As international pressure mounts for Israel to end its campaign to dismantle Hamas, and in the face of widespread denial of their crimes, which precipitated Israel’s military campaign, proof of Hamas’ crimes takes on an additional layer of significance.

In Elkayam-Levy’s view, this is a replication of those exact denial mechanisms often applied concerning individual cases of rape. “When a woman is raped, the discourse immediately revolves around evidentiary questions – is there or is there no evidence of rape? Doubt is cast on the woman, her reliability is questioned, and a question mark is posed as to whether it did or did not happen. This casting of doubt is now directed against us at the collective level.

The Israel-Hamas War Reveals Fundamental Flaws of Social Media

In times of war, digital activism has power. Here’s how to engage responsibly.

Eyewitness accounts, verified facts, and culturally sensitive reporting compete with misinformation, political propaganda and irresponsible journalism. This information warfare has real-world consequences. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests organised through social media have drawn tens of thousands of people onto the streets despite anti-protest measures adopted in some countries.

The content that is flooding social platforms now reveals that something is fundamentally broken in how millions of people around the world are consuming information about the events of the Hamas Massacre and the subsequent Israel-Hamas War. Rightly, there is ample heart-wrenching footage from Gaza across social media platforms amidst significant civilian casualties. Still, there is also sadly rampant misinformation fomenting anger and extremist antisemitic and Islamophobic hate alike on those platforms.

Guy Rolnik, an Israeli academic and senior journalist, exposed the cyber work done - and succeeded wildly - to create this unimaginable wave of hatred of Israel so fast.  He also created a documentary series aired here for those who can listen in Hebrew only. 

Amid Israel-Hamas conflict, 'information war' plays out on social media, experts say.  A recent study by The Washington Post found that the number of pro-Palestinian hashtags used on the TikTok, Instagram and Facebook platforms has dwarfed pro-Israeli hashtags since the Hamas terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Though, TikTok said those hashtag numbers lacked context since many social media users come from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. On Facebook, The Washington Post found that the #freepalestine hashtag was used 39 times more than the #standwithisrael hashtag and 26 times more on Instagram.

Evaluating Social Media's Role in the Israel-Hamas War.  The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) published a report titled “Distortion by Design: How Social Media Platforms Shaped Our Initial Understanding of the Israel-Hamas Conflict.” The report’s authors—Emerson T. Brooking, Layla Mashkoor, and Jacqueline Malaret— talk about their observations on the role that platforms operated by X, Meta, Telegram, and TikTok have played in shaping perceptions of the initial attack and the brutal ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza, which now continues into its fourth month.

An ethicist explains why you shouldn’t turn to social media for information about the conflict or to do something about it:  As the war between Israel and Hamas drags on, many on both sides have taken to social media to gather information and air their outrage. The impulse to do so is understandable: Political activism on social media provides people with an emotional outlet and gives them a sense that they can do something. The war is awful, and following it generates a sharp psychological need to get involved and do something.

Opinion about the propaganda campaign in the Israel-Gaza conflict by Jill Filipovic. The horrors of this war do not have to be either/or. One can both face the mountain of evidence of sexual violence on Oct. 7 and confront the staggering Palestinian death toll — people who were not mere collateral damage but individuals whose lives were brutally snatched away and many more who will carry this displacement and loss and trauma with them for the rest of their lives. One can seek to understand the context in which a group like Hamas comes to be and curb the impulse to recast openly misogynist fundamentalists into freedom fighters. One can hold deep contempt for this right-wing Israeli government and oppose this war with every bone in one’s body.

Women Unite to End the Silence

Although there has been notable silence from feminist and women's rights organisations, some women’s rights leaders are sending a strong message about the need for action.

Sheryl Sandberg published an opinion piece on CNN entitled “Something we can all agree on.” 

Sandberg wrote;

No matter which marches you are attending —or if you are attending none at all; no matter which flags you are flying — or if you are flying none at all; no matter what religion you practice — or if you practice none at all, there is one opinion that everyone can agree on: Rape should never be used as an act of war.

Sandberg also published a video which has been shared on X and other social media platforms, calling on the world to condemn the use of rape against Israeli women as a war crime.  She will also release a new documentary to ensure the horrors of October 7 are never forgotten.

Muslim women speak out:  Recently, a group of Muslim women have spoken out, condemning the atrocities committed by Hamas.  The authors stated that; “We as Muslim women have condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, including the brutal and systematic rape and sexual violence against dozens of women and girls in southern Israel—and we have all faced criticism and threats for doing so, even as we now all live in democratic societies in North America. Our faith demands that we speak out and ensure that there is no justification for these atrocious acts. We stand together to denounce them and the fact that they were carried out by a movement that identifies with Islam.”

Bari Weiss, an American journalist, writer, and editor:  On Honestly with Bari Weiss she argues that the groups you would expect to care most about these women and hostages—the celebrity feminists who are always the first to speak up in times of crisis, the prominent women’s organisations who protested loudly when it came to #MeToo, Donald Trump, or Brett Kavanaugh, and the international, supposedly “nonpolitical” human rights organisations—have said and done next to nothing about the murder, kidnapping, and rape of Israeli girls.

Arab Muslim Israeli TV presenter Lucy Aharish is one of Israel's most prominent television broadcasters—and the very first Arab Muslim news presenter on mainstream Hebrew-language Israeli television. Bari Weiss sat down with Lucy in Tel Aviv. 

Business Secretary and Minister for Women Kemi Badenoch said all the reports must be thoroughly investigated, and sexual violence must be condemned. "Rape is not resistance," she stated.

Rozanne Sack is a co-founder of Koleinu SA, a helpline and advocacy organisation for victims of gender-based violence and child abuse in the Jewish and broader community. She wrote that SA women need to speak up.