What do female activism at the Western Wall and the son of Hamas founder Hassan Yousef have in common? In a strange coincidence, the word “brave” was trending strongly on Twitter in Tel Aviv on Thursday and Friday, in reference to two unrelated stories: Female activist Deborah Houben’s
detention for three hours by Jerusalem Police on Thursday for wearing a “male-style” tallit and former Hamas man Mosab Hassan Yousef’s plans to make a film which will “tell the truth” about the prophet Muhammad. Twitter trend-mapping site
Trendsmap identified streams of tweets and retweets sharing news stories and comments such as “Support women’s rights in Israel!” and “Brave soul” in reference to Yousef’s movie in the past two days.
A
Jerusalem Post video on the ‘Son of Hamas’ author, meanwhile, garnered thousands of views on YouTube since being posted two days ago. The video was particularly popular on the
Post’s
new Facebook page, where it was the second most-viral post in the last week.
Elsewhere on YouTube, an IDF-produced video on self defense method Krav Maga was almost up to 80,000 views since the beginning of June, making it the top trending Israeli clip on the video-sharing site. In the video, 20-year-old IDF instructor Rachel explains the techniques, walking viewers through grabbing an attacker’s wrist, creating distance, striking the vitals, aiming for the face, stomping on the foot and making use of your surroundings and encouraging them to “keep yourself safe - IDF-style.”
On JPost.com in the last week, the top stories spanned a wide array of topics, covering a surprise announcement from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the US Presidential race, violence in the South and regional tensions. A softer story from
Jerusalem Post managing-editor David Brinn on Jonny Cash closed up the Top Five.
JPost Top Five most-read stories: 1.
Ahmadinejad: I will retire from politics in 20132.
Most Israelis think Romney would be 'friendlier'3.
Gaza terrorists fire 31 rockets at Israel since midnight4.
Report: 'Iran, Russia, China, Syria plan 'largest' war game'5.
The Man in Black’s Zionist rootsSimilarly on the talkback forums, JPost readers commented on a variety of issues. The only story common to both Top Five lists this week was a survey about Israelis’ attitudes toward US President Barack Obama.
JPost Top Five most-active threads:1.
White House throws cold water on Pollard clemency2.
Author won't let Israeli publishing house print book3.
Abbas: 'Peace process clinically dead, Israel responsible'4.
Israel seeks to block listing church in 'Palestine'5.
Most Israelis think Romney would be 'friendlier'Lastly, with official results yet to be released in Egypt’s first open presidential election,
Jerusalem Post readers voiced pessimism in a recent quick vote. Some 65 percent of over 1,000 respondents said that the results of the election would be “bad for Israel” regardless of which candidate wins, while a further 18% were hoping for former general and Mubarak aide Ahmed Shafik’s victory.
From news sites to blogs, tweets to videos, The Numbers Crunch is a weekly column which zooms out and brings you the big picture online, from Israel, the Middle East and around the world, and poll results from JPost.com.The writer is the Internet desk manager at The Jerusalem Post