7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

Profile

Country/TerritoryIsrael
Websitehttps://7amleh.org
Founded2013
In their own words"focused on protecting the human rights of Palestinians in the online space…building the capacity of Palestinians to advocate for their rights, supporting the development of effective public campaigns, and conducting research and advocacy to document digital rights violations and advocate for upholding human rights and the rule of law.”

Funding

Activities

  • With its consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Council (ECOSOC), 7amleh has submitted several statements to the Human Rights Council, accusing Israel of limiting “free speech” and “Palestinian solidarity” by legislating and implementing online anti-incitement laws and coordinating anti-incitement enforcement with social media platforms.
  • Since 2016, 7amleh has campaigned against Facebook’s, Twitter’s, and Instagram’s supposed policies to take down posts featuring incitement to violence, support for terror, and antisemitism, arguing that these social media platforms “all too often lead to the silencing and erasure of critical voices,” “censor[ing] Palestinian voices,” and attacking “free speech.”
    • In 2022, following the release of Business for Social Responsibility’s (BSR) September 2022 report “Human Rights Due Diligence of Meta’s Impacts in Israel and Palestine in May 2021,” 7amleh initiated the campaign “Meta, let Palestine speak,” accusing Meta of “double standards” and “over-enforcement” of Palestinian content.
    • In January 2021, 7amleh launched a campaign titled “Facebook, we need to talk” aimed at preventing Facebook from “restricting use of the word Zionist.” The campaign also aimed at preventing the implementation of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, stating that it “shield[s] the Israeli government from accountability.”
      • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
    • In October 2018. 7amleh published a report titled “Facebook and Palestinians: Biased of Neutral Content Moderation Policies?” criticizing Facebook’s removal of an anti-Israel post and cartoon published by the Palestinian Information Centre. The post stated “Shh! Do not interrupt Israel while they are slaughtering innocent Palestinians.” The accompanying cartoon included text that read, “Shhhhhhhhhh!!! Denouncing Israel’s war crime is anti-semitism” and exhibited a Palestinian mother and her dead child silenced by the Israeli flag.
  • In April 2023, 7amleh was a signatory on a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General urging the UN to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. According to the letter, the IHRA definition “opens the door to labeling as antisemitic… findings of major Israeli, Palestinian and global human rights organizations that Israeli authorities are committing the crime against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.”
    • The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by nearly 30 countries and counting, represents the international consensus definition of antisemitism, as well as how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. An example of the latter includes denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
  • In May 2021, 7amleh criticized Zoom’s cancellation of an online event in which San Francisco State University planned to host terrorist Leila Khaled, stating that, “It was revealed that the platform [Zoom] discriminates against Palestinian men and women.” 7amleh referred to Khaled as “a well known Palestinian political figure,” ignoring her terrorist affiliation.
  • On September 2, 2020, 7amleh lauded PFLP senior member Ghassan Kanafani and Sabri Khalil Al-Banna as “distinguished Palestinian personalities” and criticized Google for describing their birth place as the state of Israel and not the state of Palestine.
    • Sabri Khalil Al-Banna, also known as Abu Nidal, was a leader of the militant group Abu Nidal Organization (Black September). The group carried out terrorist attacks in multiple countries, killing and injuring almost 900 people.2
  • In June 2019, 7amleh’s Monitoring and Documentation officer Ahmad Qadi encouraged BDS campaigns stating, “The boycott movement, BDS, is the only hope for the Palestinian people in the face of the Zionist colonialism.”
  • On June 11, 2017, 7amleh shared on Facebook an article titled “Why We Should Boycott Gay Pride in Tel Aviv” and wrote “Palestinian LGBTQI activists and  BDS movement are calling for a boycott of Tel Aviv Pride… recognizing them as a manifestation of Israeli pinkwashing to obscure and normalize Israeli crimes and violations of human rights #thisisoccupation #endtheoccupation.”
  • In November 2015, 7amleh announced a new music video against recruitment to the Israeli army, with the following lyrics: “They stripped us of our land, they stripped us of our identity. They dressed us with boots and military uniform. He went to the army that went into his house and displaced his family – Killed some, expelled some, and divided the survivors…Ignorance was planted and fertilised with the shitty sectarianism….From bad to worse, I have a dream to end the Jewish state’s regime…”
  • In August 2015, 7amleh shared an invitation to a protest supporting “the hero Mohammed Allan.” The protest was “In support of the prisoner Mohammed Allah, the hunger striker…and to defend all our brave men and women prisoners in the occupation’s prisons. We call all to participate in the unified Haifa protest.”

Partnership with NGOs Tied to Terror

  • 7amleh is the founding member of The Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition, which aims to “strengthen the coordination, cooperation and mutual aid between Palestinian civil society institutions operating in the field of protecting and strengthening Palestinian digital rights.” The coalition includes Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Addameer, Al Mezan, Adalah, Hurryyat, Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, and Sada Social.
  • In 2021, 7amleh, in partnership with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) and Masarat, held the “Civil and Democratic Participation of Palestinian Youth” program. As part of the program,  Palestinian youths met with Amir Makhoul, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to delivering sensitive information to the Hezbollah terror group.
  • In October 2021, 7amleh published a press release condemning the decision by the Israeli Ministry to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations. According to the press release, the designations are “a crime against civil society work and a clear breach of human…[7amleh] stands with the abovementioned 6 Palestinian organizations, and affirms its recruitment for work and taking any steps necessary…in order to revoke this unjust decision.”
  • In a July 2, 2020 report, 7amleh attempted to legitimize Palestinian terror groups as “political” groups: “US law includes restrictions on working with organizations or individuals on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, which include many Palestinian political organizations and parties…the US State Department’s designations are controversial as there is no internationally recognized legal definition of terrorism.” (emphasis added)
  • In 2020, 7amleh launched a campaign with Al-Haq, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), and Addameer to “pressure Google regarding its mapping practices against Palestine and Palestinians…” (emphasis in original).
    • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared Al-Haq, DCI-P, and Addameer as “terror organizations” because they are part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”
  • In October 2018, 7amleh launched a campaign titled “Plant a Seed in Area C” in cooperation with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC).
    • The Union of Agricultural Work Committee (UAWC) is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate” and by USAID-engaged audit as the “agricultural arm” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. For more information on UAWC’s PFLP ties, read NGO Monitor’s report “Union of Agricultural Work Committees Ties to the PFLP Terror Group.”
    • On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense declared UAWC a “terror organization” because it is part of “a network of organizations” that operates “on behalf of the ‘Popular Front’.”

Staff

  • Neveen Abu Rahmoun
    • Neveen Abu Rahmoun, a member of 7amleh’s board of directors, previously served as a Member of Knesset representing the Balad party.
    • In October 2023,  in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, Abu Rahmoun posted on Facebook, “The Palestinian resistance is imposing a new stage since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa flood operation by resistance fighters infiltrating into numerous Israeli neighborhoods in the settlements, by creating points of contact, and by firing rockets of the resistance. Israel, in its turn, is constrained by this and has announced a state of high mobilization for war. The message of the resistance is clear, it has started and it shall escalate and shall impose a new reality” (emphases added; “resistance” is a euphemism for Hamas and other terrorist groups; “the settlements” in question are located within the 1949 Armistice Line, or Green Line.)
    • On October 25, 2022, following the death of PFLP member and Lions’ Den terrorist Tamer Kilani, Abu Rahmoun wrote, “In effect, Israel, as usual, is utilizing its election campaigns to resolve its battle on the expanse of the blood of our martyrs… [then Defense Minister Benny] Gantz, who is a graduate of the elite units that are especially bloody, decided to assassinate Kilani in order to increase his popularity among Israelis and he continues to this day to damage our people’s sovereignty and steadfastness for internal gains…Since the Nakba they [Israelis] have been killing us so they might kill this spirit within us…May the men and women martyrs of Palestine have mercy. Freedom for our men and women prisoners.”
    • On March 11, 2022, Abu Rahmoun shared a picture of Jalal Barhum following his death, and echoed an official PFLP statement, “We console ourselves, console the family and loved ones on the loss of the fighter friend Jalal Barhum (Abu Darar), who spent 10 years of his life as a political prisoner in the occupation’s prisons. He was for us a compass in national and political activity…We are going to miss a patriotic and humane commander who tirelessly worked for Palestine. May he have mercy, and may the family and all who knew him have solace and may they continue in his combative way.” (emphases added)
      • The PFLP referred to Barhum as its “ comrade commander,” “the great patriot,” who “spent more than 11 years as a result of his patriotic combative activity and was a compass in national and political activity. We are going to miss a patriotic and humane commander who tirelessly worked for Palestine.”
    • On July 12, 2021, Abu Rahmoun shared a picture of Khalida Jarrar calling for her release and referring to her as “The commander fighter…revolutionary leader…who was imprisoned over her national political activity.”
    • On March 6, 2017, Abu Rahmoun shared a poster featuring Basel Al-A’raj referring to him as “the martyr commando fighter…who rose to heaven during an armed confrontation with the occupation…” Abu Rahmoun wrote, “#Basel_Al-A’raj is an idea and an idea cannot end. Basel was the intellectual resistance fighter, he was arrested and harassed in the Oslo prisons…because he resisted the occupation culturally and ideologically, and the brave man was martyred [when resisting] militarily.”
    • On December 21, 2015, Abu Rahmoun shared a poster featuring Samir Kuntar, which reads, “The martyr, Jihad fighter, Samir Kuntar: ‘I have returned from Palestine only to return to Palestine.’”
  • Ahmad Qadi
    • Ahmad Qadi, 7amleh’s “Monitoring and Documentation officer,” also serves as Databank Coordinator for Al-Haq.
    • On January 27, 2023, following a terrorist attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue in which 7 Israeli civilians were murdered, Qadi posted on Facebook, “For decades, the Israeli criminal entity has been… sowing seeds of despair and doubt in the effectiveness of resistance. Even until now, the Israeli war machine has not been able to see the truth – that every Israeli crime is met with greater determination for sacrifice, broader resistance and an untamed determination to victory.”
    • On December 19, 2022, Qadi shared a poster featuring deceased terrorist Nasser Abu Hamid, and wrote, “Imprisoned several times and never gave up the resistance…at the end, he died in the occupation’s prisons because of medical negligence. The history of Nasser Abu Hamid, the legacy of his combating family and the magnitude of the sacrifices made by [his] the family can shake the mountains…”
    • On November 29, 2022, Qadi shared a photo of Jawad and Thafer Rimawi’s father from their funeral and wrote, “Oh Allah, the suffering, the repression, you have lost two of your children at once. Two boys, as a flower and the age of a flower. This Israeli cancerous entity will be eliminated one day.”
    • On January 4, 2015, Qadi shared pictures from the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack, in which Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal murdered five Israelis. Qadi wrote, “I have been wishing for pictures like these for a while, and I still wonder – of what these men are made of?! #deeply_exciting.” Qadi also commented, “Heroes,” “Men of Palestine,” “Congratulations and mercy for all the resistance fighters and martyrs. Our loyalty is to whomever resists and to all who defend the honor of the Palestinian people and its nation…” “As [PFLP senior member Ghassan] Kanafani said, ‘the person is the cause and our cause is Palestine…’” 
  • Marwa Hanna
    • Marwa Hanna serves as 7amleh’s Digital Capacity Building Manager.
    • On October 26, 2015, Hanna shared an article presenting a series of cartoons on the “knife intifada”, which feature antisemitic tropes and suggest that Israel invents the existence of knife attacks. One drawing exhibits an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man looking in fear upon a knife that an old man uses to eat dinner. Two others depict Israel soldiers afraid of a sharp belt and a man sharpening his knife.
  • Reem Amer
  • Ahmad Darawsha
  • Jalal Abukhater
    • Abukhater serves as 7amleh’s Advocacy Manager.
    • In October 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, Abukhater repeatedly used Nazi Germany imagery in reference to Israel, including in an October 9 tweet: “I don’t need to ask why a music festival next to an actual concentration camp is worth more sympathy than when entire families are bombed to smithereens from the sky, mass slaughtered within safety of homes & markets without warning. This was never a fair fight, nor a fair world” (emphasis added).
    • In October 2023, Abukhater described Zionism as “Europe exported an ideology of ethnic-supremacy prone to commit genocidal violence.”
  • Mohammad Badarneh
    • Badarneh serves as 7amleh’s Project Coordinator .
    • In October 2023, Badarneh posted on Facebook, “The ‘only important’ value of a human being living under occupation is the extent of his resistance to that occupation, in all possible means.”

2019-2023 Funding to 7amleh (amounts in NIS)

Amounts based on financial reports submitted to the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits.

Donor20232022202120202019
UNICEF86,266153,860580,355510,178
European Union1,018,187706,51830,349
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung112,000119,200191,500161,500106,381
Kurve Wustrow86,881250,151
Germany106,634106,634
Norway168,802139,532440,580182,524
Canada44,79887,559
Switzerland54,422514,307280,24584,365
Open Society Foundation627,000341,000130,875
PAX72,082136,349
ActionAid90,938140,170204,022139,814159,274
Deutsche Welle (Germany)78,99546,717195,160238,848401,018
Tides Foundation435,733
Belgium
UNDP209,589203,348254,883
DanChurchAid65,85185.877
Nova (Spain)84,397
Oxfam132,488

Footnotes

  1. 7amleh is pronounced Ḥamleh. In informal Arabic writing, 7 represents the Arabic letter ha.
  2. Major attacks include simultaneous shooting attacks in the Rome and Vienna airports, killing 20 and wounding 138 in 1985, and an attack against a synagogue in Istanbul, killing 22, in 1986

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