Israel Uses Facebook to Stop Palestinian Activists

Israeli government officials used Facebook to help prevent scores of pro-Palestine activists from boarding planes going from Europe to Tel-Aviv to support a "Welcome to Palestine" solidarity event.

The activists had planned to visit the West Bank to back the Palestinian fight for independence and protest at Israeli travel restrictions to and from the disputed territories. A black list was compiled by the Israeli government to track activists on Facebook, who touted their travel plans on to visit the West Bank, in order to attend the campaign.

The Torah portion of "Balak" (Numbers 22:2-25:9) is named after the evil Moabite King who (along with tyrants in every generation) wanted to destroy the Jewish people. Balak, realizing that a military campaign against the Jews was sure to fail as it did for Pharaoh, the Amorites, and the Amalekites, tried an alternative strategy: curses.

Balak himself was not skilled in the art of the occult and therefore was forced to outsource. He hired Bilam, a noted sorcerer, to do the deed.