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Benjamin Netanyahu ridiculed in Twitter Q&A

Question and answer session with Israeli prime minister draws criticism and ridicule over policies against Palestinians.

Weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem
Netanyahu was asked "which war crime is your favourite hobby?" [File: Dan Balilty/EPA]
Published On 12 May 2016

Benjamin Netanyahu’s online Q&A using Twitter hashtag #askNetanyahu has generated thousands of negative comments against the Israeli leader and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The session, which started on Thursday at 12:00 GMT, ignited a torrent of negativity and ridicule against him and Israel’s polices against the Palestinians.

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The campaign, apparently designed to cast Netanyahu in the mould of Western leaders, quickly turned against him when it was announced 48 hours ago.

The Q&A was announced as a celebration of Israel’s May 15 anniversary of its “independence day”, an occasion Palestinians refer to as “al-Nakba” or “the catastrophe” for losing their national homeland that in 1948 became Israel.

Many Twitter users attacked Netanyahu for Israel’s war against Gaza in 2014, accusing him of war crimes and for his mistreatment of Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank and his continued blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Some Twitter users took the opportunity to ask Netanyahu about domestic Israeli policies that ranged from its treatment of Holocaust survivors, to supportive questions such as what are the “threats to Israeli security”.

Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan used the occasion to invite Netanyahu for an interview on his own talk show Head to Head aired on Al Jazeera from Washington DC.

 

Source: Al Jazeera