By Ariel Zorrowski
Facebook has ruled that an image calling explicitly for the genocide of all Jews is acceptable according to its community standards.
Not that this is anything new, Facebook receives hundreds of reports daily about killing Jews, destroying Israel and antisemitic hate comments and photos. Sometimes Facebook removes them but mostly they say it is acceptable. That doesn’t appear to be the same for the haters reporting Jewish activists who receive bans and suspensions all the time.
The image featuring a white man placing a Haredi Jew in a choke-hold, accompanied by an antisemitic tract which incites genocide, was deemed acceptable when it was reported by Bnai Brith Canada.
University of Lethbridge Professor Anthony Hall
The image, which was posted as a comment on the Facebook wall of University of Lethbridge Professor Anthony Hall, depicted a white man assaulting an Orthodox Jew, accompanied by a lengthy, violent antisemitic screed beside the photograph. It should be noted that Hall, who is well-known for using academic credentials to deny the Holocaust, was not responsible for posting the antisemitic graphic.
The Facebook profile responsible was under the name of Glen Davidson. The image was accompanied by this message: “There never was a ‘Holocaust’, but there should have been and, rest assured, there WILL be, as you serpentine kikes richly deserve one.” The image text ended with the entreaty “KILL ALL JEWS NOW! EVERY LAST ONE!”
Many have asked Bnai Brith how such an offensive post was not spotted and removed by Facebook after being flagged.
“Facebook’s reporting system is notoriously opaque and the mechanisms by which it operates are not clear to the general public,” said Amanda Hohmann, National Director for Bnai Brith’s League for Human Rights. “Even though Facebook’s review team may have eventually removed the offending post, the fact that it sent an initial message saying it didn’t violate its community standards unfortunately sends the message that the Jewish community and our safety are not priorities in its flagging or review process.
The text on the image reads:
“There never was a ‘Holocaust’, but there should have been and, rest assured, there WILL be, as you serpentine kikes richly deserve one. I will not rest until every single filthy, parasitic kike is rounded up and slaughtered like the vermin that they are. The white man has had more than enough of the international Jewry and we are more than prepared to smite the parasite for the millionth time. The greedy, hook-nosed kikes knows that their days are numbered and, unlike in the past, they have nowhere to run. This time there will be no kikes alive to spread around the planet like cockroaches. We will get them ALL into the oven and their putrid memory will finally be erased from the planet once and for all. Like all parasite, the Jew will continue to reproduce until every single last one has been wiped out. This is why it is crucial that all kikes are ruthlessly and mercilessly butchered for the good of us all. KILL ALL JEWS NOW! EVERY LAST ONE!” Ben “Tel Aviv Terror” Garrison
After Bnai Brith Canada’s coverage, the image appears to have been taken down, but it is unclear whether Facebook changed their minds or whether the author of the post wanted to avoid a public backlash and removed it himself.
“Antisemitism in all forms is rampant on social media, but this is the clearest, most obvious kind of antisemitism one could possibly create,” said Michael Mostyn, Bnai Brith CEO. “The classification of this as antisemitic cannot be challenged, and the fact that this promotes violence towards Jews is beyond dispute. Regardless, Facebook has deemed it acceptable despite its ‘community standards’ containing clear provisions against hate speech. The Jewish community deserves no less protection or respect than any other when it comes to hate speech and threats of violence.”
Bnai Brith Canada have reported the incident to the police who have now opened an investigation into the matter.
Note the end of the text which says Ben “Tel Aviv Terror” Garrison. Some call him Ben “One Man Klan” Garrison. To others, he is “Zyklon Ben.” Elsewhere, he is known as Ben “Not White? Shoot On Sight” Garrison. And those are just his milder nicknames.
But Montana-based artist Ben Garrison isn’t a violent Neo-Nazi, or even a white nationalist. He’s a polite, accomplished cartoonist, with no history of overt or covert racism. His true political leanings are libertarian, anti-elitist, and anti-globalist. Garrison is, in fact, the victim of one the most extraordinary and longest-running smear campaigns on the internet.
For a mixture of amusement and spite, in a trolling spree that has lasted over six years, thousands of online pranksters and real neo-Nazis have been remixing his cartoons into racist caricatures. Most Ben Garrison cartoons attack the government, corporations, and political movements.
However, almost immediately after one is published, it is remixed into a new version that attacks Jews, African-Americans, or other minorities. These are rapidly disseminated in troll communities and sometimes become more widely-shared than the originals. Like the bandit gang in The Magnificent Seven, who perpetually raid the same town for food and supplies, Ben Garrison’s trolls keep coming back for more.
An original Ben Garrison cartoon on the left, and an anti-semitic remix created by trolls on the right.
Ariel Zorrowski is a freelance writer for the Jewish Media Agency, originally from the south of England now living in Tel Aviv.
[The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Jewish Media Agency.]
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