Social Media As A Platform For Palestinian Incitement – Part II: Video Tutorials, Tips For Achieving More 'Effective' Attacks

On the backdrop of the wave of terror attacks sweeping Israel, social media stand out as platforms for virulent incitement and calls for violence.[1] In addition to praising the attacks and urging further actions of the same sort, many social media users, writing under various hashtags launched for the occasion, advised Palestinian attackers how to make their assaults more effective. Users posted video tutorials on carrying out stabbings against soldiers and civilians, called to diversify the weapons and make them deadlier in various ways, and posted tips on how to turn everyday or seemingly harmless objects into weapons.

The following is a sampling of such posts.

Advice On Making Attacks More Effective:

Social media users advised potential stabbers how to make their attacks as deadly as possible. A Gazan user named Zahran Barbah, writing under the Facebook hashtag "Stab," posted the following anatomical chart, showing which parts of the body to aim for.[2]

Under the hashtag "Slaughtering the Jews," a user called Yusuf posted a message copied from the account of another user, addressed to "our brethren in the West Bank and all of Palestine" who wish to kill "pigs" in the quickest possible manner. The message advised them to slash the jugular vein, on the right side of the throat, which would cause death within one minute and preclude any possibility of saving the person stabbed.[3]

The following image, which appeared under the "Knife Intifada" and the "Third Intifada" hashtags, calls to "hit [them] on the head, twist [the knife] and then pull it out."[4]

Video Tutorials On Carrying Out Stabbings

Multiple Facebook pages, including a page called "Intifada Youth Coalition - Palestine," posted a video demonstrating how to carry out a deadly stabbing.[5]

A Facebook page called "Jerusalem Now" posted a video demonstrating how to stab and how to snatch a soldier's weapon, and called to share the video as widely as possible before it is removed from the internet.[6]

Calls To Use Poison

"Karem" from Gaza, tweeting under the hashtag " Poison The Knife Before You Stab," posted a number of tips for making weapons and attacks more deadly, including the following: "Dip [your] knife in an active poison before carrying out [a stabbing], so that even if the knife does not manage [to kill], the poison will do the job"; "Add some nails or other sharp objects to your firebombs. If they hit the target directly, they will inflict more pain"; "Choose your target carefully. Scan the area and make sure there is a safe escape route. Take precautions before and after carrying out [the operation]"; "Stab on the left side, over the stomach, where the heart is, or else in the neck, where the trachea is. Approach the target naturally or cautiously, depending on the target." [7]

A post titled "Urgent Message for Our People in the West Bank," apparently by Palestinians from Gaza, included several more tips for "any resistance [fighter] or avenger wishing to carry out a stabbing to avenge the death of the sacred martyrs and Al-Aqsa." It advised attackers to use a poisoned blade, be alert to surveillance cameras, change clothes after the attack, etc. The message was reposted on many different accounts, including in responses to posts on popular social media hubs.[8]

In an October 8 post, a Facebook page calling itself "The Fatah Movement Information and Ideological Recruitment Commission" advocated the use of syringes filled with poison. It said: "Please circulate this post so it will reach the residents of Jerusalem, since this is a more efficient and lethal [method] than using a knife. Considering that metal detectors have been installed at the entrances to occupied Jerusalem in order to prevent the use of knives in stabbing operations, [note that] there is a newer and simpler method: using syringes filled with nitric acid for example, or else gas or any other poisonous substance."[9]

Calls To Diversify The Means Of Attack

As mentioned, users posted tips for turning readily available and seemingly innocuous objects into weapons. One post, for example, featured a picture of the peeler that was used by a Palestinian to attack a 16-year-old in Jerusalem on October 9, with the caption: "For the sake of Jerusalem, kitchen implements are entering the battle arenas one by one."[10] 

Under the "Poison The Knife Before You Stab" hashtag, a Gazan user called Mahmoud Tbail suggested to prepare short spears out of broomsticks made of wood or plastic, because "the Jews use metal detectors in their checkpoints in Jerusalem." He added: "May Allah reward you for [spilling] Jewish blood."[11] 

An image posted with the "Knife Intifada" hashtag calls to use a knife with a notched blade rather than a smooth blade:[12]