Israeli Students combating antisemitism (ISCA) online has been founded in 2011 and operates with the purpose of fighting the growing

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

and

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

on the internet.

About the program

Israeli Students Combating Antisemitism (ISCA) is one of the world's leading initiatives for combating antisemitism, Holocaust denial & racism online, designed by the

National Union of Israeli Students The National Union of Israeli Students (Hebrew: התאחדות הסטודנטים בישראל, Arabic: إتحاد الطلاب في إسرائيل; NUIS) has been the representative body of students' throughout Israel since 1934. Today NUIS repr ...

. The program trains excelling students to monitor and respond to racist materials distributed online in exchange for academic credits or a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. ISCA is a member of the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) and is taking an active role in shaping a civil discourse online together with NGO's and human rights organizations. Tens of students from various academic institutions in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

participate each year in the program. The students operate on various social media platforms, monitoring content on more than 10 languages, including answering questions regarding the Jewish nation,

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, Jewish history and reporting antisemitic questions published on social media. The students operate in three teams: monitoring,

Yahoo answers Yahoo! Answers was a community-driven List of Question and Answer Websites, question-and-answer (Q&A) website or knowledge market owned by Yahoo! where users would ask questions and answer those submitted by others, and upvote them to increase ...

and new media. The monitoring team overseas reporting and removing antisemitic content in the following social media platforms:

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and Vikontakte (Russian social media), monitoring content on more than 10 languages. The Yahoo Answers team includes students answering questions asked by Yahoo users regarding the Jewish nation, Holocaust, Jewish history etc. In addition, students report antisemitic questions published on the website. The new media team oversees the ongoing operation in different social media platforms: Facebook pages (English, French and Portuguese), Twitter (English and French), a YouTube channel and an Instagram account. The program is leading in its field due to its special nature and operation and is appreciated by many countries. The program for combating antisemitism online is the biggest in the world for monitoring antisemitic content online and in the most languages, compared to other NGO's in the field. The program corporate with human rights organizations and NGO’S such as

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

ADL Adl ( ar, عدل, ) is an Arabic word meaning 'justice', and is also one of the names of God in Islam. It is equal to the concept of ''Insaf'' انصاف (lit. sense of justice) in the Baháʼí Faith. Adil ( ar, عادل, ), and Adeel ( ar, � ...

, Kantor Center, INACH and more. The program was closed in November 2018. The last program director was Tomer Aldubi.

History

The program for combating antisemitism online is the biggest in the world for monitoring antisemitic content online and in the most languages, compared to other NGO's in the field. As part of the program's cooperation with various organizations, its representatives regularly participate in committees in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

and in conferences around the world. In 2017 representatives participated in OSCE – a youth conference in Spain. In 2018, the program shared experiences of fighting antisemitism online at a special panel at the Global forum for antisemitism, organized by the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 2014, the Academic Program for Combating Antisemitism was established at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, to channel the program's activities to the academia. The program grants credit to around 30 students every year for academic training and two-semester activities. The academic program encourages students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, to initiate a personal project to eradicate the phenomenon of hatred on the Internet.

Achievements

Part of the achievements of the program over the years: On Facebook, monitoring over 21,000 antisemitic and Holocaust deniers, with an average removal rate of 44%. On Twitter, monitoring more than 17,000 accounts with an average removal rate of 60%. On YouTube, monitoring more than 6,000 videos with an average removal rate of 41%. On Instagram, monitoring more than 8,000 accounts and pictures with an average removal rate of 90%. On Yahoo Answers and Quora, answered over 3,000 questions.

Conferences

* 2017 representatives participated in OSCE – a youth conference in Spain. * 2018 – Participated at the Global Forum for Antisemitism in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Press coverage

*Jews Down Under, 12.05.14 *Times of Israel, 04.01.2015 *BBC, 05.03.2015 *Algemeiner, 13.05.2015 *Jewish News Online, 27.01.2016 *The Louis D. Brandies Center, 28.01.2016 *I24 news, 25.04.2017

Partners

*INACH * WJC *CRIF *

NGO Monitor NGO Monitor (Non-governmental Organization Monitor) is a right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically ...

* CST *SAJBD * Online Hate Prevention Institute * Kantor Center *Simon Wiesenthal Center *

* Jewish Agency for Israel

References

{{Reflist

External links

Best Practices to Combat Antisemitism on Social Media

Adolf Hitler's Presence Online
Israel based opposition to antisemitism Internet in Israel Jewish organizations based in Israel Organizations established in 2011 Student organizations in Israel