To ask what on earth do people who post about Palestine expect to happen?

[trekking1]

It seems that every time I log into social media there are so people constantly posting about how we need to free Palestine and condemning everyone who ignores their posts.

May I ask what do they expect posting about it will actually accomplish? Did I miss something and wars can be stopped with SM posts? If so, why are they not posting the same about Ukraine? There is still a war going on there...

Agree with you OP

@TheOtherBennetGirl

But you could say the same about Ukraine, Russia's advance is equally an atrocity having committed absolutely horrific war crimes and it does seem that the loudest public response is consistently about Palestine not Ukraine.

They hope that showing support will encourage others to show support. Once this happens the media will pick up on the tide of public spirit turning against Israel. The government will realise that it is losing the support of the public and hopefully realise that they cannot go on supporting genocide (by supplying weapons and turning a blind eye to Israel’s breaching of international law). Or the government will take into consideration the publics anger / lack of support when it makes decisions about how to police pro-Palestinian protests etc. This is all in theory of course. In realists, the gov will just double down on it’s propaganda and do what it wants.

Anotherr thing it does though is show solidarity for people who are in positions where they may have some influence and give them courage to take action. E.g PCS union are currently supporting staff at the dept of trade and industry who are concerned about doing the paper work for weapons exports etc. The gov have refused to disclose legal advice on whether civil servants will be legally accountable if Israel uses these weapons to breach international law. PCS wouldn’t have done this without there being a pro Palestinian show of support among their members. Solidarity is pretty much the only power we as citizens have.

There is also an element of ‘bearing witness’ and not just sitting back and shutting up when you see evil underway.

I get that what is happening in Palestine is horrific but have you seen some of the war crimes being committed by Russia? I would be interested to know why you believe it isn't comparable.

The news isn't reporting it properly and people want to help as they feel powerless. It's also about influencing the algorithm. I honestly don't understand how people are posting images of their lunch and days out whilst this is going on. The war in Ukraine had full coverage on the main media outlets but palestine doesn't. Is it really this hard to get your head round? Why don't you block the people so you can get back to seeing people's clothes hauls and pics of their alive white children?

Google - Israeli Government and Jews worldwide, horrified at Zelensky's joining standing ovation in Canadian Parliament for Waffen SS fighter in WW2.

An eyeopener about the rise of Fascism in Ukraine eg, Azov Brigade, pogroms against Travellers, attacks on Women celebrating International Women's Day, naming streets after the fascist Bandera etc. The Russians have a point.

@ElizaMulvil "The Russians have a point"

Just wow.

Even if there is any validity in what you've said, are you excusing the war crimes Russia have committed against the Ukrainian people?

Strange innit how's theres so little heard about the 300+ Nigerian girls who were kidnapped a few years back. Many are still missing. Very rarely hear any mention of them in the news.
I wonder why that is..........

Absolute twaddle @GenerationP.

It depends on the type of post.

It's awful, I feel terrible about it. So should you. Can't the government just DO something? (Feeling sad)

OR.

Please consider donating to this charity who are supporting aid workers in (insert area of war/turmoil).

It’s a bit like the weekly protestors in London. Netanyahu and Hamas won’t listen and won’t be interested in what people think.🤷‍♀️

Oh right so genocide is a 'thing' now is it.
The small minded views on here never fail to amaze me.

Both the UK and US are gearing up for elections. As a minimum it keeps the issues current. I do follow a couple of people on X who live in Ukraine. They say that responses and posts bolster them. When you ask why not post about the war in Ukraine I think it's because right or wrongly some things capture attention -I personally post a lot about dementia because of our families history - I too have have had similar comments like well what about cancer or what about......there are atrocious acts all of violence in the name of conflict all around the world but that doesn't mean no one should talk about this one. Actually it means we must if we are ever to have a hope of stopping them.

Not at all. I'm no fan of Putin but maybe half of Ukraine (Eastern half mainly) support the Russian intervention because of the extreme right wing Zelensky and the corruption of his Government. This is why the Republicans opposed sending more money and arms. Pointless if they are just going to sell them on and pocket the proceeds.

Zelensky is no democrat but being bribed by US millions as a useful figurehead to pursue a US proxy war. ( He has bought extensive multi million £s property in London eg) He has banned opposition parties ( easy to win elections that way), taken Fascists into his Government and confiscated the assets of Trade Unions. We should be more informed about the people we support. It is easier to pretend he is Ok as he is Jewish. I doubt his grandfather who fought the fascists in WW2 would support him.

To the poster who said where was our outrage over Aleppo when something similar happened 7 years ago , we were only fed mainstream media then , now with social media we have access to first hand accounts and are witnessing in real time what is happening . I post about Palestine on my social media as I am appalled, outraged , shocked and haunted by the images I'm seeing . Also as an Irish person I have been aware of the plight of the Palestinians long before Oct 7th . Israel has been illegally occupying Palestine for years controlling who and what enters Gaza , illegal settlers regularly kick people out of their homes , there is evidence that they deliberately restricted food intake into Gaza for years to keep the population just above starvation levels . Louis Theroux did a documentary on Zionism long before Oct 7th , it's a sickening watch . How anyone is not raging , angry , shocked and saddened by what is happening is beyond me . All I can do is boycott Israeli products , post on social media and attend marches and I'm more than willing to do that .

Do you honestly think that not constantly posting on insta etc means we don't care or that we approve? In all honesty some forms of 'protest' just make us feel better but don't actually achieve anything.

@Boomer55 on the contrary - they have been listening. The protests have been commented on, certainly by Netanyahu.
Behaviour is starting to change.

Why does anyone post anything vaguely political?

It's about raising awareness, and lobbying. Raising awareness can lead to more people getting engaged. This can lead to more people writing to MPs, voting with their feet, maybe even joining some actual action.

This is how we influence our politicians. If we all shut up and do nothing there's no pressure on anyone to do anything. In reality I'd like our leaders to speak out against the genocide and make sure we are doing nothing to support it. There's more chance of that happening if they're aware of the extent of feeling amongst the general public.

@Flyinghigh24 ’s posts illustrate to me the appeal of the Palestinian cause. You get to feel good about yourself as a caring compassionate person. You get to hate, or at least turn a blind eye to ( which is a form of hate, the type that leads to holocausts and genocides) another group of people no matter what barbarity is committed against them. And you get to take a strong principled stance without ever having to live with the consequences of your own principles ( such as living next to a terrorist government which has openly committed to the racist murder of you and your family, and has just done so, and openly glories in martyring its own citizens, even though they never consented to martyrdom, to do so). It’s easy to take high principles when you are your children don’t face rape, torture and death for doing so.

I don’t condemn Flyinghighs obviously genuine concern for the Palestinian people. What is happening is beyond appalling. I do condemn the turning face away from what has happened to the Israelis, and what would be happening to them now if they didn’t have the iron dome, and we all saw on October 7th what would happen. There should be room and compassion for Israeli and Palestinian citizens caught up in all this.

This is just not a simplistic goodie vs baddie situation, no matter what inner psychological incentive posters like Flyinghigh have to frame it as such.

Its actually a really entrenched and complex situation with no easy answers.

This

Israel have a massive propaganda machine. Think paid posts and trips to Israel by Americans such as Noa Tishby and Michael Rappaport. It comes as a conclusion therefore that image and propaganda are very important to the Israeli government..
Therefore if social media means that two sides of the story are presented to the general public how can that be a bad thing.
If people can post pictures of their dogs in dress up outfits surely there is a small place on the internet to challenge the status quo through the mainstream media
I follow Biden and Kamala Harris . Through the comments on those pages I have learnt that actually a huge following of Americans are completely disgusted by the situation.

why are they not posting the same about Ukraine? There is still a war going on there...

Loads was posted about Ukraine when the war kicked off and there were marches.

The difference is that governments around the world imposed sanctions on Russia and leaders went to visit and offer their support.

Surely your thinking can stretch to at least this?

Wow , it's be because thousands of children and women have been murdered. That's why ? !!

Posting about Katie Price, Boris Johnson, that weird bloke at the bus stop, doesn't achieve anything either, but people still do.
They just want to talk about it that's all. Kind of the point of SM 🤷‍♀️

Another Zionist wind up post.