Page 9 - Aruba Today
P. 9
WORLD NEWS 9
Friday 30 October 2015
U.S. activist killed by Palestinian
leads Facebook suit
IAN DEITCH with instructions on “how to murder and detail how to
Associated Press stab a Jew,” and calls for commit it.
JERUSALEM (AP) — An attacks on Facebook be- Shurat Hadin said 20,000
American educator and fore carrying out stabbings. Israelis are suing Face-
peace activist who worked Other posts glorify the grue- book over the Palestinian
for coexistence and who some Palestinian attacks incitement.q
died this week from wounds
sustained in a Palestinian This undated file photo provided by the Lakin family shows,
attack is the lead plaintiff in Richard Lakin, a dual Israeli-American citizen originally from
a lawsuit against Facebook Newton, Mass., who died Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, after he was
for allowing gruesome Pal- critically wounded in a Palestinian attack on a public bus in Je-
estinian pages that incite rusalem two weeks ago had died of his wounds.
violence, his son said Thurs-
day. Associated Press
The lawsuit was filed in the
United States by Israel- and hail the murderers as
based rights group Shu- heroes.
rat Hadin, days before Lakin was originally from
76-year-old father Richard Newton, Massachusetts,
Lakin died. and a longtime principal in
Lakin, an elementary Glastonbury, Connecticut.
school principal and a In the 1960s, he marched
1960’s civil rights activ- with Martin Luther King
ist in the U.S., worked for and was a Freedom Rider,
peace and coexistence working to desegregate
in Israel until he was criti- the South.
cally wounded on Oct. 13, His Facebook page dis-
when two Palestinian men played an image of Israeli
boarded a bus in Jerusa- and Arab kids hugging un-
lem and began shooting der the word “coexist.”
and stabbing passengers. Lakin’s son Micah Avni said
It was one of the bloodiest his father was shot in the
attacks in a month of vio- head and then stabbed
lence that has seen almost multiple times — in much
daily assaults by Palestin- the same way as described
ians, mostly with knives, in some of the videos post-
against Israeli civilians and ed online.
soldiers. Eleven Israelis have One of the Palestinians who
been killed in Palestinian killed his father had previ-
attacks. In that time, 58 Pal- ously made his intentions
estinians have been killed, clear on Facebook and his
38 said by Israel to be at- posts were widely reposted
tackers, and the remainder on social media afterward,
killed in clashes with Israeli Avni said.
security forces. Avni said the day after the
Israel says the outburst of attack, a video reenact-
violence is the result of Pal- ment of the assault on the
estinian incitement. Pales- bus was posted, “showing
tinians say the violence is how to butcher people
due to a lack of hope for and encouraging others to
gaining independence af- do so.” He said the video is
ter years of failed peace still on YouTube, two weeks
efforts. later.
These Palestinian postings He added that social me-
include caricatures and dia companies “must rec-
video reenactments de- ognize their social and
monizing Israelis, graphics ethical responsibility” to
ban posts that encourage
