Incitement and Delegitimization

iPoke, a company based in the Gaza Strip, issued its 2022 annual report examined the Palestinian public's consumption habits. One of the most important findings was that TikTok, Telegram and WhatsApp were the most popular apps, and were widely used by Palestinian society in general and by Palestinian youth in particular. The report also noted that the apps were used almost equally by both genders, but certain ones were used more by women than by men. Read more...

During the past three weeks children between the ages of 13 and 14 carried out three terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, two stabbing attacks and one shooting attack. They were not extraordinary because in effect, since the latest wave of Palestinian terrorism began in 2022, we have witnessed adolescents and even children participating in clashes with Israeli security forces and carrying out terrorist attacks. However, their ages have recently decreased significantly. If in the past the attackers were adolescents and young adults aged 16 or more, today they are children barely in their teens. The attacks and young attackers have been widely praised, especially on the social networks popular with that age group, which may encourage other children to emulate them. As opposed to past instances, where organizations were found to have directed the children, apparently the most recent attacks were carried out by children acting independently. They were influenced by the growing tension in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, accompanied by strong, pervasive online incitement. The activities of individual children make it particularly difficulty for the Israeli security forces to have advance knowledge of their intentions and prevent the attacks. For the most part, Palestinian children grow up in a society that incites violence, and they absorb and are influenced by the general atmosphere in the Palestinian street, the anti-Israeli incitement in their textbooks and formal and informal educational environments, and particularly by the social networks. According to a survey conducted about Internet use in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, TikTok is the platform watched most by children of the relevant ages. Formerly, internal criticism was heard in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and within Palestinian society of exploiting children for terrorist attacks. However, at the present time not only does the PA not appear to be taking effective steps against using children as terrorist Read more...