The wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israelis and the occupation of the Palestinian territories is riling social media. An Israeli soldier named Eden Levy, however, posted last week a photo on Facebook— she had scrawled on her palm: “Hating Arabs isn’t racism, it reflects values.”

Oded Gelfand on Facebook, October 2015: “Hate is not a value, racism is not the way.” (Photo: Facebook)

Levy removed the photo after it had garnered 20,000 likes within hours. In a later post she qualified her statement; she said she had meant “Muslim/terrorist Arabs who seek to harm our people. It wasn’t my intention to include in this category Druze or Bedouin or the entire Arab nation.” Levy said she removed the post because she was in uniform and thus prohibited from expressing political views online. A Hebrew-language counter-initiative was launched; it translates as “hate is not a value, racism is not the way.”

Ofer Gelfand, a 20-year-old student, helped launch the campaign and MK Dov Khenin (Hadash – Joint List) is one of the people who joined. “We started this because we wanted to express a different voice that counters the hatred and racism prevailing both on Facebook and in the public conversation on both sides of the barrier. We wanted to inspire people like ourselves who are afraid to express their views due to the inflamed atmosphere,” Gelfand said to Haaretz. “Most responses we’ve received have been supportive, but I’ve also received abusive ones. My friends and I are trying to respond with respect in an attempt to foster a dialogue.”