Strategy to invade Israel posted on Facebook
Social-networking sites, specifically Facebook, are being used to promote a campaign that appears to target the very existence of Israel, with hundreds of thousands worldwide seeking to join in a plan to "return" to and take over the original homes of their families in "Palestine" on May 15.
According to an in-depth report by L. Barkan, a research fellow at the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors and analyzes media reports throughout the Middle East, the idea being circulated is "for millions of Palestinian refugees to march en masse in return to the original homes of their families in Israel."
The movement's plans call for this to be much more than just a visit, however.
"All the families of Jewish settlers in the Galilee area, including in the areas of Safed, Tiberias, and all the way down to Acre, must proceed to the port of Haifa and board ships back to their countries of origin in Europe," explained one posting that is part of the campaign.
It provided instructions for others to report to other ports – all by the middle of March, a deadline long past.
"The message also warned that anyone trying to take 'archeological artifacts [or anything belonging] to the Palestinian heritage, even a single ball of falafel, will be pursued and arrested by Interpol in his new place of residence,'" the report said.
One of the Facebook pages soliciting participants in what apparently would be an invasion and attempted overthrow of the region's existing government has been removed by the Facebook administration, but not before collecting some 350,000 endorsements from readers. Other pages remain.