� Black American Congress members targeted by Anti-Palestinian influence operation, based in Israel
� by Steve Struggle June 10, 2024 (Edited June 15, 2024) � Recent reports in the US press have exposed the State of Israel’s digital information program, which was focused on The United States and Canada. The campaign targeted Black American members of Congress, using social media platforms X, Facebook, and Threads � The primary messaging of the campaign is focused on: *US college campuses being unsafe for Jewish students, *the alleged danger of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), *allegations of “anti-semitism” being at the core of the pro=Palestine Student Movement on US campuses, and *Opposition to Hamas and the Palestinian Resistance Movement The messaging also contained themes which were opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement, were Islamophobic. � The Israeli government, through its Office of Diaspora Affairs, paid a Tel Aviv company, STOIC, at least $2 million to carry out the disinformation campaign, which appears to be ongoing. STOIC employs sophisticated methods, including AI-generated photos and inauthentic accounts, to spread targeted content across social media platforms. STOIC used this network of fake accounts to amplify specific narratives, often targeting political figures and media outlets in the U.S. The accounts used AI-generated profile pictures and coordinated posting schedules to appear authentic and widespread when, in fact, they were not.. � The campaign extended beyond the U.S., with similar operations detected in Canada. The network's activities were exposed by multiple investigations, including those by Digital Forensic Research Lab and open-source researchers. Stories about this Israeli-government operation have appeared in news sources such as Haaretz, the New York Times, and Yahoo News. Social media company Meta and artificial intelligence firm, Open AI, have also written detailed reports outlining the use of their platforms to create or share disinformation spread by this Israeli campaign, as well as the steps their platforms took to eliminate the campaign’s use of their platform. � The U.S. is a strong supporter of Israel, having given the Zionist, settler regime over $300 billion in US economic and military aid over the past 70 years, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. � Why the majority of government officials targeted in this Israel-initiated program were Black members of the US Congress It is an important question. None of the bot-created messages specifically called out the black Congresspersons for votes or political stances opposed to Israel. The messaging was sporadically posted to any message the congressmember placed on Facebook or X about anything. The messaging was always anti Palestinian, Anti-Islamic, anti student encampment, and sought to draw a wedge between the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. There also is a question as to why, up to now, neither the Executive or Legislative branches of the United States government have criticized the Israeli covert influence campaign nor has any agency or member of the House or Senate called for hearings to investigate this matter. � Both Open AI and Meta, in their respective reports, downplayed the impact that the campaign had on the American public. This analysis itself is questionable. Topics such as *US college campuses being unsafe for Jewish students, *the alleged danger of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), *allegations of “anti-semitism” being at the core of the pro=Palestine Student Movement on US campuses, and *Opposition to Hamas and the Palestinian Resistance Movement are a part of the US and international political conversation regarding Israel, Palestine, and the United States. Moreover, Meta and Open AI’s downplaying the impact that the campaign had on the American public brings into question the political stance on Israel and Palestine held by Meta and Open AI. It also should cause concerns about their own relationship to US imperialism and how this relationship has shaped their company view and their response to the STOIC-Israel influence campaign. � A similar campaign is currently underway against Black journalist and attorney, Briahna Joy Gray. The covert influence operation is targeting Gray for her criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian emancipation through her podcast, Bad Faith. Messaging similar to that used by the STOIC and the Israeli Office for Diaspora Affairs mentioned in this article have been sent to Patreon, seeking to have Gray’s online Patreon fundraising shut down. Gray herself exposed the messaging on her profile on the social media company, X. � � � � -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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