Mimi Hecht, a clothing company owner and a resident of Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, is calling out what she says is censorship of her pro-Israel posts on the social media platform Instagram.
The co-founder of Mimu Maxi is accusing Instagram of deleting her posts calling out bias in the news media, as well as on social media, following recent anti- Semitic attacks and the escalation of fighting in Gaza.
Hecht says she was recently moved to acknowledge the lack of empathy towards the victims of the anti-Semitic horrific shooting in Pittsburgh to her followers on her company's Instagram account.
"Everyone was posting about the attack," Hecht said. "An attack on my people. But we were left out of the story altogether. Post after post about the shooting, yet virtually every single one was either political-focused, or merely an obligatory generalized statement on the need to 'love one another."
"The same world that goes to great lengths to name racism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia (just to name a few), could not use the term "anti-Semitism," and could barely utter the word 'Jewish.'"
"I was shedding light on the situation, calling out the lies, and giving so many of my followers—who desperately need it—the facts that they wouldn't see elsewhere," she wrote.
This week, when hundreds of rockets were being fired into Jewish cities and villages in Southern Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Hecht again felt the need to speak out.
"I pointed out how the New York Times called terrorists "fighters," and how no one was acknowledging that the "Palestinians" killed were actually top-level terrorists with blood on their hands.
"I posted about the "poor Palestinian" that was actually Nour Barakeh, the mastermind behind the terror tunnels. I posted about the two Muslim congresswomen elected last week, that the entire world is heralding, who have stated they would vote against military aid to Israel," she wrote.
Hecht also called out controversial political activist Linda Sarsour, a Women's March leader and former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, who is known for anti-Israel views.
"When Women's March leader and anti-Semite Linda Sarsour posted about Israel's "aggression," I called her out for denying the facts (how interesting, she also calls murderers "fighters") and for essentially encouraging terrorism," Hecht says.
And that's when Instagram began deleting her posts.
First, one about the danger of falling prey to mainstream media's portrayal of events in Israel. Next, it was decoding Sarour's anti-Semitic terrorist-supporting jargon.
Hecht says she is aware that these are "hot touch-points."
"But I was basically edited and silenced for speaking out against that," she says.
Hecht has made this public to her social media followers, asking them to share her words and make sure "the truth is not silenced."
"Unlike so many of the accounts and posts we all see that incite violence or use hate speech, my posts did not," she writes.
"Yes, my posts included buzzwords that could catch Instagram's attention (like "murderers" and "Jew hatred") but they were conversational and educational. Moreover, not only did they not violate any of Instagram's "Community Guidelines” but they were actually speaking up AGAINST hatred," she writes.
"How alarming is it that anti-Semitic groups and accounts and individuals full of hate speech can exist loudly on social media, but when a Jewish account simply enters the conversation about Israel with an unpopular narrative, it's banned?"
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