Egypt’s Alwatan newspaper quotes Dr. Mansour Abd al-Wahab, “Israel is using modern means to carry out plots to reach the hearts of Arab youth”

By i24news

Egypt’s Alwatan newspaper published an article about the ‘most dangerous’ Arab-language Israeli Facebook pages, warning its young readers of the pages’ “Israeli pursuits”.

The article, titled “Five Arabic language Israeli pages that you should stay away from”, begins by describing the history of “Zionist plots” dating back to the 19th century, particularly “the takeover of Palestinian lands using religious justification” to create a political entity, Israel’s Ynet News reports.

The article continues by naming the top five most “dangerous Facebook page list”.

Doctor Mansour Abd al-Wahab, a professor of Arabic language at Ain Shams University in Cairo was quoted in the article saying, “Israel is using modern means to carry out plots to reach the hearts of Arab youth, precisely when these youngsters are experiencing an identity crisis and doubts over their future.”

The pages featured on the article’s list include the following:

1. Avichay Adraee, head of the Israeli Defense Force spokesperson’s Arabic division:

“The posts that appear on his page aim to improve the image of the Israeli occupation forces,”Ynet quotes the article as saying. “He convinces his followers that the army only serves to protect the Zionist entity, and avoids speaking about Israel’s wars in Gaza, and the thousands of dead, and human rights abuses against the Palestinians.”

2. Israeli Foreign Ministry’s “Israel speaks Arabic” page:

“The page calls for normalization. It has 669,719 followers, and it is unknown who manages it,” the article said. “The page focuses on Israeli relations with Arab states in an attempt to prove that the Zionist entity is part of the region, and that Arab states have no problem cooperating with the Zionist occupation regime.”

Yonatan Gonen, head of Arabic-language digital diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry responded to the article telling Ynet, “Most of the page’s nearly 700,000 followers come from the Arab world, including citizens of Egypt, Iraq, the West Bank, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. The Foreign Ministry’s platforms create interest in the public dialogue in Arab states, including in the Arabic media, and the fact that youths are warned to ‘stay away from the page for fear of normalization’ proves its effectiveness as a tool to show Israel abroad.”

3. “Israel in Egypt”, managed by the Israeli embassy in Egypt:

The page, which primarily deals with relations between Cairo and Jerusalem, was accused, among other things, of featuring posts about cooperation between Israel an Egypt over natural gas, which the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Energy has denied.

4. Ofir Gendelman, official spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office to Arabic media:

 “There is not much difference between his goal and Adraee’s… Adraee focuses on military aspect and Gendelman on the political aspect,” the Ynet quotes the article.

5. “Stand With Us Arabic”