Deutsche Welle, 21 November 2012
Social
media has elevated the Gaza conflict into a minute-by-minute tickertape of dead
children, destruction and misinformation. Both sides are engaged. Yet Israeli
tweets might also help Hamas aim its rockets.
When Ebaa
Rezeq sits down in her room to tweet, she first opens up the window. Shyly, she
explains her reasoning. If a rocket hits somewhere near her house or a bomb
explodes, she explains, then she won't be cut by shards of glass.
Even with
the windows closed, the gunshots are unmistakeable. "We're living in hell
here and I want the world to experience some of it," she said.
The student
twitters the entire day - about explosions, deaths and damaged buildings.
Before leaving home she checks Twitter to see where the latest shots were
heard. Often, Ebaa says, Israelis whom she calls "extreme Zionists"
send her digital threats. "The way they insult me is just awful," she
said. In spite of those threats - or perhaps because of them - she tweets on.
A war of
propaganda
 |
| Attacks are first tweeted by eye-witnesses - and then later by those responsible |
On the
battlefield of social media, a war of propaganda and interpretation is
underway. It is a battle in which both sides employ images of rubble fields and
dead children - something like the picture of the crying BBC journalist Jihad
Misharawi as he held the wrapped body of his eleven-month-old son in his arms.
The picture was re-tweeted throughout the world before landing on the covers of
international newspapers.
"The
Israeli army and Palestinians are trying to get worldwide support through
social media," said Ula Papajak from Berlin's Technical University. It is
therefore no surprise that so many tweets are in English.
Even the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) first announced their attack on Gaza through their
Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson, prior to holding a traditional press
conference. Not long thereafter a warning was issued to members of Hamas via
Twitter. "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior
leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead," the message
said.
An answer
followed promptly. It came from the Hamas Al-Kassam Brigade via its own Twitter
account, @AlQassamBrigade. "Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and
soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)."
Minute-to-minute
war updates
 |
| The Israeli Defense Force gives updates on its Facebook page |
As both
sides twitter officially without interruption, so, too, do hundreds of
Palestinian and Israelis citzens. Their war is 'updated' every minute from
Gaza. It is also made vivid from Tel Aviv bunkers, where entire families
sequester themselves and stream their worries live on Youtube.
The extent
of the coverage has even reached a point where the IDF has warned the Israeli
populace against exact descriptions of rocket attacks from Gaza.
"Ultimately that's information that could end up helping Hamas," said
Gabriel Weinmann, a media expert at the University of Haifa. Hamas could use
that information, for example, to improve the hit-rate of its rockets.
Support
from worldwide hackers
The virtual
war, however, is not a level playing field. "The Israelis are more
organized, they have a real propaganda machine and full-time employees and
anything they need," said Asaad Thebian, a Lebanese media expert.
Palestinians, by comparison, have to rely on themselves.
Every eight
hours, Ebaa explains, the power goes out in Palestine. During that time all updates
come from smartphones and Twitter. "Cell phone connections are so slow, it
isn't easy." Still, they manage to send as many tweets as possible - some
days upwards of a hundred, the media expert said.
 |
| Access to social media is far more limited in the Palestinian territories |
While the
Palestinian power grid is down, others take over the fight. According to
Gabriel Weinmann, that means hackers from Saudi Arabia or Lebanon. As recently
as Monday (November 19) hackers attempted to break into his university's
network, the professor explained. He is used to it. "As soon as there's
war here there are always a huge number of attempts by hackers to infiltrate
websites or disseminate false information."
False
information via Twitter
False
information about the current war is also being spread via Twitter and Facebook
- pictures of dead children, for example, that are actually from Syria. That angers Ebaa. "We have to
stick to the truth, or no one is going to believe us any more." Ulla
Papajak also believes that pictures and information need to be verified for
accuracy - even if he also understands that there is no time to do so.
Through the
explosions, gunshots and the flood of Twitter updates, it is not always easy to find the truth, Ebaa
admits. "Nobody actually knows for certain what really happened."
That, however, is not going to stop the tweets.
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