In light of the ethnic cleansing and violent dispossession of Palestinians, social media activism has never been more important
By: Shehla Choudhary, Contributor
cw: genocide, ethnic cleansing, violence
On May 16, nearly 1000 protestors gathered at Hamilton City Hall and marched through the downtown core. Similar demonstrations occurred in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square and Mississauga’s Celebration Square. These massive turnouts were facilitated by online advocacy, organized and advertised through social media outlets.
The objective of the demonstrations, although constantly portrayed as an incredibly complex situation, is rather simple: to stop the violent and illegal evictions of Palestinians from their homes; to cease the relentless airstrikes resulting in the murder of Palestinian civilians; and to end the occupation of the current open-air prisons known as Palestinian territories.
The situation escalated and garnered worldwide attention when earlier this month, eight Palestinian families joined the roster of forceful evictions in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in order to enable Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law. This area is accustomed to such occurrences, having seen similar displacements earlier in 2009.
Demonstrations in protest of the expulsions quickly occurred throughout the neighbourhood and were immediately met with police violence. Despite warnings from Hamas promising consequences if Israel continued attacks in Sheikh Jarrah and east Jerusalem, this pattern of oppression further manifested through attacks on worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque. This involved excessive Israeli force using stun grenades, rubber bullets, live bullets and tear gas. Following Hamas’ rocket strikes, an 11-day onslaught of Israeli airstrikes was unleashed upon the occupied and blockaded Gaza strip, killing at least 248 Gazan civilians, including 66 children and wounding more than 1900. It is estimated that the rocket fire killed at least 12 people in Israel.
Social media activism, commonly exercised through retweets on Twitter and story posts on Instagram, has gained traction throughout the past year. Sparked by the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, it has exponentially contributed to the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, but has also been met with criticism.
Social media activism brings with it concerns of “slacktivism,” otherwise known as performative activism, in which individuals share posts simply to appease followers, without taking any substantial actions to further the cause. While performative activism can be hurtful, as exemplified by worries of drowning informative posts under the BLM hashtag on #BlackoutTuesday, refraining from posting due to the fear of being perceived as “hopping on the bandwagon” is also deeply hindering.
There is no denying the significance of material contributions. However, in the context of the current movement for Palestine, productive social media exposure is just as, if not more, important. What the Palestinian cause needs most at the moment is the sharing of infographics, videos and interviews that have led to conversations and protests, while directing the international gaze and scrutiny to Israel’s actions.
"There is no denying the significance of material contributions. However, in the context of the current movement for Palestine, productive social media exposure is just as, if not more, important."
Shehla Choudhary
Palestinians have long argued that Western media consistently fails to accurately represent the ongoing apartheid inflicted upon Palestinians. Mainstream media’s misrepresentation of events paints the aforementioned issue as a conflict, a clash and a war. These words carry the implication of two equal parties engaged in an armed fight, avoiding the reality of state-sponsored Israeli militia with police officers occupying and attacking civilian men, women and children.
This veiled journalism is not surprising, considering the strong allyship of North American countries with Israel. Examples can be seen through examining Canadian-Israeli arms sales and the $3.8 billion dollars of yearly military aid that the United States provides Israel. Portrayal of events in Palestine in Western media usually carries a one-sided and biased perspective.
The coverage from Palestinians amounts to cell phone coverage of protests, bombings and police inflicted violence. In addition to social media posts by not only journalists and activists, the West also sees regular civilians currently enduring settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing.
By resharing these posts and raising further awareness, social media has drawn attention to Palestinian activists such as Mohammed El-Kurd. El-Kurd has since been invited for interviews by many mainstream news organizations and successfully addressed their biases while providing an accurate picture of the situation in Sheikh Jarrah.
Further illustrating the relevance of social media activism to this cause is Israel’s targeting of towers housing media offices in Gaza. Israel justifies its attacks on civilian residential buildings, hospitals and COVID-19 testing labs by citing alleged Hamas presence, often without providing evidence to back these claims.
The demolition of the al-Jalaa tower and the al-Awqaf building, hosting multiple media offices, is yet another attempt to suppress Palestinian voices. These attacks, which many have urged the International Criminal Court to investigate as war crimes, are undoubtedly instigated by Israel’s failure to control the narrative due to overwhelming Palestinian support online. In light of these attacks, our responsibility to ensure that the voices of the oppressed are continued to be amplified through our social media platforms becomes increasingly evident.
The issue of Palestinian apartheid, which has long been painted as historically intricate and irrelevant to a regular citizen in the West, has now become reframed as a human rights issue relevant to everyone. Infographics taking over Instagram and videos shared on Tiktok have allowed accessibility to content that clarifies Israel’s tactics to shut down these conversations, such as incorrectly equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and using pinkwashing to dehumanize Palestinian victims.
Consequently, these conversations have revealed the prevalence of Zionism in our social circles and opened the doors to debate that illustrates the problematic nature of taking a neutral stance. Remaining uneducated, ignorant and silent despite available and plentiful information, or using nonspecific language while refusing to condemn Israel is choosing the side of the oppressor.
This shift in public perspective regarding the urgency of this matter has empowered people to ask questions. I have personally had multiple conversations with McMaster students hoping to learn more as a result of content shared to my social profiles. This exemplifies that resharing posts is not a passive display, but a medium for reaffirming true allyship.
The impact of social media pressure in this struggle for liberation has already been witnessed: due to public scrutiny, Israel’s Supreme Court proceedings for the Sheikh Jarrah evictions have been postponed. Under the pressure of worldwide protests organized through social media outlets, various government officials, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, called for a ceasefire.
However, the movement has not yet accomplished its goals. Despite agreeing to a ceasefire on May 21, Israeli forces continued with violent attacks on worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem. The ceasefire does not end the blockade of Gaza or the siege of Sheikh Jarrah.
The ceasefire does not end the illegal Israeli occupation and settlements on land internationally recognized as Palestinian territory. The ceasefire does not end the displacements of individuals who can trace their entire lineage to Palestinian land. The ceasefire does not end the demolition and stealing of ancestral homes. The ceasefire does not end the decades-long apartheid. The need for continued social media activism, reshares and reposts, within the McMaster community and beyond, has never been more apparent.
As of Wednesday, June 16, the ceasefire has been broken and Israel has launched airstrikes in the Gaza strip.
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By: Lina Assi & Yara Shoufani
Each year, Israeli Apartheid Week takes place across more than 150 universities and cities. IAW aims to raise awareness about Israel’s ongoing settler-colonial project and apartheid policies over the Palestinian people.
IAW’s goal is to tell the world of the Palestinian struggle, one which is so often erased in mainstream media. Apartheid is a system of racial segregation. In Israel, this includes military control over the West Bank, two distinct identification systems, separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians and military checkpoints which only Palestinians are subjected to. These restrictions on movement have impeded access to health and education. Palestinian houses are demolished for “Israeli only” settlements, and an apartheid wall — eight times the size of the Berlin Wall — separates Palestinians not only from Israelis, from the world and from one another. Israel’s system of settler-colonialism and apartheid has dismantled Palestine into fragmented pieces of land, destroying the Palestinian economy and social structures.
Israeli Apartheid Week brings the occupation onto campus, so to speak. It aims to show students that there is no Israeli-Palestinian “conflict” because the word implies that the two sides are equal. There is instead an occupied and an occupier; an illegal, inhumane, brutal, military occupation.
There is no Israeli-Palestinian “conflict” because the word implies that the two sides are equal.
On March 15 at 6:30 p.m. we are hosting Eran Efrati and Maya Wind for a free lecture. Eran is an ex-Israeli soldier, and Maya is an Israeli peace activist whose refusal to join the military led to her imprisonment in Israel. We hope the stories of Eran and Maya will show McMaster students that Israel’s occupation is not only being resisted against by Palestinians, but by small groups within Israeli society as well.
We will also be recreating apartheid on the BSB lawn through displays of the apartheid wall, settlements, roads, prisons and even the blockaded Gaza Strip. We hope this display will show students that there is no such thing as neutrality in the face of injustice.
Both Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice will be tabling in MUSC to talk to students about Israel and Palestinian resistance movements, such as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. This educational week is one that is endorsed by many Hamilton movements and student clubs, including Independent Jewish Voices, McMaster Muslim Students Association, McMaster Womanists, McMaster Indigenous Student Community Alliance, United in Colour, Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, CUPE 3906, Young Communist League and McMaster Middle Eastern Student Society.
The diversity of these clubs reminds us that Israeli Apartheid Week is about more than the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s part of a movement of students who stand for peace and justice, and against colonization, occupation, racism and violence.
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By: Mindy Chapman
I believe that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination. I also believe that the Jewish people have the right to self-determination. As a Jewish woman living in diaspora, I feel a deep connection to my historic homeland, Israel. During my one visit there, I experienced the magic of Jerusalem and of praying in the same places my people have been praying for thousands of years. I experienced the intense feelings of belonging, homecoming and spiritual and religious freedom. During my lifetime in Canada, I’ve experienced the yearning and longing, not just for the people of Israel, but for the physical land, soil and trees as well. These powerful feelings affirm not only my own connection to the land, but my understanding of the connection that Palestinian people feel to the land as well. I recognize the existence of another group of people that might feel the exact same way that I do.
Sustainable, long lasting peace is an attainable goal. However, it will only be achieved through coexistence, mutual respect and shared understanding. Learning to love one another as human beings, and to understand and respect one another’s stories and perspectives, is the first step to living side by side and amongst one another in peace.
I have often been told that it is wrong to divide the world into simplified categories like “us” and “them.” I’ve learned that there is an “us” and “them.” There are Jews and Muslims, Arabs and Israelis, who seek to further the divide between us, and there are those who strive to build a better future for the children of Israel and Palestine.
In Israel, efforts that strive to create a shared society from the top down, as well as the bottom up, are well underway. Government initiatives that require the teaching of Arabic in Jewish schools are helping create broad societal changes by providing Israeli children with the tools to communicate effectively with their Palestinian counterparts. Organizations such as Hand in Hand and PeacePlayers are making real changes on the community level. Both organizations run programming that connect Israeli and Palestinian youth through a shared experience. Hand in Hand does this through multicultural schooling and PeacePlayers through after school recreation activities.
There is an “us” and “them.” There are Jews and Muslims, Arabs and Israelis, who seek to further the divide between us, and there are those who strive to build a better future.
In order to promote these incredible initiatives and advocate for the building of a shared community, Israel on Campus is running our first Coexistence Week. By bringing attention to the organizations that are creating positive change in Israeli society, we hope to encourage the innovation and support for similar initiatives. We can no longer allow hateful rhetoric and closed-mindedness to further the divide between us. It is time to work together, learn from one another and build the shared society we want to live in: founded on diversity and coexistence, abounding with peace.
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In a recent book attacking academics that support Palestinian human rights, Professor Alan Dershowitz writes, “Many supporters of Israel – and I count myself among them – care deeply about the Palestinian people. I am pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. I want to see a vibrant, democratic, economically viable, peaceful Palestinian state…”
‘What a fair-minded guy’, I naively thought to myself back then. Little did I know that this deceptive mantra has long been deployed by apologists for Israel and sympathizers of its war crimes. It represents accurately Israel’s long standing two-faced propaganda tactic: pretend to be an advocate for peace to the Western world while continuing the unending oppression of the Palestinian people.
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Knowingly or naively, many are inclined to adopt this flawed dogma because, on the outset, it appears as a fair stance to the uninformed. The major flaw in this idea of being pro-Israel and pro-Palestine is the following: it ignores that Palestinians have been living under Israel’s brutal military occupation since 1967. Approaching its 50th anniversary, the occupation is the longest and one of the bloodiest in modern history. Israel continues to usurp Palestinian land to build colonies for the exclusive use of its Jewish population; barring Arabs access to their own land. It continues to implement draconian apartheid laws on these occupied people to maintain absolute domination. The military check-points, the Separation Wall, apartheid roads, permit systems – the list of injustices is never ending.
Israel’s intention to control Palestinian territory is no secret, as highlighted in the Drobles Plan which was adopted by Israel’s cabinet. It states: “there must not be the slightest doubt regarding our intention to hold the areas of Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank) forever… State and uncultivated land should be seized immediately for the purpose of settlement in the areas located among and around the population centers with the aim of preventing as much as possible the establishment of another Arab state in these territories.”
As is evident by the shrinking map of the Palestinian territories, the Drobles Plan has been implemented to a tee - all the while Israel has been pretending to negotiate a ‘peace processes’ for two decades now. Former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Meron Benvenisti, observed that, “It goes without saying that ‘cooperation’ based on the current power relationship is no more than permanent Israeli domination in disguise, and that Palestinian self-rule is merely a euphemism for Bantustanization [i.e. dividing land based on race].”
Israel’s continued air, land and sea blockade of Gaza has made this Palestinian strip inhospitable. The UN declared that if the current siege continues, Gaza will be unlivable by 2020 – that’s only 6 years away. Sewage treatment plants are broken down and can’t be repaired due to the blockade; untreated sewage now pollutes the Mediterranean. This has rendered 90 percent of water there undrinkable. The Israeli army regularly conducts raids to destroy agricultural produce in order to squash any nutritious growth. Fishermen are shot at for fishing in the ‘wrong places’; same goes for the farmers. Students are barred from studying because their schools have been shelled; winners of scholarships abroad are denied leaving the occupied territory. This is some of what is happening in Gaza; the injustices in the West Bank haven’t even been mentioned here.
In the face of such brutality, how can one pretend to keep silent about the perpetrator of these atrocities? How is one expected to stay ‘respectful’ and not express outrage? The path of co-operation and dialogue can happen when two parties are on some sort of equal footing. However, in a conflict where one side is armed with the military and financial arsenal of the world’s superpower, it becomes a moral obligation to support the oppressed.
So it comes down to the following: you can delude yourself into thinking you are being fair-minded by arguing for both sides of the conflict; or you can join the global movement to put pressure on Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories and comply with international law. The choice is yours.
By Alon Coret, Erin Dessau, Yardena Winegust
It is easy to look at a complex political issue and see two opposing sides, and to think of their goals as conflicting. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this seems to be the case. However, a closer look reveals that both parties have a common goal: change.
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To be sure, the current situation in the region is complicated. Countless lives, on both sides, have been lost or ruined due to the conflict. But this does not mean that a fair and peaceful solution is not within reach. When McMaster Israel on Campus thinks about the future, we see a free and democratic Palestinian state, living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel. We see families thriving in both countries, without the fear that their homes or dreams will be destroyed at any moment. We envision Israelis and Palestinians working side-by-side, trading, and getting to know each other’s cultures.
While we look forward to the day that Israelis and Palestinians will be able to live in peace and security, we also know that there is important work to be done here on our campus. In addition to celebrating Israeli culture and innovation, McMaster Israel on Campus strives to present balance and moderation in a sphere of rhetoric that too often demonizes and delegitimizes that State of Israel. Especially at this time of year, we are reminded of the importance of this work.
Anti-Israel rhetoric creates a barrier to the discussion of important issues in a respectful, honest, and academic manner. Campaigns that seek to isolate supporters of the Jewish homeland are counterproductive. They encourage discrimination and hatred of the “other,” adding nothing to constructive discussion or relationship building. We look forward to the day when those unfounded accusations will not stand in the way of partnership and mutual understanding based on shared values.
McMaster Israel on Campus is pro-Israel, pro-Palestine and pro-Peace. We are ready to celebrate the creation of a Palestinian state, created through negotiation, and living alongside a free and democratic Israel. Until that day comes, however, we have a choice. We can either participate in attempts to antagonize, demonize and spew clichés back-and-forth, or we can hold ourselves to a more intellectually honest and productive standard. From our perspective, the choice is clear.
Will you join us in this effort?
By Sabeen Kazmi
On my way home from McMaster on Wednesday evening last week, my sister texted me exclaiming that Israel and Hamas had agreed on a ceasefire.
According to Owen Jones - an independent columnist - the recent conflict between Israel and Gaza began in early October when Israel ignored the ongoing ceasefire negotiations and killed fifteen Palestinians fighters, a mentally disabled individual and a thirteen-month old in an intrusion. During negotiations for ceasefire agreement, air strike missiles were fired by Israel, killing Ahmed Al-Jabari, the military leader of Hamas. The assassination of Al-Jabari resulted in the end of ceasefire negotiations and the Palestinians retaliated by firing rockets at Israel. On Nov. 8, Israel responded to the firing of rockets by striking air missiles, which lasted eight days. These bombs and missiles destroyed several homes, headquarters of news channels, injured thousands of civilians and killed a 168, 37 of whom were children. The rockets fired by Hamas killed five and injured 219 Israelis.
News of the ceasefire agreement was conflicting for me. I was, of course, relieved to hear that there was no immediate danger to innocent civilians on both sides. However, I was also skeptical - just how long will the ceasefire agreement hold? Worst yet, I was afraid the ceasefire agreement would end the recently growing interest regarding the decades long Gaza and Israel conflict. I did not want people to stop talking about this issue because there was no longer an imminent threat – bombing and the firing of missiles and rockets’ endangering the lives of innocent civilian.
Yes, rockets were fired into Israel. And yes, the targeting of civilians is wrong and should be condemned. However, only calling Hamas’ actions ‘acts of terrorism’ is ridiculous and blatantly hypocritical. Israel has committed similar actions on a much larger scale and violates basic human rights on a daily basis.
Over the last decade, 1,476 children and over 6,500 Palestinians have been killed and 59,575 injured by Israel.
Even though Israel exited Gaza in 2005, it now maintains and controls the occupation from the outside.
On his recent visit to the area, Noam Chomsky described Gaza as the “world’s largest open-air prison.” The idea of the Gaza siege in the words of Israeli official Dov Weisglass “is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” Israel’s current siege limits water, food, medical supplies and is the cause of 40 per cent of Palestinians living in poverty after losing their jobs in Israel. The siege has also halted all exports which resulted in the crash of private sector. Furthermore, due to the tight regulations of imports, Gaza does not have the necessary supplies needed to attempt the rebuilding of infrastructures which were demolished by Israel.
Thus far, 24,813 Palestinians’ homes have been demolished by Israeli defense forces since 1967. A large number of Palestinians continue to live in the rubble of their homes; meanwhile, others move in to live with relatives. A total of 80,000-90,000 Palestinians are displaced due to this conflict, 50,000 of whom are children. The numbers of displaced refugees continue to rise; the shelters are overcrowded and are sheltering twice their originally planned capacities
Additionally, the entire civilian population in the Gaza strip remains vulnerable, with no safe haven, no bomb shelters and closed borders, making it one of the rare conflicts where civilians have no place to flee.
We must not be placated at the news of ceasefire agreements; instead we should use this tragic event as an opportunity to prevent further violations of rights from occurring to Palestinian people.
The siege on Gaza must be lifted along with regulations implemented on food, water and medical supplies. Gaza’s dependency on Israel must end and living conditions must be restored.
By Waleed Ahmed
Barack Obama, when commenting about the recent warfare in Gaza, stated that he supports Israel’s right to defend itself from Gazan rocket attacks. He declared, almost chided, “Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory”. Our Foreign Minister, John Baird, also sang the same tune and reiterated the identical position.
This has been the standard position of our government. It is no different than what it was during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in 2008, which claimed the lives of over 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. It seems like a reasonable position too – it explains our blind acceptance of it. If someone was launching rockets at Canada, would we not fight back?
What has been conveniently omitted by our politicians and our media is one crucial piece of information: the Gaza Strip has been subject to a brutal military occupation by Israel for forty-five years now. The international community, including US and Canada, recognize this occupation to be illegal. In addition, since 2006, Gaza has been under a severe economic siege which has made the dignified existence of Palestinians impossible.
Although Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, it now maintains and controls the occupation from the outside; entering whenever it feels appropriate. On his recent visit to the area, Noam Chomsky described Gaza as the “world’s largest open-air prison”. The idea of the Gazan siege, in the words of Israeli official Dov Weisglass, “is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”
Israel strictly controls air, land and sea access to Gaza. It has defined ‘buffer zones’ along Gaza’s agriculturally rich border where Palestinians are prohibited to enter - they are shot at if they try to walk on their own land. Fishermen too are fired at by mighty Israeli ships if they dare go three miles pass the shoreline. Israel strictly controls all imports into Gaza and exports are almost non-existent. Construction projects to rebuild vital infrastructure can’t be carried out, forcing the UN to declare the Strip “unlivable” by 2020. Drones and F-16s whiz through the sky so often that their constant thundering has become background noise.
Israel regularly conducts military operations inside Gaza; frequently targeting civilians. Western media started reporting about Operation Pillar of Cloud as a response to Hamas’ rocket fire on November fourteenth as if the occupation forces had been patiently standing by the border since January 2009. What is unknown to us is the recent escalation started on November fifth when a Palestinian man was killed for simply being in the ‘buffer zone’. Then again, on November eighth, a thirteen-year old boy was killed while playing soccer by machine gunfire. Each death resulted in retaliation from Palestinian fighters and loss of more Palestinians lives, finally leading up the November-fourteenth episode.
Subject to never ending humiliation, degradation and impoverishment, some Gazans end up joining Hamas’ military ranks or groups like Islamic Jihad. This small percentage of the population is driven to desperation and decides to resist the occupation violently.
Even though Hamas was elected by Gazans in 2006 to administer their internal affairs, it has been shunned as a terrorist organization. Hamas’ terrorism is akin to the terrorism of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC), which employed violence to resist the Western-backed South African apartheid regime. Mandela and the ANC were also officially declared to be notorious terrorists at the time. When Hamas directly targets Israeli citizens; it is no doubt condemnable. However, this needs to be met by equal condemnation of Israel for attacking civilians; something our governments refuse to do.
Gilad Sharon, son of former PM Sharon, bluntly describes the pretext under which the military operation and siege on Gaza is justified in Israeli circles, “The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences”. Even if one were to assume Hamas’ militant activities serve no purpose but to provoke Israel, is it still justified to collectively punish 1.6 million Gazans for voting the ‘wrong way’?
Instead of shelling Gaza, Israel can employ peaceful means to end the rocket fire into its own territory. Hamas’ leader, Khaled Meshal, describes it quite simply, “If occupation ends, resistance ends. If Israel stops firing, we stop firing”. While Hamas has accepted a two-state solution, the Israeli leadership under Netanyahu has demonstrated no interest in pursuing it, jeopardizing any attempt for it to be executed and pinning the blame on the opposing party. However, if Hamas really was the problem, why then was no deal reached before 2006, when they weren’t even a part of the equation?
Although a cease-fire has been brokered, it is likely to be broken again. Talk of Israel ‘defending itself’ will resume in the next round of escalation. And when that happens, I want to consider this: is it really possible for a regime guilty of occupation to be defending itself from those it oppresses? To our government which unequivocally supports Israel: don’t the Palestinians have every right to not be occupied by Israel? Do they not have the right to defend themselves against an illegal occupation and an unjust siege?
Rick Gunderman
Hamiltonians gather to protest siege on Gaza
Over a hundred protesters gathered outside of the Federal Building in downtown Hamilton on Nov. 18 to call for an end to Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip. The conflict has claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians with an additional 850 wounded as Israeli airstrikes hammer Gaza.
Demonstrators walked a picket line, holding signs and chanting various slogans, including “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry – Palestine will never die.”
The location was chosen to protest the Harper government’s support for Israel, both diplomatic and military. Demonstrators drove this point home with the chant “Harper, war monger, prime minster no longer.”
Events proceeded peacefully and police presence was minimal.
The demonstration lasted for about an hour.
Demonstrators were treated to speeches from various leaders in the anti-war activist community, including representatives of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, the Palestinian Association of Hamilton and Independent Jewish Voices.
“The massacre in Gaza did not start a few days ago,” said Salah Abdelrahman, a third- year engineering student at McMaster. “It started in 2006 when Israel decided to enforce an inhumane siege on Gaza … The sad part is that people have to see children lying on the ground dead before they take action.”
McMaster students also attended the demonstrations at the Israeli Consulate on Nov. 13. The Hamilton rally followed other demonstrations across the country against the renewed attacked on Gaza.
In light of the ethnic cleansing and violent dispossession of Palestinians, the need for reshares and reposts has never been more apparent
By: Shehla Choudhary, Contributor
cw: genocide, ethnic cleansing, violence
On May 16, nearly 1000 protestors gathered at Hamilton City Hall and marched through the downtown core. Similar demonstrations occurred in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square and Mississauga’s Celebration Square. These massive turnouts were facilitated by online advocacy, organized and advertised through social media outlets.
The objective of the demonstrations, although constantly portrayed as an incredibly complex situation, is rather simple: to stop the violent and illegal evictions of Palestinians from their homes; to cease the relentless airstrikes resulting in the murder of Palestinian civilians; and to end the occupation of the current open-air prisons known as Palestinian territories.
"The objective of the demonstrations, although constantly portrayed as an incredibly complex situation, is rather simple: to stop the violent and illegal evictions of Palestinians from their homes; to cease the relentless airstrikes resulting in the murder of Palestinian civilians; and to end the occupation of the current open-air prisons known as Palestinian territories."
Shehla Choudhary
The situation escalated and garnered worldwide attention when earlier this month, eight Palestinian families joined the roster of forceful evictions in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in order to enable Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law. This area is accustomed to such occurrences, having seen similar displacements earlier in 2009.
Demonstrations in protest of the expulsions quickly occurred throughout the neighbourhood and were immediately met with police violence. Despite warnings from Hamas promising consequences if Israel continued attacks in Sheikh Jarrah and east Jerusalem, this pattern of oppression further manifested through attacks on worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque. This involved excessive Israeli force using stun grenades, rubber bullets, live bullets and tear gas. Following Hamas’ rocket strikes, an 11-day onslaught of Israeli airstrikes was unleashed upon the occupied and blockaded Gaza strip, killing at least 248 Gazan civilians, including 66 children and wounding more than 1900. It is estimated that the rocket fire killed at least 12 people in Israel.
Social media activism, commonly exercised through retweets on Twitter and story posts on Instagram, has gained traction throughout the past year. Sparked by the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, it has exponentially contributed to the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, but has also been met with criticism.
Social media activism brings with it concerns of “slacktivism,” otherwise known as performative activism, in which individuals share posts simply to appease followers, without taking any substantial actions to further the cause. While performative activism can be hurtful, as exemplified by worries of drowning informative posts under the BLM hashtag on #BlackoutTuesday, refraining from posting due to the fear of being perceived as “hopping on the bandwagon” is also deeply hindering.
There is no denying the significance of material contributions. However, in the context of the current movement for Palestine, productive social media exposure is just as, if not more, important. What the Palestinian cause needs most at the moment is the sharing of infographics, videos and interviews that have led to conversations and protests, while directing the international gaze and scrutiny to Israel’s actions.
Palestinians have long argued that Western media consistently fails to accurately represent the ongoing apartheid inflicted upon Palestinians. Mainstream media’s misrepresentation of events paints the aforementioned issue as a conflict, a clash and a war. These words carry the implication of two equal parties engaged in an armed fight, avoiding the reality of state-sponsored Israeli militia with police officers occupying and attacking civilian men, women and children.
This veiled journalism is not surprising, considering the strong allyship of North American countries with Israel. Examples can be seen through examining Canadian-Israeli arms sales and the $3.8 billion dollars of yearly military aid that the United States provides Israel. Portrayal of events in Palestine in Western media usually carries a one-sided and biased perspective.
The coverage from Palestinians amounts to cell phone coverage of protests, bombings and police inflicted violence. In addition to social media posts by not only journalists and activists, the West also sees regular civilians currently enduring settler colonialism and ethnic cleansing.
By resharing these posts and raising further awareness, social media has drawn attention to Palestinian activists such as Mohammed El-Kurd. El-Kurd has since been invited for interviews by many mainstream news organizations and successfully addressed their biases while providing an accurate picture of the situation in Sheikh Jarrah.
Further illustrating the relevance of social media activism to this cause is Israel’s targeting of towers housing media offices in Gaza. Israel justifies its attacks on civilian residential buildings, hospitals and COVID-19 testing labs by citing alleged Hamas presence, often without providing evidence to back these claims.
The demolition of the al-Jalaa tower and the al-Awqaf building, hosting multiple media offices, is yet another attempt to suppress Palestinian voices. These attacks, which many have urged the International Criminal Court to investigate as war crimes, are undoubtedly instigated by Israel’s failure to control the narrative due to overwhelming Palestinian support online. In light of these attacks, our responsibility to ensure that the voices of the oppressed are continued to be amplified through our social media platforms becomes increasingly evident.
The issue of Palestinian apartheid, which has long been painted as historically intricate and irrelevant to a regular citizen in the West, has now become reframed as a human rights issue relevant to everyone. Infographics taking over Instagram and videos shared on Tiktok have allowed accessibility to content that clarifies Israel’s tactics to shut down these conversations, such as incorrectly equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and using pinkwashing to dehumanize Palestinian victims.
Consequently, these conversations have revealed the prevalence of Zionism in our social circles and opened the doors to debate that illustrates the problematic nature of taking a neutral stance. Remaining uneducated, ignorant and silent despite available and plentiful information, or using nonspecific language while refusing to condemn Israel is choosing the side of the oppressor.
This shift in public perspective regarding the urgency of this matter has empowered people to ask questions. I have personally had multiple conversations with McMaster students hoping to learn more as a result of content shared to my social profiles. This exemplifies that resharing posts is not a passive display, but a medium for reaffirming true allyship.
The impact of social media pressure in this struggle for liberation has already been witnessed: due to public scrutiny, Israel’s Supreme Court proceedings for the Sheikh Jarrah evictions have been postponed. Under the pressure of worldwide protests organized through social media outlets, various government officials, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, called for a ceasefire.
However, the movement has not yet accomplished its goals. Despite agreeing to a ceasefire on May 21, Israeli forces continued with violent attacks on worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem. The ceasefire does not end the blockade of Gaza or the siege of Sheikh Jarrah.
The ceasefire does not end the illegal Israeli occupation and settlements on land internationally recognized as Palestinian territory. The ceasefire does not end the displacements of individuals who can trace their entire lineage to Palestinian land. The ceasefire does not end the demolition and stealing of ancestral homes. The ceasefire does not end the decades-long apartheid. The need for continued social media activism, reshares and reposts, within the McMaster community and beyond, has never been more apparent.
As of Wednesday, June 16, the ceasefire has been broken and Israel has launched airstrikes in the Gaza strip.
