The Intifada’s Toll

Everyone from CNN to the New York Times reported this week on the efforts of pro-Israel activists to convince Facebook to remove a group called "Third Intifada" from its website.

To its credit, Facebook finally did delete the “Third Intifada” page which included incitement such as: “Judgment Day will be brought upon us only once the Muslims have killed all of the Jews,” and the classic Palestinian call to martyrdom: "Paradise beckons you.”

Here’s how Facebook executives described the process:

The Third Intifada “began as a call for peaceful protest… [but] deteriorated to direct calls for violence.”

Is it true that the Third Intifada was a “call for peaceful protest”? The original page – depicting a threatening fist in the colors of the Palestinian flag – urged Palestinians to take to the streets and begin an uprising.

Exactly what type of “peaceful protest” did Facebook expect?

Are the folks at Facebook too young to remember the two previous Intifadas with their tens of thousands of maimed and wounded, and staggering death toll of both Israel and the Palestinians?

Have the folks at Facebook forgotten the scores of deadly suicide bombings – Sbarros, the Dolphinarium, the Passover Massacre, and bus after bus after bus?

Has Facebook never heard of the Ramallah lynching; Marla Bennett’s murder at the Hebrew University cafeteria; the slaughter of Dr. Appelbaum and his daughter the night before her wedding; and the horrific stoning of Koby Mandell?

Are the folks at Facebook unfamiliar with the untold number of Palestinians brutally slaughtered during the Intifada at the hands of other Palestinians?

Is everyone unaware of how the Intifadas caused crippling economic damage to both Israel and the Palestinians?

Have we forgotten the heart-rending scenes of Israelis burying their dead?

And the tragic turning of Palestinian children into bloodthirsty warriors:

This is the reality we are facing with a third Intifada.

Yes, the "Third Intifada" page is down, proving that well-intentioned activism really does make a difference.

But this fight is not over. Palestinian groups still have dozens of Facebook pages calling for violence against Israel and the killing of Jews. (see Aish.com video)

Even free speech has its limits. Just as it is immoral to yell “fire” in a crowded movie theater, so too it is immoral to promote an Intifada – any Intifada – on Facebook.

One day, the world will look back at who did – and who did not – take a stand against this call to violence.

Which side are you on?