Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted information on Tuesday morning about an upcoming #AskNetanyahu live Q&A session, scheduled for Thursday, May 12.
#AskNetanyahu immediately started trending on Twitter, as users sent out thousands of mostly critical tweets — two days before the event was scheduled to take place.
LIVE TWITTER Q&A: Prime Minister Netanyahu answers your questions.
Tweet your questions at: #AskNetanyahu pic.twitter.com/Gz63c1uBZ8— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 10, 2016
Activists and journalists criticized the hard-line right-wing prime minister, who has continuously expanded illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and who oversaw Israel’s destructive 2014 war in the besieged Gaza Strip, in which more than 2,250 Palestinians were killed, two-thirds of whom were civilians, including at least 550 children, according to the U.N.; in which tens of thousands of civilian homes were destroyed or damaged, leaving 100,000 Gazans homeless; and in which human rights organizations say the Israeli military committed war crimes.
Why do you support freedom and dignity for Jews, but not Palestinians? #AskNetanyahu
— IfNotNow🔥✡️ (@IfNotNowOrg) May 10, 2016
When you thoughtfully demo'd Gaza,again,were you thinking that they needed more parking space anyway? #AskNetanyahu pic.twitter.com/WuTqakqK4m
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) May 10, 2016
#AskNetanyahu Why do Israeli soldiers fire at fishermen & farmers in Gaza's waters & buffer zone although they pose no danger to Israel?
— Elizabeth Tsurkov🌻 (@Elizrael) May 10, 2016
#AskNetanyahu Why is Israel banning the entry of 70% of items necessary for maintaining & rebuilding Gaza's crumbling water & sewage system?
— Elizabeth Tsurkov🌻 (@Elizrael) May 10, 2016
Palestinian American poet Remi Kanazi referenced a speech in October in which Netanyahu blamed the Holocaust on Palestinians, not Hitler. Israeli scholars and critics within the Israeli government called this “dangerous historical distortion,” accusing Netanyahu of Holocaust denial.
How old were you when you got into Holocaust denial? #AskNetanyahu
— Remi Kanazi (@Remroum) May 10, 2016
How do you sleep at night? #askNetanyahu
— Mira Bar-Hillel (@mirabarhillel) May 10, 2016
In 3 emojis or less, how would you describe your illegal siege on Gaza? #AskNetanyahu
— Kareem Chehayeb | كريم شهيب (@chehayebk) May 10, 2016
Why has Israel killed more than 2,000 Palestinian children since 2000? #AskNetanyahu
— Daniel Wickham (@DanielWickham93) May 10, 2016
Why does Israel systematically abuse and sometimes torture Palestinian children in detention? #AskNetanyahu
— Daniel Wickham (@DanielWickham93) May 10, 2016
Why did Israeli soldiers, in their own words, "shoot at random civilian targets, just for fun", during the 2014 Gaza war? #AskNetanyahu
— Daniel Wickham (@DanielWickham93) May 10, 2016
Al Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan even invited Netanyahu onto his show “Up Front.”
Dear @netanyahu, I've interviewed your justice & foreign ministers and your predecessor, too. Will you come on @AJUpFront too? #asknetanyahu
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 10, 2016
