By Georgianna Reilly, LMSW
SJS Staff Writer
One need only to read any newspaper or news website to find that Israel and Gaza are at the brink of war after an air strike against Hamas leaders that killed one of the main leaders. Adding to the war in Syria this is not a pretty picture for the Middle East, or the world for that matter. But, was can now go beyond the boarders of countries, and has entered the world of social media. This was the case back in the Egyptian conflicts as well, but social media and the internet seem to be taking on a whole new form in this set of recent conflicts.
CNN describes that before the strike, the Israel Defense Force live tweeted the attack in what has been called ” the most meaningful change in our consumption of war in over 20 years” by BuzzFeed. Hamas of course has been responding with their own live tweets. Sharing news of strikes and attacks is nothing new, but the platform is:
“”Armies and militaries and governments have done this kind of thing with radio broadcasts and whatever tools they have at their disposal,” said Mathew Ingram, a senior writer for the tech site GigaOm. “What changes it is the reach and the speed” of the messages in the social media age. “Twitter and Facebook haven’t reinvented communications, but they sure have changed it in some pretty important ways.”
In addition, it appears that the group ANONYMOUS has used social media and the web to put pressure on Israel to stop the attacks. In an OpIsrael campaign launched over night, the group took down Israel sights and dispersed information as well as threats after Israel threatened to take down internet communication in the Gaza Strip. They have produced a packet of information on alternate communication for Gaza residence in case this happens. Interestingly, this article also discusses the use of badges and ranking systems on Israel’s Defense Force website. This allows users to gain awards for interacting with the website and its contents.
Social Media and the Internet are surly changing the face of war. They are making it live beyond boarders, adding additional layers of battle ground and in some cases creating a game beyond the true war itself. It will be interesting to see how this particular conflict pans out, and how social media comes to play a role in future conflicts.
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I personally think it is hard for us in the western world to understand what it is like to be the only democracy in the middle east. I do not fully understand it. I do not know what it is like to be in a country that is surrounded by others that want to see Isreal leave the global map.
We must remember Israel took in Holocaust survivors from the 2nd world war when many did not want to admit them. Had Israel been in existence before the war or even during the war, imagine how many more Jews would be alive today.
I would LOVE to see the world focus on peace, acceptance for differences and collabortion, but not in my lifetime….at some point in the future perhaps.
I do not want to see yet another war between countries because they ‘hate’ each other, do not respect one another…….. there has been more than enough blood shed over the years.
Interesting article. A world wide forum to harass each other, lie and manipulate.
I seriously doubt the validity of whatever either side writes. There is no monitor, or accountability. I doubt if I would read it.
Aside from that I hope Israel kicks the living hell out them. It seems every so many years this happens and Israel has to remind them how sharp their sting is. Then they, the Hamas, or whatever fanatical group is the loudest at the time, slink away looking for the world to see them as the victim. I have no doubt that Israel had good reason for this bombing. If I lived next door to Israel I would bring them cake and cookies to make sure they liked me. But, logical thinking doesn’t equate for a fanatic. Israel amazes me with how they are able to keep the wolves at bay.
Anonymous is a terrorist organization, so it is no wonder they support Hamas. Media all to often pretends the Arabs that call themselves Palestinians are innocent victims, ignoring the facts that they teach thier children to kill Jews, and their very plight is because they attempted to murder all Jews in Israel and failed in 1967. Israel needs to bomb them back to Stone Age, blow up Aswan Dam with a nuke if Egypt enters war, seize whatever land they rightfully want as legit spoils of defensive war and evict the genocidal Arabs, and fence the rest off to fester, since other Arabs seem to only want to help them just enough to kill Israelis. If Arab world was truly compassionate, there would be no “Palestinian” refugee camps- they would have been allowed to move out of the camps and assimiliate. Keep in mind- Israel allows Arab political parties to have seats in Knesset. Other Arab nations allow Jews to have seats- in cars they just set on fire.
This seems like a very heated topic. I agree that both sides should air on the side of agreeing to disagree but blood is thicker than water and people get tied up in their own ancestral background. The problem is that Israel was formed under poor circumstances against the will of many surrounding, similar to what we did to the Native Americans in my eyes, so I wonder what the difference is to cause two polar responses. As for Anonymous, they are certainly verging on cyber terrorism but they have been very active in supporting Occupy Wall Street and motivating change. I am not saying what they do is right but it’s interesting.
Occupy Wall Street were squatters and loafers who wanted to be paid premium money for flipping burgers, doomed to irrelevancy and a brief footnote in history. Supporting them just furthers Anonymous’s terrorist/anarchist rep. What’s really ironic is that if Anonymous succeeds in creating anarchy, the entirel Internet will come crashing down, leaving them powerless and without purpose. Electronic theft and vandalism is far from interesting- it is a serious crime, one that causes harm. If Anon. cleans out your bank account by declaring cyber war on your bank, how interesting will that be to you?
Israel is NOTHING like the settlement of America- what’s frustrating is that so many on the left buy into that. It is the Jewish homeland for thousands of years; it was NEVER an independent state since the fall of the last Jewish kingdom to Rome– since that time, it has only been a province of various empires- Roman, Muslim, Crusader, British. Both Israelis and Arabs could have had seperate states in 1948- but the Arabs attempted to murder all Jews in the area, and lost. They still kept trying, and try to this day. They desire genocide, and with that there is no compromise. The folks in Gaza are really Egyptians, the folks on West Bank are Jordanians- they were parts of those nations in 1967, when those nations again tried to committ genocide, and failed. The leftist view reeks of anit-Semitism- ignore the repeated attempts and calls for gencoide on the Arab side, along with the thousands of rockets launched and suicde bombers, while blaming Israel and Israel alone for daring to exist. Despite the fact Jews have lived there continously for thousands of years, and despite the fact that only one side has been the aggressor.
Bravo Michael!!
Take a look at a map and find Israel. Then see what surrounds their little cut out of geography. what’s the beef? Israel doesn’t seem to have a grand plan to take over the entire region. Israel isn’t proclaiming death to all non jews. They are just saying leave us alone or you will face our wrath. Does that sound unreasonable? After being attacked they grabbed some strategic land to protect themselves, not to conquer the middle east. I am amazed at the comparison of the United States and the impact on native Americans to Israel. It isn’t even a distant relative of comparison. If you think that fanatics have it in their mind set to “agree to disagree” then you don’t seem to grasp the reality of the situation. I am stunned that people of Israel have the courage to live in such a powder keg environment. They are brave and tough because they have to be to survive. I admire their tenacity and resilience.
Thank you, Callahan! It is amazing to me how people can remain so ignorant of the history of the region, and automatically fall for the rhetoric of the Arabs. I really wonder how theoretically peace-loving people turn a blind eye to suicide bombings, rock throwing, rocket launching– at innocent civilians, no less- and still claim they are unbiased lovers of peace? How do they ignore that Hamas rules Gaza AFTER A BLOODY COUP against Fatah- and Fatah supporters now must go underground. Hamas runs a repressive police state, is against rights for women and other minorities, has in its charter a call for Israel’s destruction as well as world-wide death for ALL Jews, and is engaged in actively murdering and attempting to murder Israels. Yet,in the minds of the left, Israelis are murdering thugs, decimating peaceful Native American-like Palestinians…..It wasn’t Israelis that raped an American journalist in Cairo, it’s not Jews flying planes into buildings, it’s not Israelis that demand women cover their faces and not drive cars…yet to the left it is the Muslim world that is aggrieved. There can only one be one explanation- despite the left’s claim of tolerance and diversity, they hate Jews. Just like they hate white men and Evangelical Christians, to the point they will side with genocidal murders that oppress religious freedom and women. It’s not surprising- leftists always make the most repressive, murderous governments- Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Joe Stalin, Kim Jung Il, Fidel Castro, Chavez– all committed strongly to the left, and to murder and oppressive control.
I love how engaged you two are in our community. It is great to have so much going on! I agree Israel is a truly resilient nation and it is a pity that land, religion and hatred can cause such havoc for an area for so long. As for my comparison, I have several friends from that area who when trying to explain it suggest that is the closest thing that Americans can understand in trying to understand the struggle there. Going back to vikki’s comment I don’t think any of us in the west can 100% wrap our heads around it.
As a Jewish person, anti-Semitism and the history of pogroms and active discrimination, even in 20th century US, is something I understand. When your culture and people are threatened with violent extinction for simply existing, it makes the world look quite different. There can be no peace with those that wish genocide.