Though StandWithUs uses “the most stringent security on Facebook,” it believes that the attack was internal.
By United with Israel Staff
The pro-Israel organization StandWithUs had its Facebook pages hacked on Tuesday. The hacked pages include its main English-language page, as well as the Arabic and Spanish pages, and pages in Holland, Brazil and the UK.
“StandWithUs Facebook pages have been hacked,” the organization posted on its website. “As one of the largest Israel educational pages on Facebook and with a hugely popular website and social media accounts, we are aware of constant threats and attempts to remove our content by extremist groups.”
The organization said that they are “constantly vigilant” against attacks, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Though the organization uses “the most stringent security on Facebook,” it believes that the attack was internal.
“This is a hack within Facebook itself,” continued its post. “At one point an image supporting ISIS was posted on one of our administered accounts. Obviously this is an unacceptable situation. We are working with Facebook at the highest level to ensure that we are back online as soon as possible. We hope that Facebook will be able to bring our pages back online quickly.”
StandWithUs executive director Michael Dickson said he believed the attack happened because “Facebook [is] trying to freeze out [their] content,” according to the Post.
Calling the situation “unacceptable,” Dickson said, “[W]e understand that we’re a target… but we assure our followers that we won’t be silenced. We will learn from this and we will be back bigger and better than before.”
The organization was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. It has chapters in five continents, including the US, Israel, UK, Canada, and Brazil.
More Pro-Israel Groups Hacked
In 2013, United With Israel (UWI) was hacked by supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their motivation was reportedly to stop the site from reaching millions of followers.
At the time, UWI posted an official statement on the attack. “Our pro-Israel voice will not be silenced. Just as the IDF defends Israeli citizens from all types of physical attacks, UWI will continue to lead the way in defending Israel’s position to the world. We will continue to influence world opinion.”
The website was hacked again in 2014, allegedly by members of the Hamas terror organization. A staff writer, along with deputy ministers, lawmakers and other journalists throughout Israel, were sent warnings of death and kidnapping. An Israeli defense website was also hacked.
In April, the Israeli cyber security firm ClearSky found 120 Israeli websites that pro-Palestinian hackers infected with malware to enable a remote takeover as part of their annual cyberattack, known as OPIsrael. OPIsrael, which began in 2013 on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a coordinated cyber attack where hackers attack Israeli government and private websites with hopes of reaping havoc.
Some municipality homepages were changed to display the message, “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”
Larger than Life, an Israeli NGO that helps children and their families stricken by cancer, reported, at the time that Palestinian hackers defaced its website with “flags, a skull, symbols, and all sorts of hate-related things,” according to Ha’aretz.
In May, the Kan public broadcaster’s website was hacked during the Eurovision song contest. A video, seemingly from the Israel Defense Forces, told viewers that there was going to be an imminent rocket attack on anyone within 1.2 kilometers of the contest that was taking place in north Tel Aviv. The video ended warning, “Israel is not safe, you will see.”