Take Action Against Facebook’s Censorship of Palestine Advocacy

Palestine Legal is co-sponsoring a campaign against Facebook labeling Palestine advocacy as hate speech.

The tech giant is considering a policy that would treat some posts critical of “Zionists” as equivalent to attacks against Jewish people, and therefore subject to removal under their hate speech policies.  

This policy would add to the already troubling censorship that advocates for Palestinian rights experience on Facebook and other social media platforms. This policy expansion would undoubtedly increase the harmful impact on Palestinians and their allies who wish to discuss the violence and discrimination they face from Zionist entities, organizations and individuals.

The campaign’s petition against Facebook’s policy has garnered nearly 40,000 signatures within a week of launching, and now seeks 50,000 signatures before Facebook makes a decision in the coming weeks.

“The policy Facebook is considering would be yet another tool to silence Palestinians and their allies who are trying to tell the world about the impacts of Zionism on their daily lives,” said senior staff attorney Liz Jackson. 

“Every year, Palestine Legal hears from hundreds of people in the U.S. — Palestinians and their allies — who are censored, punished and harassed for speaking out for Palestinian freedom,” Jackson continued. “The vast majority are accused of antisemitism because they criticized the political positions of Zionists, in defense of Palestinian lives. Facebook must resist this censorship, not reinforce it.”

As the campaign site notes: 

This move is part of a concerning pattern of the Israeli government and its supporters pressuring Facebook and other social media platforms to expand their hate speech policies to include speech critical of Israel and Zionism.

The Israeli government and its supporters falsely claim that equating “Zionist” with “Jew” or “Jewish” will help fight antisemitism. In reality, they hope that that by mischaracterizing critical use of the term “Zionists” as anti-Jewish, they can avoid accountability for its policies and actions that violate Palestinian human rights.

Attempts to stifle conversations about Zionist political ideology and Zionist policies carried out by state actors — both of which have real implications for Palestinian and Israeli people, as well as Jewish and Palestinian people around the world — are part of an emerging pattern of political censorship by the Israeli government and some of its supporters.

TAKE ACTION 

Sign and share the petition here.

Learn more about the campaign here and download graphics to share on social media here.