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Since violence worsened in May of this year, an increasing number of Palestinians have been taking to social media to raise awareness of their experiences. With the power of social media, the Palestine-Israel conflict quickly became one of the most widely discussed topics online. However, over recent weeks, the conversation has died down. Activists claim this apparent quietness is rooted in the censoring of Facebook-owned social media such as Instagram, while awareness continues to be raised on platforms such as Twitter.
Forbes described the raging war between Israel and Palestine in May as “an asymmetric war raged between the Israeli Defense Force, one of the most technologically advanced militaries on the planet, and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, a small, isolated and impoverished coastal enclave”. The war saw 248 deaths in Palestine and 12 in Israel. After pressure from activists and on an international scale, Israel agreed to a ceasefire on 21st May.
However, the ceasefire did not last long, as Israel breached it by shooting Palestinians who were praying in the al-Aqsa mosque just moments after announcing the ceasefire. In a video that can be found on NBC’s website, Israeli police are shown firing grenades at worshippers. In defence, Palestinians throw rocks at the soldiers. As a result, then-Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond with "a new level of force against any expression of aggression against communities around Gaza and any other part of Israel."
On 15th of June, young Israelis marched along the old city of Jerusalem, with some chanting “death to Arabs”. They were dancing, singing, and flying the Israeli flag. This was during Jerusalem Day: a day celebrated annually to remember how Israel managed to capture East Jerusalem. Many Palestinians found this display to be both threatening and provocative. A video posted on Twitter shows the right-wing marchers chanting “death to Arabs”, “Shuafat is on fire,” referring to the East Jerusalem neighbourhood, and “Jerusalem is ours.” This resulted in a clash between Israelis and Palestinians, as 33 Palestinians were injured, and 6 were hospitalised.
As an apparent retaliation to the march, on 16th of June, Hamas sent incendiary balloons into Israel. CNN reported that “While militants have been sending balloons into Israel for years, the Israeli military's response to airstrikes in Gaza is a new escalation and any provocation will be met with force.” The incendiary balloons are helium balloons designed to start fires and cause damage. However, no casualties were reported.
Overnight, Israel then attacked Khan Younis and Gaza with airstrikes. This was the first airstrike under the new Israeli government, ruled by Naftali Bennett.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, “To date, the United States has provided Israel $146 billion (current, or non inflation-adjusted, dollars) in bilateral assistance and missile defense funding. At present, almost all U.S. bilateral aid to Israel is in the form of military assistance, including training for its military.” Israel’s new leader, President Bennett, says “balloons should be treated the same as rockets”.
Both the overall death toll, and violence against Palestinian children in particular are on the rise. Palestinian citizens regularly share tweets and videos on social media platforms, detailing the violence of the Israeli Army against Palestinian children. On the 22nd of May, the killings of Palestinian children led 300 protesters of various ages to march from Queens Park to Victoria Square in Bolton. The youngsters flew balloons for every Palestinian child who has been killed by the Israeli Army.
On June 19th, a Palestinian man was mercilessly attacked by Israeli Soldiers. The video posted by Palestinian journalist Mohammad Smiry on Twitter shows a single Palestinian man soaked in blood, being punched and dragged by 5-10 armed Israeli soldiers. One of the soldiers then proceeded to intimidate a journalist, who was recording the whole incident on camera.
Israel has breached many United Nations resolutions and international laws. Human Rights Watch reports that “At least five categories of major violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law characterise the occupation of Israel in Palestine: unlawful killings; forced displacement; abusive detention; the closure of the Gaza Strip and other unjustified restrictions on movement; and the development of settlements, along with the accompanying discriminatory policies that disadvantage Palestinians.”
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the United States has a veto power. It has successfully blocked several resolutions that were “critical of Israel”. It had done so on at least 53 resolutions proposed against Israel, according to the United Nations data. The US has therefore been accused of being an accomplice to the various number of human rights violations and inhumane treatment by Israeli forces against the Palestinian public.
On the 18th of June, Palestinian protesters at Damascus Gate were sprayed with skunk water, described by some as resembling “sewage”. A short 13-second video was tweeted by Muhammad Al-Smiry shows Palestinians screaming whilst hiding and running away from being sprayed.
On June 17th, a 15-year-old boy was killed by Israeli forces at Nablus. The child, identified as Ahmad Bani Shamsah, was pronounced dead, succumbing from injuries obtained from the shot to his head. His dead body was carried by the public and they marched across the Beita Village in Nablus. Shamsah’s death caused uproar, following a tweet from a Palestinian activist, Mohammed El-Kurd on the same day.
Israel’s foreign affairs minister - Yair Lapid - tweeted the next day that it would allocate 1 million doses of the Pfizer Vaccine to the state of Palestine. However, Dr Yara Hawari - Palestinian academic, writer & senior policy analyst - was quick to reply to him, by tweeting that Israel only agreed to allocate vaccines to Palestine, because they would be expiring in 10 days. Since then, the Palestinian Authority has pulled out of the deal.
The Israel-Palestine conflict started over 50 years ago. With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the conflict catapulted. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homeland. This is known as “Al Nakba”, which means “the catastrophe” in Arabic. However, over 150,000 Palestinians that chose to stay were subjected to military rule, leading to the first “intifada” - literally meaning “shaking off” - in 1987. The 1st intifada led to a ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths of more than 3 to 1. Israel faced economical and political upheaval because of the 1st intifada; as such they initiated peace. Years of negotiations with the Norwegian government gave birth to the Oslo Accords. The Accords highlighted the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s 1988 commitments, which were to accept the partition of Palestine, accept Israel as a permanent and legitimate state, and renounce terrorism. As such, Israel agreed to gradually withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, and even agreed to let Palestinians have their own governing body. However, the “stagnating” process of gaining independence resulted in the 2nd intifada, which - according to some Palestinians - never really ended.
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