2 Palestinians Detained in East Jerusalem over ‘Online Incitement’

Facebook has been under pressure from Israel for the type of content Israel finds objectionable. (Photo: via Middle East Rising)

Israeli police detained two Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem over alleged online incitement, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement that the two youths, ages 20 and 24, were detained separately for individually posting on Facebook “praising the acts of terrorists and supporting the attacks on security forces.”

Rosenfeld did not specify when the two were detained, but said that both of their homes were searched and that courts had extended their detentions.

In the past year, Israel has detained scores of Palestinians for social media activity, alleging that a wave of unrest that swept the occupied Palestinian territory in October 2015 was encouraged largely by “incitement.”

Earlier this year, the controversial “Facebook bill” passed its first reading in the Knesset, which would allow Israeli officials to force the social media giant to remove certain content through a court order if there are suspicions of “incitement.”

Meanwhile, Palestinians have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel’s nearly 50-year military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the outbreak of violence. Many Palestinians have also pointed out that Israeli violence has continued to shape everyday life in the occupied territory, regardless of any recent “upticks” in clashes or attacks.

(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)

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