Facebook has fired a warning shot at Alpha News for publishing an anti-Hamas cartoon.
The news outlet's Facebook page now has "reduced distribution and other restrictions" for publishing a cartoon from syndicated cartoonist A.F. Branco, whose political satire is shared widely by conservative outlets.
It was Facebook's way of saying: "Consider yourself warned."
In December last year, the social media giant limited the posting rights of the Law Enforcement Today (LET) Facebook page. The following month, the police-owned news outlet was totally banned from the platform.
Facebook censoring content that criticizes supporters of "terrorist activity"
The cartoon published by Alpha News was critical of Democrat Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York for their commentary on the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
The congresswoman – dubbed as "the Squad – was depicted as Hamas's cheerleaders in the cartoon with missiles flying in the direction of Israel.
Facebook apparently thought the cartoon violated its policy on "Dangerous Individuals and Organizations," which prohibits content that "expresses support or praise for groups, leaders or individuals involved" in terrorist activity. The company also accused Alpha News of "continued Community Standards violations."
The news outlet did not receive a response from Facebook when it inquired about what other Community Standards it violated. Alpha News was only given the opportunity to "Disagree with Decision," but was not able to submit a written request for a review of the violation – apparently because Facebook has "fewer reviewers available right now because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak."
The cartoon remains published on several other Facebook pages and is clearly a criticism of those who spread pro-Hamas propaganda, not an expression of support for Hamas.
Facebook recently deployed a 24-7 "special operations center" to address content about the Middle East conflict, Reuters reported. The outlet also reported that Facebook has banned Hamas and deleted content in support of the terrorist organization. (Related: CENSORSHIP: Facebook bans free speech social network founder, he’s 'dangerous' like 'terrorist organizations.')
Alpha News reached out to Facebook's press contact, specifically inquiring if the violation applied against it was a mistake, but did not receive a response.
Conservatives criticize the Squad over pro-Hamas propaganda
Many conservatives have criticized the Squad for spreading "pro-Hamas propaganda."
When Omar accused Israel of committing "acts of terrorism," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the congresswoman was "acting as a press secretary" for Hamas.
"While [Joe] Biden occasionally says the right things, he's been silent on domestic anti-Semitism, because a contingent of Hamas supporters now control his political party," Alpha News columnist A.J. Kaufman wrote.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a designated terrorist organization in several countries, openly praised Omar for her anti-Israel comments.
Earlier this month, Tlaib spoke at a fringe rally in Washington, D.C., where extreme leftists called for the elimination of the state of Israel.
"What they are doing to the Palestinians is what they are doing to our Black brothers and sisters here," Tlaib told the crowd. "As you all are marching for freedom of Palestine, please know that you must be marching for everybody's freedom. It's all interconnected." (Related: Black Lives Matter goes full anti-Jew: Now racism is part of the terrorist organization's manifesto.)
Ocasio-Cortez, who is working to block U.S. military support to Israel as it defends itself in the face of thousands of terrorist rockets, accused Israel of "targeting" sympathetic locations.
"The United States should not be rubber-stamping weapons sales to the Israeli government as they deploy our resources to target international media outlets, schools, hospitals, humanitarian missions and civilian sites for bombing. We have a responsibility to protect human rights," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Townhall political editor and Fox News contributor Guy Benson pointed out in his recent piece that Hamas deliberately hides weapons in schools, plots and launches attacks from hospitals, fires rockets from crowded residential neighborhoods and operates from buildings that host media organizations.
"They do this on purpose, so that retaliatory and defensive strikes against terrorist targets can be spun as 'war crimes' by their allies," Benson wrote.
Hamas uses children to protect its missiles. Israel, on the other hand, uses its missiles to protect its children.
Iron Dome proof that US stands with Israel
Hamas terrorists fired over 4,300 rockets at civilian areas in Israel in recent weeks, sending millions of Israelis running to bomb shelters. If not for Israel's Iron Dome system, the attack would have been far more damaging. The Iron Dome tracked down and killed more than 90 percent of the rockets coming out of Gaza.
One picture that's gone viral around the world captured the essence of the Iron Dome. One side shows rockets fired out of Gaza and the other shows the Iron Dome shooting them down.
Through cooperation and funding from the U.S., Israel developed the anti-missile system 10 years ago. It's the technological equivalent of a bullet hitting a bullet.
That technology is proof that the U.S. stands with Israel. The Americans know Israel is a chief ally in the world's most volatile region. Its highly sophisticated military and counterterrorism expertise is invaluable in the long war against radical Islamists.
So it came as a surprise that Democrats like Omar, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez were siding with Israel's enemy and essentially calling its defensive strikes "terrorism."
Iron Dome "true lifesaver" on both sides of the fight
Ret. Gen. Doron Gavish, who came out of civilian life during the current conflict, is one of the men responsible for creating Iron Dome.
He sees the technology as a true lifesaver on both sides of the fight. Many believe that without it, Israel would have been forced into a ground war with potentially massive casualties.
"By the end of the day, we could look in the mirror and say we did something for the defense of Israel. We did something for the civilians and we are saving life and this is what the air defense is doing," said Gavish.
For people like Omar, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez, Gavish said: "I see the willingness of Hamas to throw rockets into our cities. This is something that is intolerable. This is something that we cannot accept. Neither us, nor any democracy in the world."
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