The Zionist extreme-right group Im Tirzu lost a court case against a group of leftist activists who opened a Facebook page called “Im Tirzu – A Fascist Movement.” Judge Raphael Ya’akobi of the Jerusalem District Court determined that some of Im Tirzu’s attributes bare certain similarities to fascism – thus allowing the activists to use both a freedom of speech defense, as well as “spoken truth” defense.
A policeman restrains an Im Tirzu right-wing protester who attempts to attack participants at an event commemorating the Palestinian Nakba at Tel Aviv university, May 14, 2012. (Photo: Activestills)
Three-and-a-half years ago, Im Tirzu filed lawsuit against the creators of the Facebook page “Im Tirzu – a Fascist Movement,” demanding NIS 2.6 million in compensation and the removal of the page. During the procedures, the defendants had Prof. Zeev Sternhell, a world exert on fascism, testify on the resemblance between Im Tirzu’s activities and those of the European extreme right in the first half of the 20th century. Sternhell himself was a victim of a pipe-bomb attack by Jewish terrorist Ya’akov “Jack” Teitel. Ya’akobi ruled against Im Tirzu in all claims of the lawsuit, except for a post on the group’s page which drew similarities between Im Tirzu and Nazi ideology.
Im Tirzu members campaigned against academics who taught courses about the Nakba, and led the campaign to shut down the political science department in Ben Gurion University, which was considered too “lefty.” Last year, the department was put under a long review process by the Israeli universities’ budgeting committee. Im Tirzu was also behind the attempt “ an event put on by the non-profit Zochrot, which works to promote awareness of the Nakba in Israeli society. Im Tirzu’s leadership enjoys strong ties within the Likud party. Interior Minter Gideon Sa’ar, a favorite of the group, spoke at their annual conference. Im Tirzu was sponsored in the past by John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel. According to the movement’s report, most of the support to Im Tirzu comes in recent years from Central Fund of Israel, which sponsors various religious, right-wing and settler causes.
