Over 300 people posted responses on Facebook calling or wishing for the death of television personality Assaf Harel, following a vitriolic post against him written by a "The Shadow," a singer (Yoav Eliassi), according to a report on hatred published by the Berl Katznelson Foundation, in cooperation with the Vigo research company.
In "The Shadow's" post last Saturday night, he used vicious language to attack Harel, calling him, among other things, "A trash can that makes (MK) Hanin Zoabi sound moderate… he disseminates his anti-Semitic and anti-IDF hatred on Channel 10, and hides behind the word 'satire.' He allows himself to urinate and defecate on anything holy in Israel, and whenever anyone complains about him, he says in his irritating voice, 'freedom of expression, black humor'."
Later in his post, "The Shadow," in what purports to be satire, mentions the possibility of "someone who does not accept (Harel's) anti-Zionism punching him out, while laughing and photographing the event."
An analysis by the Katznelson Foundation found that the post drew 2,500 responses, "an absolute majority of which were violent, and many of which (over 300) wished for his death and/or called for his murder." 1,150 responses used severe verbal violence against Assaf Harel and leftists in general.
A probe by the Katznelson Foundation found that Harel was not the only one attacked online by "The Shadow." Haggai Klein, who was wounded in the terrorist attack at the Sarona market when he wrestled with the terrorists, also came under attack, after saying in a Channel 2 interview that as soon as he realized that he had neutralized the terrorists, he did not try to kill them.
Figures cited by the Katznelson Foundation show that after the interview, 300 responses against Klein were published, with 80% of them written following "The Shadow's" post about him, in which Klein was called "totally worthless," among other things, and 64 called for physical violence against him or wished for his death.
The Katznelson Foundation calls itself a body that "encourages and promotes values of equality, mutual responsibility by the entire community for all of its members, social justice, etc. Its "Hatred Report" was composed from real time monitoring of online discourse in Hebrew, including following sayings, expressions, and words containing incitement, racism, exclusion, and violence.
The Katznelson Foundation explained, "The purpose of the report is to examine how a saying by a public opinion leader or an extreme event affects the level of violence in society, and encourages or restrains the desire to make violent and inciting statements."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 6, 2016
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