Hamas Tired Of Having To Pay Facebook To Give Rockets More Reach

Organization spokesman Mahmoud al-Zahar suggested the company founder’s Jewish heritage lies behind the “unfair” practice.

Khan Yunis, March 15 – Fighters in missile-launching units of the militant Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip expressed bitterness today at the need to boost their projectiles just to have them cover the desired area, a move that necessitates giving money to the social media giant that artificially suppresses the organic reach of anything the movement puts up.

Hamas’s principal weapon in its fight against Israel is its arsenal of rockets, some locally produced but others of Iranian or Chinese origin, but Facebook’s dominance has allowed the company to suppress the spread of items intended for large numbers of people. To attain greater reach, users of institutional “Pages” – as opposed to private individuals’ accounts – must submit credit card information and choose a “boost” option, selecting a monetary threshold that governs the targeting and duration of the boost. Hamas, which stakes its prestige on its ability to reach as many Israelis as possible with its explosive projectiles, is fuming at Facebook’s suppression of where it would reach by “organic” means.

Organization spokesman Mahmoud al-Zahar suggested the company founder’s Jewish heritage lies behind the “unfair” practice. “We are a grassroots movement,” he insisted. “We have very little money to spend on such things once we’re finished fleecing our people to line our offshore accounts and embezzling foreign aid funds. Mark Zuckerberg knows this, but still charges us to reach the Israelis we’re aiming for.”

The movement’s frustrations echo those of many Facebook users. “Folks running small-time operations are at a significant disadvantage on Facebook as in other arenas,” remarked Al Gorithm, a technology consultant.  “While there’s no reason, ostensibly, to think Facebook should act differently from other venues, in which money talks and the moneyed hold an advantage, there once was the perception that the little guy could compete on Facebook, and the discovery that it’s not, or no longer, the case, is a major source of frustration. I understand Hamas’s pain, but Facebook isn’t an international aid group. They’re in it to make money.”

Indeed, the company maintains a facility in Tel Aviv, a fact that has not gone unnoticed in Gaza. “I don’t know why Hamas keeps trying to boost using Facebook,” wondered a Gaza shopkeeper who identified himself as Muhammad. “Facebook’s anti-Zionist bona fides aren’t the best, even if they do allow flagrant incitement to anti-Jewish violence while suppressing any demonization of Palestinians or Arabs. Maybe it’s because that’s the only platform on which they haven’t made fools of themselves. Yet.”

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