HonestReporting launched a Facebook group after we found that, although the Golan falls under Israeli law, residents of the region wishing to write “Israel” in the Hometown section of their profiles were not given the option.
Instead, residents of Jewish towns, including Qazrin, Ramat Magshimim, Geshur, Mevo Hanna, and Had Nes were only given the option of writing “Syria” in their Hometown section.
We stated that it is not for Facebook to decide the national origin of Golan residents. At the very least, Facebook must include the option of writing “Israel” in the hometown section, as it has done with Jewish residents of the West Bank.
In only some two weeks, over 2,500 of you responded by joining our Facebook group calling for a change of policy and Facebook heard your voices. Thanks to all of the members of this group, Facebook has changed its settings and now applies the same policy for Golan residents as it does for the West Bank. When people scroll down, they will see the name of the town with Israel written below it, identifying it as part of Israel.
However, just as with the West Bank, Golan residents still cannot choose to have the word Israel appear in the Hometown line.
Despite this, HonestReporting congratulates all of the members of the group for bringing about an important change. We thank everyone for taking action and showing once again that individuals can make a difference, particularly in new Social Media frameworks.
See the first part of our Social Media in a Nutshell series for an introduction to Social Media as well as our downloadable Internet Activism Guide (PDF format) to find out more about how you can help Israel online.
And don’t forget to check out and join HonestReporting’s own Facebook page!
Related links:
Selective Outrage: Israeli Facebook Photos Spark Media Circus
