A publicity stunt by the Israeli government has backfired spectacularly. Twitter users hijacked the #AskNetanyahu hashtag intended for live questions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to great effect.
LIVE TWITTER Q&A: Prime Minister Netanyahu answers your questions.
Tweet your questions at: #AskNetanyahu pic.twitter.com/Gz63c1uBZ8— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 10, 2016
The invitation to a live question and answer session with the Prime Minister of Israel was met with eager anticipation by many critics of the state’s illegal occupation of Palestine and system of racial and religious apartheid.
Some asked how Mr Netanyahu feels about the courageous young Israeli refusists, who face stigma and legal consequences for refusing to serve in Israel’s armed forces.
https://twitter.com/AbbsWinston/status/730085410181767168
Others wanted to know how Mr Netanyahu cares to defend his continued occupation and military assaults on Palestinians. In the last decade, Israel has launched no fewer than five large-scale military offensives against those living in Gaza. The Summer of 2014 saw Israel launch a 51-day air, ground and sea assault on the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces killed 2,104 Palestinians, of whom 1,462 have been identified as civilians, including 495 children. They destroyed the homes of more than 108,000 people and over 10,000 people (a third of them children) were left with life-altering injuries. I was reporting on the ground from Gaza during this period and what I saw amounted to nothing short of a massacre.
#AskNetanyahu about thousands he murdered in Gaza and rest of occupied Palestine to gain votes. pic.twitter.com/ACpeKM5MN9
— Palestine Info Center (@palinfoen) May 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/AbbsWinston/status/730068609418956801
Why did Israeli soldiers used a 16-year-old child as a human shield and abuse him for five days in Khuza'a two years ago? #AskNetanyahu
— Daniel Wickham (@DanielWickham93) May 10, 2016
Others wished to know how Mr Netanyahu’s armed forces can continue calling themselves ‘The Most Moral Army In The World’, given the appalling track record of unlawful imprisonment, torture and killing of civilians.
https://twitter.com/AbbsWinston/status/730066063522598912
New hashtag #AskNetanyahu started by #Israel PM massively backfires- below 1st tweets that pop up in a quick search pic.twitter.com/wNHzNG9b1z
— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) May 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/eddie1971nyc/status/730028288127676416
Those who publicly condemn the actions of Israel have come under fire of late for accusations of antisemitism – some of which bear merit, and most of which form part of a well-established smear campaign designed to discredit the apartheid state’s internal and external critics. A recent editorial in The Canary lays this out in detail so we will not rehearse it here.
It appears Twitter users are nevertheless unwilling to surrender their opposition to the brutal and illegal occupation, or their commitment to peace and justice in the region.
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