Fire crisis blamed on Palestinians
Fire rages in Haifa, November 24th. Right-wing MKs and Shin Bet suspect politically-motivated arson. Thousands of homes have been evacuated and many people treated for smoke inhalation. Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP
Israel Fire Spreads to Social Media, Ignites Hate in Hashtag War
‘Israel is burning’ hashtag trends on Twitter with celebratory posts; Israelis and their sympathizers were quick to respond.
Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz
November 24, 2016
The fires that have been engulfing parts of Israel over the past three days have quickly ignited social media and have been transformed into online flames on Twitter.
The hashtag “#Israelisburning” began trending in Arabic early on Thursday in Middle Eastern countries, with posts subsequently appearing in Twitter accounts in English internationally, as Twitter users hostile to Israel celebrated its misfortunes.
feras shaath
@feras_shaat
Very happy to see the terrorist state Israel is burning#israelisburning
The disturbing trend was noted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman for Arab media, Ofir Gendelman, who called such posts examples of “despicable fanatic hatred.”
Some of the tweets attributed the fires to a bill recently introduced in the Israeli parliament that would ban the use of loudspeakers in mosques to call Muslims to prayers. The tweets suggested that the fires were a form of retribution against the “enemies of Islam” and inflicting the “Islamic wrath of God on the Jews.”
One celebratory tweet, retweeted more than 16,000 times and “liked” by 15,000 users was posted by a prominent Kuwaiti imam with more than 11 million followers. Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy, the imam of the Grand Mosque of Kuwait, posted photos of the fires, wishing “All the best” to the fires, accompanied by a smiling emoji.
Israelis and their sympathizers quickly fired back online, pointing out what they viewed as the absurdity of celebrations of a natural disaster that was devastating Palestinians as well.
Adam @xMaccabix
Hey idiots celebrating #Israelisburning you are aware Haifa is regarded as a capital of palestinian culture . #YouFeckingidiots #HaifaFire
2:18 PM – 24 Nov 2016As people flee their homes in
#Israel, the twitter-sphere rejoices.#israelisburning has a despicable amount of hate! A sad day for humanity
Arieh MillerHowever, not all use of social media, or this particular hashtag in regard to the fires, was negative. There were grateful Israelis, both individuals and institutions who used Twitter to send their thanks to the foreign governments who were sending equipment to assist in the effort to fight the fires.
(((Haya Eytan))) @TeachESL
Thank them for coming to Israel to help put out the fires! #IsraelIsBurning https://twitter.com/emergenzavvf/status/801786222733651968 …
2:21 PM – 24 Nov 2016ZAKA Search & Rescue @ZAKA_Israel
#Israelisburning #fire Thanks to our international friends #Greece #Cyprus #Turkey #Italy #GreatBritain #Russia #Croatia
2:18 PM – 24 Nov 2016
Firefighting planes from Greece
‘Israel is burning’: Palestinians, Arab world rejoice over fires
Dubai security chief tweets ‘Israel banned the muezzin and caught on fire,’ while Kuwaiti imam wishes ‘Best of luck to the fires :)’ and memes gloat over fires raging in Israel for the past three days.
By Roi Kais, Elior Levy, Ynet news
November 24, 2016
The hashtag “Israel is burning” or “the Zionist entity is burning” has become one of the top trends on Arab media over the past 24 hours, with countless of people gloating over the recent rash of fire plaguing Israel over the past three days.
“They tried to ban the muezzin’s call, and Allah rained fire on them,” Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq tweeted.
Other Hamas social media pages have posted videos of songs rejoicing about the fires, like one called “Catching Fire.”
Some people posted their hopes that the fires would reach strategic facilities in Israel, like the Haifa Chemicals plants, gas storage facilities across the country, and IDF bases that have large arms depots.
One wrote, “All of Israel’s neighbours must aid it—I suggest they send planes filled with gasoline and rain it down on the burning areas. I want to inhale the smell of barbecue from the Zionists.”
A publicist from Gaza wrote: “The Russian planes that burn the Syrian bodies every day are now helping in putting out fires inside the occupied territories.”
Another hoped: “God, add more fire to them until it is their end.”
Khalfan Tamim wrote on his Twitter account: “Israel banned the muezzin and caught on fire. Blessed be God.”
He also offered advice, “Israel has no choice but to agree to coexistence and peace with the Palestinians. It doesn’t matter how much time passes, they (the Palestinians) will always come out on top. That is why treating them well is the best way forward for Israel.”
Mishary Rashid Alafasy, a Kuwaiti imam, wrote on his Twitter account: “Best of luck to the fires :)” He later added: “Israel is burning and losing control. It is asking its allies for help after banning the muezzin prayer in occupied Palestine and in the holy sites that were robbed (May the heart of the faithful be purified).”
Later, Alafasy posted a map of fire-affected areas in Israel, noting “The fire is still burning in the Zionist entity.”
Internet memes were also quick to appear. Egyptian news site Almogaz posted a meme showing one person telling another “Israel is burning,” with the other responding “Great. No one in the world can stand it.”
A satirical Twitter account posted a video of a fire with a Star of David instead, with a man jumping next to it and the writing “This is my situation now.”