Bibi Netanyahu has been blaming U.S. internet companies like Facebook for the current Palestinian uprising. I’ve taken to calling it the “Facebook Intifada.” Now there’s a new Silicon Valley target.
Tzipi Hotovely waves Israeli flag to proclaim Israeli intent to rebuilt the Holy Temple.
Today, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, who’s devoutly wished to see Israel rebuild the Holy Temple (thereby destroying the Haram al Sharif), announced (in Hebrew, English here) that she’d met with YouTube’s CEO and Google’s director of public policy at its Silicon Valley campus. During this meeting, according to a Maariv article, Hotovely schooled the executives about the ways in which pro-Palestine propaganda infects the internet and incites impressionable young Palestinian children to knife innocent victims.
What struck me about the article was the conclusion, in which Hotovely says that Google agreed to create a formal mechanism enabling formal coöperation between the foreign ministry and the company regarding the issue of incitement as played out in YouTube’s video content. In other words, she implied that Google would collaborate with Israel on identifying and removing videos that “incited” violence against Israel.
There are so many problems with Hotovely’s claims, it’s hard to know where to start. But my major problem is with the issue of censorship. Has Google agreed to censor videos? Has it been pressured to remove videos which document violence, whether perpetrated by Israeli security forces or Palestinian protesters?
I sent an e-mail to Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO and to Google’s press office asking whether they agree with Hotovely’s characterization of the meeting and what was agreed during it. We’ll see how or if they respond.
Here is the translation of the Maariv article:
“MK Tzipi Hotovely: Terror by Children Arises from Incitement on the Internet
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met with the CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki and Jennifer [sic] Downs, director of public policy, at Google’s Silicon Valley offices.
Hotovely received a comprehensive review of the company’s apparatus for monitoring videos which incite violence. In the meeting, she raised the problem of incitement on the internet, which drives young children to go out and stab people:
“The daily terror attacks in Israel are the result of youths and children incited, starting with the educational system and proceeding to social networks. This is a daily war against incitement that cannot be conducted without the collaboration of these social networks.”
At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that Google would strengthen bilateral relations with the Foreign Ministry and build a collaborative work apparatus [in which both parties would] partner to prevent the distribution of this inciting material on the internet.”
‘Facebook Intifada:’ power of social media to speak truth to power (Paul Kuczynski)
Thanks to Oui for finding the MFA’s press release about the meeting. He also noted that the MFA didn’t bother to use the correct name of the Google executive who participated in the meeting. It was Juniper Downs, not “Jennifer.”
Comparing the official account to the one Maariv published shows the reporter was a faithful stenographer, regurgitating information as she was trained to do. While her entire report recapitulates the press release almost word for word, the last sentence in the Maariv story (italicized above) isn’t in the release at all. Arutz 7 also includes this italicized sentence, as did Algemeiner, which tells me one thing. The MFA tried to pull a fast one: for the English-speaking audience they released a sanitized version which was probably closer to what actually happened in the meeting. But for the Israeli, Hebrew-speaking audience they released a statement saying that YouTube essentially capitulated to Israeli pressure and would commence censoring videos viewed as unflattering to Israel.
My guess is that Google’s version will look different, and that Google hosted the meeting because they agree to meet foreign diplomats in order to maintain good relations with foreign users and their governments. I strongly doubt Google has agreed to any formal arrangement that could lead to restricting video content. But if they have, it would be very important to know this.
We must not permit this Israeli government to blame anyone but itself for the hatred and violence which it spawns among Palestinians. Google doesn’t cause murder. Israel does.
Silverstein has published Tikun Olam since 2003, It exposes the secrets of the Israeli national security state. He lives in Seattle, but his heart is in the east. He publishes regularly at Middle East Eye and Jacobin Magazine. His work has also appeared in Al Jazeera English, The Nation, Truthout and other outlets.
DFM Tzipi Hotovely met with Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki and with Jennifer Downes [Source: MFA]
In the meetings, Hotovely raised the problem of incitement which goads small children to go out and stab innocents: “The daily stabbings in Israel are a result of young boys and girls who are indoctrinated from an early age in the Palestinian education system and through social media. We are engaged daily in confronting incitement to violence, a task which can benefit greatly from the cooperation of those companies that are involved in social media.”
@ Oui: What’s interesting is that the MFA press release doesn’t mention strengthening relations between the MFA & Google. IT doesn’t mention establishing any apparatus to monitor inciting videos. Did the Maariv overstate things? Make it up?
What exactly did Tzipi say on her Facebook page about rebuilding the holy temple?
The Times of Israel reported her as saying, “If I were to tell the prime minister what’s correct, in my eyes it’s definitely not proper to see the flags of the Islamic State or Hamas, in my eyes that’s a disgrace,” she said. “We need to fly the [Israeli] flag. This is the capital of Israel and this is the holiest place for the Jewish people.”
This sounds very different from ‘destroying the Haram al Sharif’ and rebuilding the Temple.
○ MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Camp): Hotovely is a ‘messianic nut’ who should be fired
You know the truth , Why lie ? Palestinians have never supported isis or diesh. If you Dont support the killings of both Palestinians and Israelis , Speak out for peace , Don’t make excuses for theft and killing,
At least 20 or more different people have published comments here using the name “Anonymous.” Please pick another name the next time you comment.
@ Mrs. Phlegm: Here’s a rule for you. If you think I’m wrong about something, do further research before publishing such a claim. If you don’t do such research & falsely claim that I’m wrong, I will point that out to you in no uncertain terms.
Not to mention it’s simply foolish to bet against these ministers being rabid right-wing hooligans. Of course they all want to rebuild the TEmple & all want to destroy Al Aqsa. The subtler among them may not say these things publicly or may allude to them with a wink & nod. Hotovely is not among them. She is not subtle.
Well. If that’s what she said, than she’s a horse’s ass.
@ Ida: We agree at least on that. But I’m not sure why you wouldn’t say that about the rest of the cabinet. Almost all of them either agree explicitly & publicly with this view; or agree privately & just haven’t said so publicly (yet). This view is a sine qua non of the Israeli far-right, which controls the country. So it should be no surprise to anyone.
The person responsible as Senior Counsel for Public Policy at Google is Juniper Downs [former counsel to ACLU]. MFA statement must be erroneous, Der Algemeiner refers to article in NRG.
Tzipi Hotovely will do a pretty good job in alienating foreign governments. She should stay on.
If an native-American will wish for the white man to disappear or a Kurd wish for independence, will you say they are Messianic nuts?
A Jew who doesn’t wish for it does follow the 13 foundations of Jewish beliefs according to the RAMBAM (13 עיקרים).
How does wishing for something is such a sin around here? I wish to have a million dollars, does it make me a thief?
Tzipi Hotovely with life size Israeli flag against the background of the Rock of the Dome. Talking about incitement …
@ Arik
You wish for a million dollars? Have you bought a balaclava yet? And burglar’s equipment? Specified your target?
In the case of the Third Temple retards things have gone a bit beyond mere wishing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temple_Institute
Funny that you compare the Israeli side with the native Americans and the Kurds. Most people would find that the Palestinian side bears more resemblance to them.
@ Arik: Any nation which adheres slavishly to teachings from 1000 yrs ago is on the road to ruin.
○ Eisenkot flies secretly to Brussels to meet top US general Breedlove at NATO
Info about Juniper Downs …
○ Bio @ 2014 Annual Conference – Family Online Safety Institute
○ 60 Seconds With Google Public Policy Lead: Juniper Downs
Social media giants at a global conference in Jerusalem say the best defense is a good offense in countering racist screeds (May 2015)
○ Google and Facebook need your help to police online hate
Google’s Downs said the multi-billion dollar corporation struggles to fight for a world without discrimination while maintaining free speech. As stated in its community guidelines, “This can be a delicate balancing act, but if the primary purpose is to attack a protected group [such as a religion, race, or ethnicity], the content crosses the line.”
…
For Google, said Downs, “context is key.” The company uses the acronym “EDSA” to help determine if a post should be blocked from one of its many platforms (YouTube is a Google product), asking whether it educates, documents, or is scientific or artistic.
The most effective solution, as proposed by Google’s Downs and Facebook’s Milner, is not more legislation, or increased monitoring. Based on their companies’ experience and outsourced research, the best way to deal with hate speech is “counterspeech.”
Downs suggested using satire and comedy to combat racist views, adding that Google is hosting events to bring together successful YouTube producers with credible voices in affected communities. “Counterspeech is a promising strategy in doing hearts and minds work,” she said.
[Facebook-commissioned research done by UK think tank DEMOS, in a comparison with hate speech, counterspeech had significantly more impact as measured by interactions and shares.]
AVVO attorney contact info [?] – here
Otherwise just try juniper.downs@google.com
@Oui
Who appointed you ‘town crier’, anyway?
Who is the rat!
Anyone who advocates for the destruction of the Aqsa sanctuary is no different to the fanatic lunatics who destroyed the world heritage Bamyam Buddhas in Afghanistan and the fanatic lunatics who destroyed ancient Palmyra in Syria. They have the same mentality. The Aqsa sanctuary belongs to the global community.
@Hugh Ekeberg
Destruction goes beyond stone and mortar.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/world/asia/china-tibet-language-education.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Exactly Granny Flemstein: But no need to travel all the way to Tibet for an example. Here some info for you on the looting and destruction of Palestinian libraries and archivres by…guess who?
http://thegreatbookrobbery.org/destruction-palestinian-library-and-cultural-resources-2002-tom-twiss
http://www.palestine-studies.org/jps/fulltext/42473
http://www.pitt.edu/~ttwiss/irtf/palestinlibsdmg.html
Beta News updated the following story to report that Google contacted them to say there is no agreement with Israel to censor content and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has corrected their original announcement.
http://betanews.com/2015/11/29/google-to-work-with-israel-to-censor-palestinian-youtube-videos/
@ Mark Davis: I reported that the day after this post. Take a look. https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/12/01/google-denies-israeli-foreign-ministry-report-it-agreed-to-censor-palestinian-videos/
The foreign ministry didn’t “correct” anything. They released a knowingly false statement to the media. After that statement was widely disseminated, the ministry removed the sentence containing the false claim & uploaded that to its website. But the false claim was already out there & few if any sites which trumpeted the original report noted they’d been hoaxed by the ministry. Nor did the ministry ever concede it had published a false report or correct the original one with a public statement.