13. Resisting Cybercide, Strengthening Solidarity: Standing up to Israel’s Digital Occupation

In the years since the second intifada (2000-2005) we have seen digital technologies become a key tool for solidarity groups across the world. Mainstream media have come to function as gatekeepers by determining what stories are aired or properly contextualized. Thus, the internet has influenced Palestinian politics by disseminating textual, visual, and audio narratives beyond the confines of censorship of commercial media and political elites. More than a decade later, the Internet has by now grown into a counter-public space for Palestinian liberation politics. The relationship between technology and politics is multivalent and in contrast to a technologically deterministic view, reality is messy. Political change ultimately must emerge from human decisions and practices, themselves based on historical conditions. This implies great contradictions and therefore requires a nuanced approach. The Israeli state and its international supporters deploy the same technologies for instance. In fact, they have a far greater advantage than Palestinians. There are two sides to this, simply put the material and the immaterial. The immaterial is found for instance in the effort to mobilize pro-Israel sentiments. I have discussed this Israeli public diplomacy through social media as a form of Hasbara 2.0 . The material side has to do with the warfare and surveillance, the destruction and violence so to say, this is what I frame as Cybercide.