I recently wrote an article about the lion as a sacred Jewish symbol—the emblem of the Tribe of Judah, the tribe from which the Messiah will descend according to Jewish tradition. The lion is also a symbol of Jerusalem and an expression of Malchut, or kingship.

I translated the article into Russian and shared it in a Russian-speaking Facebook group created for Jewish discussion. What happened afterward should concern not only me, but everyone who relies on social media to preserve cultural memory, conduct public work, and participate in community life.

After the translation appeared, individuals using apparently non-Jewish identities entered the discussion and began posting antisemitic provocations in Russian. They ridiculed Jewish symbols, claimed that the Jewish people had stolen their history and culture from Egypt, and made other degrading statements about Jews and Judaism.

I responded firmly but respectfully. I defended Jewish history and tradition by referring to the Torah, the Talmud, and other Jewish sources. I did not threaten anyone, advocate violence, or engage in extremist activity. I was a Jewish writer responding to antisemitic abuse inside a group intended for Jewish conversation.

I documented the exchanges and preserved screenshots.

Soon afterward, suspicious attempts were made to access my Facebook and Instagram accounts from several geographical locations. The security notifications included Thailand and cities in the United States where I was not present. I live in Brooklyn, New York.

Facebook itself alerted me to the unfamiliar activity and asked whether the logins belonged to me. I answered that they did not. I removed unfamiliar sessions and took steps to secure my accounts.

The next day, instead of receiving protection, I learned that Facebook had disabled my account for alleged violations of its Community Standards. My connected Instagram accounts were suspended as well.

I was never given a clear and specific explanation of what I had supposedly done. I was not told which publication allegedly violated the rules, whether prohibited activity had occurred during the unauthorized access, or whether coordinated complaints had been submitted against me. I repeatedly sought a genuine human review, but I encountered only automated procedures, error messages, and recovery paths that led nowhere.

The chronology is too troubling to ignore. First came Russian-language antisemitic provocation in a Jewish Facebook group. After I defended Jewish history, suspicious access attempts followed from multiple geographical locations. Facebook acknowledged that the activity was unfamiliar by asking whether it was mine. After I confirmed that it was not, my Facebook and Instagram accounts were disabled.

Based on the timing, apparent coordination, international infrastructure, and the attackers’ seeming understanding of........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)