[00:00] While many groups and governments wish to censor the internet, Israel and its partisans are amongst the most globally significant. They work to promote the Israel narrative while blocking facts about Palestine, the Israel lobby and other subjects they wish to cover up.
[00:17] Much of this is done by devoted individuals acting independently, voluntarily and relentlessly. But many of these activists are part of orchestrated well funded projects sponsored by the Israeli government and other pro-Israel groups.
[00:30] They utilize Israeli soldiers, students, American teens and seniors and range from infiltrating Wikipedia to influencing YouTube. As we’ll see, some even operate out of Jewish community centers in the US.
[00:43] One such group is the Israeli military’s New Media Desk.
[00:47] “It is well known now a days that what happens on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube has great influence on events that occur on the ground. The Internet too is a battleground, it is thus comforting to learn that the IDF employ soldiers that tweet, share, like and more.”
[01:02] Another project initiated in 2011 by the National Union of Israeli Students has the stated goal of to deepen and expand hasbara, or state propaganda activities of students in the State of Israel. Under this program Israeli students are payed to quote: “lead the battle against hostile websites”.
[01:21] The students are tasked with what many would call shilling or trolling in online forums and social media. They are directed to create original content in the form of news reports and blogs, edit Wikipedia, inject pro-Israel messages into discussion on social media, as well as report and remove what they consider to be allegedly “anti-Semitic” content.
[01:42] Its important to note that criticism of Israel is not the same thing as anti-Semitism, despite Israel’s best effort to redefine the word.