8th Thought

The article I will be discussing, from the Jerusalem Post:
Here

Like many people my age, I have a Facebook account. I'm a member of several groups, including a protest against the Prussian Blue band, 600,000 Jews, and a pro-Israel group. The existence of anti-Israel groups thus caught my eye.

I thought at first they might be groups that are just critical - I belong to a group that jokingly suggests America should be a British colony again, for example. But the article noted that they were deeply anti-Semitic as well: they "call for the destruction of Israel and death to Jews, advocate violence and deny the Holocaust (or else ask why Hitler did not finish his work)." David, a spokesman for the Jewish Internet Defense Force who are trying to get these groups removed, has recieved death threats.

This is extremely troubling. I hear people often complain that "any criticism of Israel is accused of anti-Semitism". Well, here's why. David notes that there is room for criticism, and I myself don't agree with every single policy they enact - as if it's possible for there to be a country I did completely agree with. Sometimes I, too, am frustrated with what seems like a blind-eye attitude towards Palestine. But when any critique of Israel can have an anti-Semitic origin, it's no surprise there's going to be that suspicion. Good grief, there are Hitler supporters joining these groups.

It really shows the continued dangers Jews and Israel still face. And the blind-eye attitude toward that; the article notes that while these groups violate Facebook's Terms of Use, they're often left alone. There are more than 150 groups with names like "I hate Israel". The JIDL singled out twenty especially terrible ones, but only six of those have been removed.

Of course, it is difficult to moniter websites. David notes, "It [is] for people to act when they saw intolerant material on-line, since otherwise hateful messages could spread. If people don't speak out against it, silence is a sin," he said." I know the ADL can be contacted for this purpose; I've done so on account of an anti-Semitic cartoon printed in our city's newspaper. However, I haven't done anything about these groups on Facebook. I didn't know about them, but now that my ignorance has been corrected, I'll be sure to report any I come across. Silence is indeed a sin. It makes me think of the famous poem by Pastor Marin Niemoller:

"Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte."