Facebook has removed Palestine Action’s account, because it goes against its Community Standards. Palestine Action is the group that specialises in damaging and daubing paint on the buildings of companies of whom they disapprove.

Last week Palestine Action posted on Twitter a message from Facebook saying: “Your page has been unpublished.  This is because Palestine Action goes against our community standards.”

Facebook had previously removed various individual videos posted by Palestine Action, showing their violent attacks on different properties, inciting others to join them.

Facebook’s action follows UKLFI’s letter to them, highlighting Palestine Action’s breaches of their Community Standards and requesting  that the organisation’s Facebook page be removed.

Facebook’s community guidelines that are likely to have been breached by Palestine Action were:

1. Violence and Incitement “We aim to prevent potential offline harm that may be related to content on Facebook….… we remove language that incites or facilitates serious violence.”

2. Dangerous Individuals and Organizations “In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow any organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on Facebook. ..…We also remove content that expresses support or praise for groups, leaders, or individuals involved in these activities.”

3. Coordinating Harm and Publicizing Crime “In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm and copycat behavior, we prohibit people from facilitating, organizing, promoting, or admitting to certain criminal or harmful activities targeted at people, businesses, property or animals.”

Facebook’s Actions follows a series of blows suffered by Palestine Action regarding their attempts to raise funds using various platforms.

In January 2021 their donation link (Stripe) was “temporarily disabled” and in December 2020 Paypal blocked their account.  UKLFI had written to Paypal and Stripe alerting them that Palestine Action was breaching their community guidelines

In November 2020 Palestine Action was  blocked by GoFundMe, Open Collective, and Shopify, following letters from UKLFI to these three organisations, pointing out that Palestine Action was in breach of their terms of business.

On 8 January 2021 Palestine Action  reported that Mailchimp, the marketing automation platform, had disabled their account.

Palestine Action has gained notoriety by damaging the UK premises of the Israeli drone manufacturer Elbit Systems – splashing buildings in paint,  smashing windows and locking out workers.  They have also daubed paint and graffiti on various offices of LaSalle, who they claim are Elbit’s landlords.

One of Palestine Action’s members has recently been arrested for blackmail, and several others have been arrested following the damage to buildings.