Videos teach would-be Palestinian attackers ‘how to stab’
Graphic photos and footage posted to social media include detailed instructions for maximizing bodily damage
Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
As Israel faces a wave of terror attacks — eight Israelis have been killed in over 30 attacks during the last month — social media has increasingly emerged as a platform for Palestinian incitement and calls for violence.
In addition to praising the attacks and urging more of the same, a number of Palestinian activists have posted content with advice and instructions on how to carry out attacks.
Videos and photos posted to Facebook and Twitter show detailed instructional guidance on how to stab Israelis, methods for maximum bodily damage, and ways to create deadly weapons to carry out attacks.
The posts have been published under various headings created in recent weeks such as “The Intifada Has Started,” “The Third Intifada,” “The Knife Intifada,” “Poison the Knife before You Stab,” and “Slaughtering the Jews,” according to information made available by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Multiple Facebook pages, including one called “Intifada Youth Coalition – Palestine,” posted a video two weeks ago demonstrating how to carry out a deadly stabbing.
https://www.facebook.com/Intifada.Coalition/videos/1682325268670824/?permPage=1
A Facebook page called “Jerusalem Now” posted a video on Tuesday demonstrating how to stab and how to snatch a soldier’s weapon.
https://www.facebook.com/ahmad.almadhoun.14/videos/948853275186560/
Some posts show potential stabbers how to make their attacks more deadly. On Wednesday a Gazan user named Zahran Barbah posted an anatomical chart showing which parts of the body to aim for when stabbing a victim.
In another trend, instructional videos have given information on how to adapt ordinary kitchen knives into deadly attack weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/Intifada.Coalition/videos/1685264191710265/?permPage=1
Two weeks ago YouTube removed a video from its website that appeared to encourage stabbing attacks against Jews and Israelis after Israel’s Foreign Ministry complained that the clip promoted terror.
In a letter to YouTube’s parent company, Google, Jerusalem officials said the posted clips contained “violent and inciting content in which terrorists are praised and their acts staged in videos to promote further violence against Israelis and Jews.”
The removed video showed a keffiyeh-clad young Palestinian man looking at footage on his phone of recent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian rioters at the Temple Mount. The setting appeared to depict Jerusalem’s Old City. Two “Jewish” characters — they were decked out in stereotypical religious clothing — walked by, harassing and kicking young children playing soccer. That was seen to enrage the young man, who was then portrayed stabbing one of the “Jewish” men in the heart and then chasing down the other to slash his throat.
YouTube removed the video from the Hamas channel where it was first posted and circulated widely, but it was still available elsewhere on YouTube and on Facebook.
The website said the graphic 45-second clip violated YouTube’s policy of prohibiting hate speech.
Earlier this week Israel’s first aid service, Magen David Adom, published a video with instructions on how to respond to a stabbing attack with instructions on how to administer potentially life-saving emergency treatment to victims.
“When a stabbing happens, it happens fast, all you need to do is call MDA at 101 and stop the bleeding. If there are pepole around you, ask them for help. The most important thing to do is press hard on the wound, if the weapon is still stuck inside, do not try to remove or move it,” instructs a woman in the video.
“Remember, your safety comes first, so make sure you aren’t in danger. You can’t help the victim if you are wounded,” she tells viewers.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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