1. Abstract: My paper describes the role of social media platforms in developing digital solidarity in the Palestine and Israel conflict. It will go through the concepts of pseudonymity and anonymity and how social web platforms have helped users create pseudonymous accounts devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without the fear of punishment or social stigma. This paper also explores how digital solidarity and collaborative online movements through forums, webinars, and social media campaigns encourage constructive discussion and opinions. Moreover, the algorithmic nature of social media platforms is also analysed, as well as its effects on the point of view of consumers within the Palestine and Israel conflict. The influencers’ influence will also be analysed and also studied on how it has contributed to boosting digital solidarity as well as dividing people, creating biased opinions. 

 

Throughout many decades, there has been tense geopolitical disputes and savage wars between Israel and Palestine. It is thus undeniable that this scary and traumatising conflict for millions of people formed identities, narratives and goals on both sides. There is an endless battle, going through a lot of complexities and challenges, towards finding a solution to stop this political conflict, where easy solutions were never chosen. With the advancement in technology and the development of the Web 2.0, people have changed the way they interact and express themselves, bringing about advocacy and identity expression in this case of war. By the way users of social media get involved has brought out a strong amplification in the determination for change, leading to the opportunity for people to narrate their stories, voice out their opinions and start out campaigns. Modern technologies have become the main driver in creating discussions, perceptions and movements for social change. Going from hashtag campaigns and viral media to digital art and narratives, the web world presents itself as a dynamic ground for exchanges, debates, story-telling and justice-seeking. With a multidisciplinary approach in digital media theory, sociology and communication studies, the objective of this research will be to understand how individuals get involved with the intricacy of the creation of identity in a war. This will be done by assessing the various ways in which online platforms contribute to create identity and solidarity in this tense political conflict. It is certain that aspects of ethnicity, nationality, religion and political alignment impact this digital solidarity and identity expression. We will also go through viral advocacy campaigns like #FreePalestine and #IsraelUnderAttack, which create influence on public opinions, discussions and activism. The assessment of the ethics of digital solidarity, including hate speech privacy and social media algorithms will also be done. Eventually, the power of the digital world in forming opinions campaigns and discussions will be evaluated in the case of such a conflict. It appears very important to accept the power of digital tools to express opinions, unite, divide or create movements in the pursuit of peace and justice, taking into consideration the numerous challenges and opportunities that they present.

 

Tensions and war have unfortunately reigned over Isreal and Palestine for a long time now. There has been an unprecedented rise in violence and attacks since the 2023 massacre by Hamas, a terrorist political group. It was the biggest terrorist attack in the history of Israel since World War 2. This indicates the big disagreement between Israel and Palestine up to today, forming a lot of division throughout the globe (BBC News, 2024). Fortunately, for the good of humanity, the online era has changed the way individuals interact with political and social issues. As such, there has been a rise in pseudonymous accounts on social media platforms concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the fear of punishment and responsibility, these accounts have been important to relate first-hand stories of the war. Furthermore, a lot of people are often censored and persecuted for voicing out injustices or sharing personal experiences which go against their geopolitical side. Being anonymous provides protection to allow narratives. Pseudonymity acts as an online protective shield. As such, anonymous individuals share on the web platforms which allow sharing of uncensored media, extreme violence of Israeli soldiers, contrary to the biassed coverage of media to which Palestinians suffer from (Aouragh, 2018). Aouragh further argues that Palestinians seek for dignity on web platforms by making their online movement stronger, claiming for freedom. Therefore, marginalised voices are being strengthened, raising awareness of the happenings of the conflict. There are still some downsides to anonymity. It can be misused to divulge fake news and dividing opinions. With the absence of responsibility, these anonymous people can exploit this power to spread false information and triggering content. There is therefore a manipulation of public opinions and this can lead to more tensions and to the bringing down of reconciliation movements. Therefore, this questions the validity and genuineness of digital activism. While shielding from responsibility and punishment, pseudonymity reduces the power of accountability and transparency on the digital platforms. Because of the ignorance of the identity of the activists, people will doubt the motives and advocacy brought forward online and their trust in the online community may be impacted. Therefore, pseudonymity acts as a double-edged sword as it protects from repercussions but it can be misused to spread fake news, bringing about the importance of engagement and online ethics. Being credible and bringing forward valid arguments are critical factors to ensure genuineness and trust in the online world. 

 

Digital solidarity is also dependent to social media platforms as they are the distributors of important content which will shape public opinions. This will impact whether people unite or divide. The consumers absorb this information and make people or groups go through the process of identity formation. The algorithm in social media is the one responsible. The preferences, the behaviour and the engagement through likes and comments will determine the content displayed by the algorithm which will impact the type of story-telling and online advocacy and campaign consumed. “The virality of attention-catchers is supported by the advertising mechanism” (Reisach, 2021, p.909). This phenomenon includes digital solidarity and advocacy which influence how people participate in online conflict issues regardless of origins, ethnicity or religion. Facebook shows this example through its algorithm. Users will see in their news feed only posts about their interests and interactions. The content usually matches with their beliefs, ethnicity, political belongings and nationality. The algorithm only reinforces their biases creating echo chambers. Their exposure to diverse opinions and content is then limited. Therefore there is polarisation of populations and opinions due to this selective exposure. The movement towards peace and empathy is then reduced. (Reisach, 2021) argues that echo chambers are main culprits of division, giving rise in many situations, to conspirations and extremists. Reisach also argues that a “botnet” controls adverts which promote sensationalist content like defamation, violence and fake news. In the conflict between Israel and Palestine, people should participate a lot in online movements promoting unity and peace so that the algorithm is triggered in a positive way. As such, echo chambers can be avoided, allowing diverse content consumption showing the two sides of the story of the Israeli-Palestinian war. 

 

(Papacharissi, 2010) argues that the narrow and few study of the relationship between social media and political beliefs demonstrate that in a general way, online platforms do not impact much on political beliefs and conduct. This can be true for most general cases but concerning this conflict in Israel and Palestine, it is the opposite. After the military outbreak in 2021 in this conflict, among the most popular hashtags were #SavePalestine and Palestinians were considered as the victims of the war on social media (Huda et. al, 2022). This has created a big change in political opinions and conduct in many people. It is then that the famous #FreePalestine movement went globally viral. Therefore, influencers on social media have a large amount of power in their story-telling and ability to gather communities, and their impact is greater during such mediatised conflicts. It is true that influencers can amplify voices and engage in campaigns, but they can also play a malicious role in manipulating perspectives and opinions. This impacts the formation of identity and online advocacy during the war. They gather and share information that reflect their personal opinions and biases. With the hashtags #FreePalestine and #IsraelUnderAttack, influencers may only share narratives that correspond to their consumers’ expectations. This can create further polarisation of identities as this selection of information has an impact on public perceptions, impacting the sense of belonging to communities. It also happens that there is a confusion between genuine activism and performative engagement. Social media can also turn out to be a vicious tool to influencers due to remuneration per view and the impact on their online popularity. As such, some influencers may authentically engage in peace and justice, others may seize this conflict as an opportunity to create sensationalism to spread their image, in an egoistic manner. An example of performative activism is the superficial gestures and expressing themselves in a way to avoid criticism and appear to be just in terms of solidarity. There is therefore a risk of making the complexities of conflict seem trivial. Added to that, the algorithmic nature of social platforms only increases divisive contents. Each like, comment or share promotes sensationalist content among the #FreePalestine and #IsraelUnderAttack hashtags. Nevertheless, influencers still possess the ability to encourage positive movements, empathy and justice regardless of communities. A careful use is required. By using their social platform in an appropriate  and just manner, marginalised opinions can be voiced out and diverge the content away from dominant narratives. A more diverse content should be searched for to promote empathy on both sides. Therefore, influencers have a very important role in affecting public opinions and engaging movements towards reconciliation. Influencers have to carefully balance between genuine advocacy and self-serving commitments, as all of their sharing of information can be importantly amplified with the algorithm. They can encourage positive movements, create empathy, peace as well as division, hate and tensions. They still continue to shape identities throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

From the above analysis of the online complexities of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, it seems fair to say that the shaping of identities, online advocacy and solidarity present challenges and opportunities. While social media platforms allow big chances for opposition to dictating narratives and opportunity to voice out, they can also be conveyors of fake news and division. Pseudonymity protects the users when voicing out, while also blurring authenticity and responsibility. The algorithmic nature of social media promotes echo chambers and obscures digital solidarity movements and the development of a purer and a more empathic identity. Despite these complications, which may make harder movements of peaceful advocacy and solidarity, there are some possible solutions. Transparency and accountability should be increased in online advocacy and a better diverse media literacy should be achieved. The battle against misinformations must be pursued and discussions across cultures, ethnicities and nations should be encouraged. Additionally, algorithms should be reworked for conflict-related content in such a way to promote different perspectives and objective movements against one-sided discussions. Moderated platforms should be set up aiming for constructive discussions and advocacy for peace and reconciliation. Educational campaigns promoting empathy must be made emphasising on intercultural collaboration, acceptance and coexistence. This should be done from an early age. This is a long term solution which will take effect after many years. We should promote and encourage critical engagement, ethical thinking and acceptance of empathy if we want a positive change. Reconciliation will not be possible otherwise. If these principles are actively and transparently applied, a sense of purpose and justice can prevail. This will considerably contribute to a future where empathy and solidarity prevail over division and hate.

 

Reference:

 

BBC News (2024). Why has Gaza’s border with Israel become a flashpoint? BBC  News. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396

 

Huda, M., Nurmandi, A., Qodir, Z., Sutan, J. & Utaminingsih, N. (2022). Social Media  Role to Support Palestinian on Palestine—Israel Conflict (2021).                                                          10.2991/978-2-494069-65-7_71

 

Papacharissi, Z. (Ed.). (2010). A networked self : Identity, community, and culture on  social network sites. Taylor & Francis Group. ProQuest Ebook Central – Reader

 

Aouragh, M. (2018). Palestine online occupation and liberation in the digital age (1st  ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315475059

 

Reisach, U. (2021). The ronsibility of social media in times of societal and political  manipulation, 291(3), Pages 906-917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.09.020