B’nai Brith Canada challenges Facebook’s acceptance of the message “Kill all Jews Now”

Facebook has determined that a graphic explicitly calling for the genocide of all Jews “doesn’t violate [its] Community Standards.”

The global social media giant made its determination in response to a complaint filed by B’nai Brith Canada. It took Facebook two hours to conclude that the post was acceptable, according to the company’s standards.

The image, which was posted as a comment on the Facebook wall of University of Lethbridge Professor Anthony Hall, depicts a white man assaulting an Orthodox Jew, accompanied by a lengthy, violent antisemitic screed beside the photograph. It should be noted that Hall is well-known for using his academic credentials to deny the Holocaust and promote 9/11 conspiracy theories.

The image is accompanied by this message: “There never was a ‘Holocaust’, but there should have been and, rest assured, there WILL be, as you serpentine kikes richly deserve one.” The image text ends with the entreaty “KILL ALL JEWS NOW! EVERY LAST ONE!”

B’nai Brith is outraged by the post and by Facebook’s refusal to remove it.

“Antisemitism in all forms is rampant on social media, but this is the clearest, most obvious kind of antisemitism one could possible create,” said Michael Mostyn, B’nai Brith CEO. “The classification of this as antisemitic cannot be challenged, and the fact that this promotes violence towards Jews is beyond dispute. Regardless, Facebook has deemed it acceptable despite its ‘community standards’ containing clear provisions against hate speech. The Jewish community deserves no less protection or respect than any other when it comes to hate speech and threats of violence.”

“Every year, upon publication of our Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, a contingent of detractors accuses us of saying the sky is falling, and that antisemitism does not exist in Canada,” said Amanda Hohmann, National Director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights. “Content like this is proof positive that not only antisemitism of a genocidal nature exists in Canada, but the systems that are supposed to protect us from racist hate speech don’t consider hatred of Jews to be problematic.”

B’nai Brith has reported the post to Lethbridge Police Services.