It’s so interesting how the mood around this conflict can switch so drastically, 6 months ago discussion was mostly ended with the mantras “Israel has the right to defend itself” or simply “it’s complicated” and now memes directly calling for the boycott of Israel are getting massive upvotes.
that’s a non-universal observation and is likely limited to yours and similar perspectives.
the crimes of Israel against the Palestinean people have been sincerely condemned for decades before today, even on Lemmy, so it’s possible you have a considerably different background than me or others upvoting this.
I’m just one data point, but certainly I have seen a shift in both the overall coverage, but also my own awareness. For perspective, I’m a grad student in the UK, and very left wing. You’re right that people have been trying to raise awareness of, and condemning Israel’s actions for decades, and that’s why I feel shame that my voice wasn’t part of that until recently.
My awareness was limited to what coverage I saw in mainstream news, which was mostly “there’s conflict in the middle east, because that part of the world is general spicy. Hamas are shooting rockets, they’re terrorists”. I’m deeply cynical of mainstream news, so had I been actively watching this, I’d have probably questioned what was being presented and found the truth out sooner, but I ignored what was happening because it appeared too complex and I was scared of saying something “wrong.” Basically, I felt out of my depth and instead of going and learning more to amend that, I ended up ambiently absorbing propaganda that made me ignore the plight of the Palestinian people.
I’m writing this because like I say, I do feel ashamed, but I think shame can be a good human emotion, in moderation. If anyone like me is reading this, I’d urge you to look into whatever local activism is taking place near you, and seeing if there’s anything you can go to. I “abstained” for so long because understanding a conflict on the other side of the world from me felt difficult, and it felt like staying out of things was wise and correct, because what difference could I make, anyway? However, I’ve realised (and I’m realising more each day) that there wouldn’t be such a strong response to the protesters if what they were doing didn’t matter. To people like me, who have regrettably had their head in the sand for much too long, it certainly does feel like the tides are shifting.
6 months ago I remember feeling the need to respond to so many terrible takes on the major news communities, plus a massive frustration with the discourse in general. This has completely changed, either I’ve become more pro Israel (which I highly doubt) or pro-Israeli voices have become significantly less present in these communities.
What also helps is that the German instance has had trouble lately and is less active, they seem to have quite some trouble accepting the reality that is Israel.
that’s fair. i think also a few mods have started acting on full blown zionist or both-siding genocide content so it just disappears more than it used to.
edit: im also just now realizing that 6 months ago i was in between accounts and wasn’t active on the fediverse, so i’m speaking out of turn as i didn’t experience that specific period. apologies for that :)
Israel turned the “defend itself” knob way past 10 almost immediately. We all expected retaliation, but Israel went too far very, very quickly. I don’t think it took 6 months to switch, it was a matter of weeks for anyone of reason to see what was happening. Governments on the other hand took a lot longer to change their wording on dealing with Israel and Netanyahu (edit:) though they’ve changed very little actual policy.
Governments are taking a lot longer, or rather some haven’t changed effective policy at all, looking at Germany, USA, and UK among others.
Of course the exact time of the mood switch is not really relevant, but I did have discussions on here with people trying to rules lawyer the ICJ judgement 3 months ago. Funnily enough their account has gone silent since.
It’s so interesting how the mood around this conflict can switch so drastically, 6 months ago discussion was mostly ended with the mantras “Israel has the right to defend itself” or simply “it’s complicated” and now memes directly calling for the boycott of Israel are getting massive upvotes.
that’s a non-universal observation and is likely limited to yours and similar perspectives.
the crimes of Israel against the Palestinean people have been sincerely condemned for decades before today, even on Lemmy, so it’s possible you have a considerably different background than me or others upvoting this.
I’m just one data point, but certainly I have seen a shift in both the overall coverage, but also my own awareness. For perspective, I’m a grad student in the UK, and very left wing. You’re right that people have been trying to raise awareness of, and condemning Israel’s actions for decades, and that’s why I feel shame that my voice wasn’t part of that until recently.
My awareness was limited to what coverage I saw in mainstream news, which was mostly “there’s conflict in the middle east, because that part of the world is general spicy. Hamas are shooting rockets, they’re terrorists”. I’m deeply cynical of mainstream news, so had I been actively watching this, I’d have probably questioned what was being presented and found the truth out sooner, but I ignored what was happening because it appeared too complex and I was scared of saying something “wrong.” Basically, I felt out of my depth and instead of going and learning more to amend that, I ended up ambiently absorbing propaganda that made me ignore the plight of the Palestinian people.
I’m writing this because like I say, I do feel ashamed, but I think shame can be a good human emotion, in moderation. If anyone like me is reading this, I’d urge you to look into whatever local activism is taking place near you, and seeing if there’s anything you can go to. I “abstained” for so long because understanding a conflict on the other side of the world from me felt difficult, and it felt like staying out of things was wise and correct, because what difference could I make, anyway? However, I’ve realised (and I’m realising more each day) that there wouldn’t be such a strong response to the protesters if what they were doing didn’t matter. To people like me, who have regrettably had their head in the sand for much too long, it certainly does feel like the tides are shifting.
6 months ago I remember feeling the need to respond to so many terrible takes on the major news communities, plus a massive frustration with the discourse in general. This has completely changed, either I’ve become more pro Israel (which I highly doubt) or pro-Israeli voices have become significantly less present in these communities.
What also helps is that the German instance has had trouble lately and is less active, they seem to have quite some trouble accepting the reality that is Israel.
that’s fair. i think also a few mods have started acting on full blown zionist or both-siding genocide content so it just disappears more than it used to.
edit: im also just now realizing that 6 months ago i was in between accounts and wasn’t active on the fediverse, so i’m speaking out of turn as i didn’t experience that specific period. apologies for that :)
Israel broadcasting themselves doing Genocide live on TikTok in 4K uncomplicated it for a lot of people.
All their lies being dismantled a day after being told didn’t help either.
Israel turned the “defend itself” knob way past 10 almost immediately. We all expected retaliation, but Israel went too far very, very quickly. I don’t think it took 6 months to switch, it was a matter of weeks for anyone of reason to see what was happening. Governments on the other hand took a lot longer to change their wording on dealing with Israel and Netanyahu (edit:) though they’ve changed very little actual policy.
Governments are taking a lot longer, or rather some haven’t changed effective policy at all, looking at Germany, USA, and UK among others.
Of course the exact time of the mood switch is not really relevant, but I did have discussions on here with people trying to rules lawyer the ICJ judgement 3 months ago. Funnily enough their account has gone silent since.