebook.</p>
<p>A request for comment has been sent to Facebook.</p>
<h2>Bowing to government pressure</h2>
<p>In 2016, Israel <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/09/12/facebook-is-collaborating-with-the-israeli-government-to-determine-what-should-be-censored/">made
an agreement</a> with Facebook to collaborate in
monitoring what Israel claims to be “incitement” by
Palestinians.</p>
<p>That year, Facebook apologized for disabling the
accounts of several Palestinian journalists, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/facebook-apologizes-disabling-palestinian-journalists-accounts">claiming</a>
it had been a mistake.</p>
<p>But with the shuttering of Safa’s accounts, it
appears that the targeting of Palestinian journalists
continues.</p>
<p>The European Union also appears to be supporting
Israel’s social media censorship as part of the
28-member bloc’s <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eu-pledges-help-israel-suppress-criticism">deepening
commitment</a> to silencing support for Palestinian
rights.</p>
<p>Last week, three EU justice ministers <a
href="http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2018/Pages/Joint-Statement-on-Countering-Online-Hate-Speech-and-Incitement-to-Violence-and-Terrorism-presented-at-the-6th-Global-Forum.aspx">signed
a joint declaration</a> with their Israeli
counterpart Ayelet Shaked on “combating online
incitement” and anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>In recent years, Israel has been <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/campaigners-go-offensive-against-bogus-uk-anti-semitism-definition">pushing</a>
to broaden the definition of anti-Semitism – which
simply means bigotry against Jews as Jews – to include
criticism of Israel and its state ideology, Zionism.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Joint Statement on
Countering Online <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HateSpeech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HateSpeech</a>
and Incitement to Violence and Terrorism signed
by Justice Ministers of <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a>,
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Italy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Italy</a>,
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Greece?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Greece</a>
& <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Malta?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Malta</a>,
and presented at the 6th Global Forum for
Combating Antisemitism. <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GFCA2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GFCA2018</a><br>
🔗<a href="https://t.co/dQJNfzC6tK">https://t.co/dQJNfzC6tK</a>
<a href="https://t.co/Q6PmjQ6Sih">pic.twitter.com/Q6PmjQ6Sih</a></p>
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) <a
href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/976213629665185794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March
20, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>The event was attended by Delphine Reyer, Facebook’s
policy director for Africa and the Middle East.</p>
<h2>Israeli incitement</h2>
<p>While Facebook colludes with governments to crack
down on Palestinians, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/israelis-facebook">violent
and racist incitement</a> by Israelis continues
unabated.</p>
<p>More than 10 percent of Facebook posts written about
Palestinians include denigrating language or calls for
violence, according to a <a
href="http://7amleh.org/2018/03/05/7amleh-releases-new-racism-index-exposing-heightened-israeli-online-incitement-against-palestinians/">recent
study</a> by <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/7amleh">7amleh</a>,
an advocacy group for Palestinian citizens of Israel.</p>
<p>One of the most notorious examples of online
incitement against Palestinians was posted by none
other than justice minister Ayelet Shaked.</p>
<p>On the eve of the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza that
left more than 550 Palestinian children dead, Shaked
promoted a call for genocidal violence, including the
slaughter of Palestinian mothers who give birth to
“little snakes.”</p>
<p>Shaked’s call received thousands of “likes” before
she removed it, embarrassed by the global exposure it
gained after The Electronic Intifada <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-lawmakers-call-genocide-palestinians-gets-thousands-facebook-likes">translated</a>
it into English.</p>
<p>Last week, Shaked <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-shaked-terror-groups-use-twitter-because-facebook-works-with-israel-1.5918301">claimed</a>
that “terror groups” – the Israeli government’s
catch-all term for Palestinian political parties and
resistance organizations – were switching to Twitter,
because so far that social network has been less
willing to comply with government censorship than
Facebook.</p>
<p>This indicates that after Facebook’s capitulation,
other social media networks will be in Israel’s
crosshairs.</p>
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