Pro-Israel Group Turns to Facebook to Stop Intifada
Swept up by the momentum of the recent Facebook-powered revolutions in the Arab world, a newly formed, super-viral Palestinian group on Facebook openly advocates another Intifada (terror war) against the citizens of Israel.
The “Third Palestinian Intifada” calls for a million supporters to join forces in a violent uprising against Israel on May 15, 2011. Previous intifadas (1987 and 2000) resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent victims through suicide bombings, rocket attacks, roadside shootings and other acts of terror.
Supporters of Israel are up in arms, in light of the recent brutal slaughter of a young Israeli family, the bombing in Jerusalem and increased rocket attacks. They draw a distinction between popular uprisings against Arab dictators and terror wars against innocent Israeli citizens.
Israeli Minister Yuli Edelstein, in a letter to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, noted that “there are many remarks and movie clips calling for the killing of Israelis and Jews and the liberating of Palestine through acts of violence.”
The Anti-Defamation League said the page constitutes “an appalling abuse of technology to promote terrorist violence.”
United with Israel, a grass-roots organization with the world’s largest pro-Israel Facebook community of over 200,000 members, has initiated an aggressive campaign to gather one million fans and signatures on an ‘open letter’ to Facebook. Their goal is to shut down the Palestinian page promoting terror and to unite a “Million Voices for Peace in Israel.”
“It’s a matter of life and death,” says United with Israel founder Michael Gerbitz. “Israel has been waiting for the Palestinians to talk peace. While Israel seeks peace, the Palestinian Intifada promotes war.”
United with Israel’s efforts were endorsed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry. “There’s a tendency to think that the government can take care of everything—we cannot,” says Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister. In a recent meeting, he told the group “We so much support what you do,” thanking its members for augmenting Israel’s advocacy efforts.
United with Israel is reaching out to individuals and organizations throughout the world, regardless of religious or political affiliation. “Every decent human being must sign this,” says Gerbitz. “We must prevent another intifada. This is good vs. evil; humanity vs. barbarism; life vs. death. Innocent lives can and must be saved.”
The “Open Letter to Facebook” can be found at www.millionvoicesforisrael.org.
