Activist David Appletree is taking a stand against the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish groups that are cropping up on Facebook, the social-networking website.

He has spent the past two months fighting for the removal of certain groups by establishing one of his own — Facebook: Stop Violating Your Own Terms By Supporting Hatred and Terror. It lists around 80 Facebook groups that praise Hitler and deny the Holocaust. More than 5,000 members are supporting his campaign, which is attracting widespread media interest. Earlier this month, Mr Appletree had his Facebook account disabled for allegedly spamming other users with messages encouraging them to fight antisemitism. “All I am doing is consolidating peoples’ concerns,” Mr Appletree, whose account has since been reactivated following an email petition, tells People. “I want to encourage them to become leaders and take a stand.” He adds:  “These groups aren’t actively recruiting terrorists, but I guarantee there is some recruiting going on.”

Appletree keeps his image obscure for security reasons

Texas-based Mr Appletree, who is in his 30s and works in media production, says he has actively been on Facebook’s case to remove antisemitic groups since he came across a group praising the murderer of the yeshivah students at Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav. “Facebook has removed some of the groups, but a majority of them are staying. It needs to do a lot more about antisemitic and pro-terror groups.”