Facebook, AP, and the Seeds of Another Zionist Media Conspiracy Rumor

A few days ago, I didn't give this AP lead sentence a second thought: Aided by Facebook, Israel on Friday…

By July 11, 2011

A few days ago, I didn’t give this AP lead sentence a second thought:

Aided by Facebook, Israel on Friday prevented scores of pro-Palestinian activists from boarding Tel Aviv-bound flights in Europe . . .

But someone clearly did. Check out this AP clarification:

In a story July 8, The Associated Press reported that Israel’s effort to identify and stop foreign pro-Palestinian activists planning to fly to Israel was “aided by Facebook.” It should be understood that Israeli officials were aided by public posts on Facebook pages, and not by the company itself.

I can see why Palestinian sympathizers and Hamas apologists might prefer to blame fizzling flotilla/flytilla fortunes on Zionist conspiracies. It’s much easier than acknowledging the idiocy of posting their plans on the open Internet. Doh!

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Pesach Benson

Pesach Benson

A Baltimore native, Pesach was with HonestReporting from 2011 to 2020. He edited the Israel Daily News Stream and authored the e-book, Red Lines: HonestReporting’s 8 Categories of Media Bias. Before moving to Israel in 1995, he worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times. Pesach has a B.A. in political science from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, where he was executive editor of the campus newspaper.

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