Overview
#BringBackOurBoys is a Twitter hashtag campaign launched by students of the University of Haifa to raise awareness and call upon the international community for action after three teenage Israeli boys were abducted by pro-Palestinian terrorists in June 2014. The hashtag was directly inspired by the #BringBackOurGirls campaign launched earlier in April to raise awareness of mass abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls by the Islamic jihadist terrorist group Boko Haram.
Background
On June 12th, 2014, three Israeli teenagers, Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frankel and Gil-ad Shaar, were kidnapped in the West Bank on their way home from school, prompting a massive manhunt in the region. The Israeli government subsequently issued a statement accusing the Islamic terrorist group Hamas[3] of involvement in the abductions and the military detained 80 Palestinians suspected of affiliation with Hamas.
On June 14th, the hashtag campaign #BringBackOurBoys was launched by students of University of Haifa[5] as part of the Ambassadors Online program which teaches its students to use the Internet for activism. Within three days, the hashtag was tweeted out over 8,000 times.
Notable Developments
On June 13, 2014, a Facebook page[2] for the campaign was created. Within five days the page gained over 98,000 likes. On the same day the campaign launched an Instagram account[4] which features examples of sign holding activism as well as photographs and biographies of the three kidnapped boys. Within five days the account gained over 2,000 followers.
On June 15th, Neil Lazarus, a lecturer at the University of Haifa, uploaded a video to his YouTube channel[6] titled “#BringBackOurBoys,” which features the hashtag on everyday public items like clocks and sidewalks. Within three days the video gained over 1,000 views.
News Media Coverage
On June 14th, IBTimes[9] published an article titled “#BringBackOurBoys IDF Hashtag Sparks Palestinian Outrage On Twitter,” which covered the hashtag campaign. Several news sites covered the hashtag campaign in the following days including The Jewish Daily Forward[10] and the New York Post.[11]
Three Fingered Salute
Meanwhile on the Arabic web, pro-Palestinian Internet users responded to the news of the abductions with photographs[7] of their children gesturing a “three finger salute” in celebration. The salute was nicknamed “three Shalits”[8] after another Israeli who had been kidnapped by Hamas, Gilad Shalit.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]The Wire – Israel Adopts #BringBackOurBoys for Teenagers Kidnapped in the West Bank
[2]Facebook – #BringBackOurBoys
[3]Daily Mail – Pictured: The 16-year-old American boy who has been ‘kidnapped with two others by Hamas militants’ as Israel continues desperate hunt to find them
[4]Instagram – #BringBackOurBoys
[5]New York Times – Israelis Start #BringBackOurBoys Campaign
[6]YouTube – Neil Lazarus
[7]The Jewish Press – Three Fingered Salute – New Low, Even for ‘Palestinian’ Society
[8]Free Beacon – Palestinians Celebrate Kidnapping of Three Israeli ‘Shalits’
[9]IBTimes – #BringBackOurBoys IDF Hashtag Sparks Palestinian Outrage On Twitter
[10]The Jewish Daily Forward – #BringBackOurBoys Joins Rally for Nigerian Girls?
[11]The New York Post – Israelis rally for return of three teens kidnapped by Hamas
