Website revealing Cast Lead 'war criminals' removed

Organization offers cash prize to whoever finds website's publishers; the site listed contact information and photos of many soldiers.

By LAHAV HARKOV
cast lead 311 (photo credit: kobi gideon)
cast lead 311
(photo credit: kobi gideon)
A website publishing a list of 200 IDF soldiers that participated in Operation Cast Lead under the headline "Israeli War Criminals" was removed on Thursday.
The website, launched on Tuesday, features names, photographs, ranks, positions, birthdates, identity numbers and addresses of what it claims "the direct perpetrators" of the operation, IDF soldiers that "range from low-level field commanders to the highest echelons of the Israeli army." The information is "pirated," and was received and published anonymously.
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"Not only did they perform on behalf of a murderous state mechanism but actively encouraged other people to do the same," the site claims. "They bear a distinctive personal responsibility."
The site says that by "underlining [specific soldiers] we are purposefully directing attention to individuals rather than the static structures through which they operate...It is to these persons and others like them to which we must object and bring our plaints to bear upon." The site also "encourages people to seek out other such similar information. It is readily available in the public sphere and inside public officials' locked cabinets." It also asks readers to "disseminate [the information] widely." "This project...has only just begun," the site reads. "Do your bit so that this virtual list may come to bear upon the physical."
One dissemination strategy has been foiled, as Facebook has prevented users from posting the list on its site. The social networking site called the list of soldiers "blocked content that has previously been flagged as abusive."
The site taken down two days after it was launched, due to violations of its host's terms of service.
The "My Israel" movement has announced an NIS 10,000 cash prize for whoever has information that will lead to "catching" those who are responsible for posting the 200 names. The movement said that its 11,400 members will pay for the prize.
The organization's website also has a petition, titled "We are All War Criminals," in support of the soldiers listed online. "The fighters defend us, now it's our turn to defend the fighters," the site reads.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit had no comment on the matter.