Facebook groups calling for "Death To Israel" are sparking outrage among pro-Israel observers and causing concern among some users of the social media site, a group of whom have recently filed a lawsuit to force the deletion of the pages.
Renewed attention to these and other social media groups promoting anti-Israel propaganda comes amid a surge in violence that has claimed the lives of at least eight Israelis and wounded many more.
The pages have prompted an Israeli legal organization, Shurat Hadin, to file a lawsuit against Facebook in a New York court on behalf 20,000 Israelis who claim that the social media site is helping to promote violence against Jewish people, according to reports.
One of the Death To Israel community pages on Facebook currently has 337 members, another garnered some 368 members, and included postings expressing anger at Israel and promoting "Palestinian victory" over the Jewish state.
"We will not recognize Israel," reads the banner of one of the group’s pages, according to an independent translation of the Arabic.
An "about" section encourages Facebook users to "like" the page because "it deserves it."
Several of the postings on the page encourage the liberation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, which has been the site of much violence and tension in the past weeks.
Some Palestinian groups are seeking to ensure that Jews do not pray on the Temple Mount, which houses the al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques, but is also the historical site of the ancient Jewish temples.
"O Lord, Grant victory to Aqsa," read one post from earlier this month.
"O Lord, grant the Palestinians victory and liberate them … grant us prayer in the al-Aqsa mosque," reads another from Aug. 25, 2013.
Other posts accuse Israel of violence against the Palestinians and condemn security measures aimed at protecting Israelis from Palestinian terrorism.
Shurat Hadin has launched an online petition to pressure Facebook into removing pages that promote incitement against Israel.
The site, Suing Facebook: Disconnecting Terror, helped the law center attract the 20,000 individuals who have become members of the lawsuit against Facebook.
"The terrorists do not come on their own. They write posts. They encourage their friends to murder Jews. Facebook has turned into an anti-Semitic incubator for murder," the petition states.
Shurat Hadin is seeking a court injunction against Facebook that would force it to remove the offending pages and monitor those who use them, according to Israel HaYom.
The suit contends that Facebook has refused to remove hateful videos and statements that have been posted by Palestinians in recent weeks. They are seeking an injunction that would block "all racist incitement and calls for violence against Jews in Israel," according to a statement released by the Israeli law center.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Shurat Hadin’s director, said that Facebook founder Mark "Zuckerberg created a Golem and now it's spun out of control."
She added in a separate statement, "While everyone understands the need to keep the web free, Facebook’s decision to allow this flood of terrorist incitement and calls to murder Jews to continue has crossed all red lines."
"Facebook is fanning the flames of the current Palestinian intifada and its refusals to actively monitor and block the incitement to violence is an outrageous abandonment of its obligations to the public," according to Darshan-Leitner. "Facebook wields tremendous power and this publicly traded company needs to utilize it in a way that ensures that Palestinian extremists who are calling to stab Israelis and glorifying the terrorist that do, are not permitted to do it on its platform."
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted via email.
Update 12:30 P.M.: Following publication, a Facebook spokesman dismissed the lawsuit, telling the Free Beacon that is has no merit.
"We want people to feel safe when using Facebook," the spokesperson said."There is no place for content encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech on Facebook. As a community of nearly 1.5 billion people, we have a set of Community Standards to help people understand what is allowed on Facebook, and we urge people to use our reporting tools if they find content that they believe violates our standards so we can investigate and take swift action. This lawsuit is without merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves."