Monday, March 7, 2011

Palestinians launch new initiatives on Facebook


RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian youth have started a campaign on Facebook to write “Free Palestine” on Israeli money. According to the campaign’s Facebook page, the initiative stems from the organizers’ “firm belief in non-violent national resistance.”
Israeli shekels are used in the West Bank and Gaza, and organizers say by writing on the bank notes Palestinian youth can advocate change and play a role in resistance to Israel’s occupation and its unjust policies towards Palestinians.
“This is a simple, creative, nonviolent, innovative way to resist,” a statement on the Facebook page says.
The statement urges Facebook users to join the campaign and “be part of our aspiring dreams to make a change and prove a point.”
Palestinian youth are increasingly using social networking sites as tools of resistance, inspired by the use of the internet to organize uprisings across the Arab world.
Students and activists in Gaza have used Facebook to mobilize support for a global sit-in at Israeli embassies in solidarity with Palestinian refugees on May 15.
Palestinians have also used social media to demand an end to national rivalry, calling for unity demonstrations on Facebook and the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Gaza Youth Breaks Out has called for a revolution to end the division starting March 15 on its Facebook page, which has over 20,000 followers.
In a statement, the movement said it was “striving to unify nine other groups or Facebook pages in Gaza calling for action in the coming weeks.”

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