As the conflict in Israel escalates, international celebrities are voicing stances, especially after the recent Rafah operation, with many siding against Israel by amplifying the Hamas-orchestrated narrative – a disservice to Palestinians and Israelis alike.
'Where were your eyes on October 7?' AI-image to counter 'All Eyes On Rafah' pro-Palestine propaganda campaign removed from Instagram: Report https://t.co/Psw9Km3qDC via @OpIndia_com
— Avinash K S?? (@AvinashKS14) May 29, 2024
An AI-generated image captioned "All Eyes on Rafah" has gone viral, amassing over 40 million shares on Instagram alone in just 24 hours, with millions more across Twitter and other platforms. Familiar names like Gigi Hadid, Mark Ruffalo, and Dua Lipa have spread the image far and wide, condemning Israel's actions.
In response, thousands of Israelis launched a counter-campaign sharing images of hostages held by Hamas, captioned "Where were your eyes on October 7?" and "Bring Them Home." The haunting photos depict faces like one-year-old Kfir Bibas, captive with his family since that dark October day. Though influential celebrities lead this effort, their images garnered a mere 600,000 shares before being inexplicably removed from Instagram and the original account blocked, a drop in the ocean compared to the viral "All Eyes on Rafah" juggernaut.
The absurd spectacle of "side-ism" gamified by today's influencers has tragically replaced the once unifying celebrity voice advocating for all victims of warfare and terror. The hypocrisy is glaring – a mass hysteria obsessing over the Palestinian cause, with throngs blindly chanting "Free Palestine" without condemning Hamas, the October 7 massacre, the relentless rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, or demanding the return of the hundreds held hostage in Gaza.
Where are these loud voices when it comes to the conflicts in Congo, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Russia, and the persecution of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, North Koreans, Syrians, Lebanese, Afghans, Iraqis, and Libyans? The fervor is not truly FOR Palestinians but fundamentally AGAINST Israel, Israelis, Jews, and Zionism. This mass hysteria reveals the masses as mere puppets in an algorithm fueled by AI-bots driving traffic through violent narratives to catalyze emotional engagement.
As an Israeli journalist raised across cultures, I have a duality in this conflict. I grew up abroad with people of all races and faiths, whilst my young cousins and friends are forced to become soldiers, leaving careers, education, and families to defend Israel's frontlines. I ache for the displaced families, homeless eight months on, and for the murdered and their grieving loved ones, their pain has become that of the entire nation: "We all know someone killed that day, or someone who does." The same goes for the hostages and their families, Israelis wear yellow tags in solidarity as we are all the hostage's plight.
I am struck by the glaring double standards, the selective outrage. The same influencers rushing to condemn Israel went utterly silent when video emerged of Hamas terrorists brutally beating and raping four young Israeli women hostages on October 7. Where was the outcry for these innocents, for the horrific footage of children and elders mutilated, burned alive, RPG'd, raped, kidnapped, and murdered in gleeful, torturous insanity by these terrorists? The brutal, barbaric content they gleefully filmed and spread across Telegram, social media, and the open web – yet people seem unwilling to believe or unable to cry for the murdered Israelis and Jews. Why is a kibbutz seen as different from an English village? Why are the hostages' dire conditions, now 230 days without medicine or care, disregarded, unlike the international outcry for hostage crises of years past?
The role of social media in amplifying misinformation and allowing bad-faith actors like Iran and its Hamas/Gigi Hadid proxies to manipulate the narrative is on full display. An AI-generated fantasy spreads like wildfire while the human faces and stories of Israeli victims are ignored. It's as if the world is a high school and Israel is the bullied child, pinned by students and teachers alike, unable to call for help from parents also being bullied in workplace battles against resurgent antisemitism.
The rush to judgment over Rafah before the facts are known is troubling. The IDF used limited munitions targeting Hamas terrorists away from civilians. Hamas' recklessly stored weapons likely caused the tragic fire. But crucial details are lost in outrage cycles. Israel faces an impossible situation targeting terrorists among civilians – a reality apart from Hamas' human shields strategy.
This doesn't minimize the tragedy of civilian deaths on either side – a horrific outcome Israelis grieve. But the knee-jerk demonization and dehumanization underlying much one-sided criticism is deeply troubling.
AI's sinister role is beyond comprehension – bots amplifying narratives, AI-generated content shaping perceptions misleadingly, exacerbating tensions, clouding truth. A disturbing prospect as malicious actors could leverage AI to manipulate and deceive on an unprecedented scale.
We must acknowledge social media catalyzing hatred and tribalism but not excuse the appalling lack of empathy for Israeli victims enduring relentless attacks and threats to life and safety. The disregard for Israeli lives and suffering is deeply troubling, whatever one's views.
The 15 million Jews are outnumbered on social media, but that does not make our suffering any less real or our lives any less valuable. What happened to the responsibility of social media giants like Meta, Instagram, and Twitter? How are they allowing digital wildfires of hate and bullying to spread rampantly, not seeing how the attacks on Israel's embassy in Mexico City and the outbursts of hysteric violence in Paris streets hours later are all connected? They are inciting antisemitic crimes in a war Israelis fight with moral justification. To those amplifying "All Eyes on Rafah," I ask why are Israeli victims considered by you less than their neighboring Palestinians, or the victims of Charlie Hebdo, the Boston bombing, the Nigerian "Bring Back Our Girls'' movement, the London Bridge attack, or the Ariana Grande Manchester concert bombing?
I urge questioning assumptions and striving for intellectual honesty and moral consistency in viewing this conflict. We share hopes for peace and security. Open your eyes to humanity on both sides.
