Facebook has removed the page of the far right wing racist and neo-Kahanist group Lehava and the personal page belonging to former MK Michael Ben Ari.
Above: Michael Ben Ari
Facebook Removes Pages Of Racist Israeli Group And Former Extreme Right Wing MK
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Facebook has removed the page of the far right wing racist and neo-Kahanist group Lehava and the personal page belonging to former Member of Knesset Michael Ben Ari after receiving complaints about incitement, Ha’aretz reported.
The two removed Facebook pages join several other Israeli pages Facebook has recently removed for the same or similar reasons, including the Al-Yahud Gang, Death Penalty for Terrorists and Rescind Leftists’ Citizenship – all described as far-right groups by Ha’aretz – and it also removed the page of hard right-wing activist Baruch Marzel, a follower of the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Lehava, which claims its goal is to “prevent assimilation in the Holy Land” and “to save Jewish girls tempted into a relationship with a non-Jew” often publishes racist, anti-Arab material and Lehava members helped organize demonstrations against Arabs and other demonstrations African asylum-seekers. The latter demonstrations turned violent.
Lehava’s head, Bentzion Gopstein, publicly defended right wing Jewish teens who violently attacked three Arab youths in Jerusalem in 2012 in a clear hate crime.
As for Ben Ari, Facebook reportedly previously considered closing his page because of complaints, but waited to do so until now. It said it had reconsidered its previous decisions to allow Ben Ari to continue using Facebook.
Both Facebook and Twitter previously closed the accounts of Hamas’ military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, after Israelis complained they were being used to spread incitement and hate speech.
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