August 11, 2008:
The Internet has
become a major battlefield in the war on terror, and on major social networking
sites like Facebook. Islamic radicals have
established a large presence on these sites, where they spread their
anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist beliefs. This caught the attention of the eight
year old JIDF (Jewish Internet Defense Force), a voluntary organization with
over 5,000 members. When the pro-terrorist groups began showing up on
Facebook, the JIDF went in and shut them
down. Most of the time, this is done within the rules, sometimes not.
Organizations like JIDF do a lot of their work off the radar, in the
murky Internet underground, where the Islamic terrorists train recruits and
plan attacks. Some JIDF members are able
to pass useful information to counter-terrorism agencies, or get themselves
recruited for that work full time. But most JIDF members just do what they can
for a few hours a day, or week, to the limits of their skills. There are
similar groups in China, India, Pakistan, and the United States. But the JIDF
is one of the largest international organizations, drawing their members from
Jewish communities the world over.