BE INFORMED
A (VERY) ROUGH GUIDE TO PALESTINE/ISRAEL CONFLICT
I had a particularly upsetting conversation with my 74 year old father recently, (a post WW2 baby, a generation which holds it’s own trauma) which galvanised me into creating this document.
Above all else, I am human, and I believe in humanity, and I MUST believe that we are capable of doing better. If not, what is the point?
I have spoken out about the conflict in Palestine, from a HUMAN perspective, due to the amount of lives being lost and the suffering of the people who live there.
In so doing, I have been accused of being anti-semitic, a terrorist sympathiser, that I am “downplaying” the atrocity of the October 7th attack (which I do not, even though it is a single event over the course of several hundreds if not thousands of years of conflict inflicted by both sides). I am none of these things, nor do I condone acts of violence, terrorism or war.
This is an extremely emotive topic, and by creating this document, I wanted to firstly educate myself, and to gain a better understanding of the world’s role in this situation. But secondly, to help many others who I know feel conflicted themselves about either speaking out or even if they don’t wish to speak out, feel confused, unclear, and uneducated about the current conflict and the broad history that goes with it.
I don’t have the answers. I only have an idealistic view and the desire for peace, unity and humanitarianism.
I hope if you read this, it helps you to feel more informed. I have tried to present facts, fact checked, from credible sources, but as you know, in a world of so much information and disinformation (which I touch on at the end) that has been very difficult.
So what, where and when is Palestine?
The region often referred to as Palestine lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Today, it includes the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The term “Palestine” has been used for thousands of years to describe this general area, but not always with the same meaning, borders, or political identity.
When did the term "Palestine" begin?
The name dates back at least to the 12th century BCE, when Egyptian texts referred to a people known as the “Peleset,” believed to be the Philistines; an Aegean seafaring group who settled along the southern coast (modern Gaza area) (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia).
Later, in the 5th century BCE, Herodotus (a Greek historian) referred to a region called “Palaistinê,” part of a larger area then known as “Syria.” By 135 CE, following a Jewish rebellion, the Roman Empire renamed the province of Judea to Syria Palaestina, likely to diminish Jewish claims to the area (Jewish Virtual Library, Hudson Institute).
During the Ottoman Empire (1517–1917), there was no administrative unit called “Palestine,” but the term remained in informal use by locals, Europeans, and travelers to describe the southern Levant (Britannica).
Who has lived in Palestine historically?
This region has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. Throughout history, its population has been religiously, ethnically, and culturally diverse. The key groups have included:
Canaanites and Philistines Indigenous peoples of the Bronze and Iron Ages (~3000–1000 BCE).
Israelites (Ancient Jews) A tribal confederation that emerged around 1200 BCE. The ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah formed the basis of Jewish identity (PBS).
Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans Each successively ruled the area, leaving linguistic and cultural impacts.
Byzantines and Christian communities From ~300 CE to the 600s, Christianity was dominant.
Arab Muslims Arrived in the 7th century and became the majority population. Arabic became the dominant language.
Crusaders and European Christians Controlled the area briefly in the medieval period.
Ottoman Turks Controlled from 1517 to 1917. Population included Muslim Arabs (majority), Christian Arabs, Jews, Druze, Armenians, and others.
Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews Longstanding Jewish communities, especially in Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, and Tiberias.
Ashkenazi Jews European Jews who began migrating in larger numbers in the late 1800s.
By the 19th century, the population of Palestine was estimated at around 85–90% Arab (mostly Muslim, with Christian minorities), and around 10–15% Jewish (Palestine Remembered, Ilene Beatty, 1950).
What is Israel and when and how did it come about?
The modern State of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948, following the end of British colonial rule under the Mandate for Palestine.
In the late 19th century, Jewish intellectuals in Europe began promoting Zionism: a political movement advocating for a Jewish homeland in response to antisemitism and persecution, especially in Russia and later in Nazi-occupied Europe (Jewish Virtual Library).
Between 1882 and 1947, waves of Jewish immigration, known as Aliyah, brought tens of thousands of European Jews to Ottoman and later British Palestine. This increased tensions with the local Arab population, who feared displacement and loss of land rights.
Who Was Living There in 1948?
At the end of British rule in 1948:
Roughly 1.9 million people lived in the territory:
About 1.2 million Arabs (Muslim and Christian)
About 600,000 Jews (UN Partition Plan, 1947)
The UN proposed a partition plan in 1947 (Resolution 181), suggesting separate Jewish and Arab states with an international zone in Jerusalem. Jewish leaders accepted the plan; Arab leaders rejected it, arguing it was unfair (Jews were offered 55% of the land despite being a third of the population and owning ~7% of the land at the time).
After Israel’s declaration of independence, neighbouring Arab states invaded. The war resulted in the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians (known as the Nakba, or "catastrophe" in Arabic), and the first Arab-Israeli war (UNRWA, [Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006]).
And What Role Did Britain Play?
The creation of Israel in 1948 can’t be understood without looking at British colonial policy, European antisemitism, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Britain’s Involvement: The Mandate & the Balfour Declaration
After World War I, the Ottoman Empire (the ruling power in the Middle East for over 400 years) collapsed. The League of Nations (the precursor to the UN) awarded Britain control over a region they called the British Mandate for Palestine in 1920. This was supposed to be a temporary administrative responsibility, not ownership. Britain was meant to prepare the land’s people for self-governance (League of Nations Mandate Text).
But just a few years earlier, in 1917, Britain had made a controversial and conflicting promise. The British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, issued the Balfour Declaration, a statement of British support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” with the caveat that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” (British National Archives).
At that time, about 90% of the population in Palestine was Arab (mostly Muslim, with some Christian communities). Less than 10% were Jewish, many of whom were long-established communities, not recent immigrants (Palestine Census, 1922).
Britain did not "own" the land: they were administering it under international mandate. Britain promised Jewish leaders support for a homeland in a land already inhabited mostly by Arabs. And that promise contributed to a century of conflict.
Jewish Immigration & Arab Resistance
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, waves of Jewish immigration increased particularly from Europe, as antisemitism and persecution grew. These were known as aliyah (meaning “ascent” in Hebrew). Tensions between Jews and Arabs over land, resources, and political control began to escalate into violence.
Arab Palestinians resisted both British rule and mass Jewish immigration.
A major uprising; the Arab Revolt (1936–1939) was brutally suppressed by the British, who used collective punishment, detention, and military force (Khalidi, The Iron Cage, 2006).
Britain found itself caught in the middle: trying to appease both Jewish and Arab populations, while increasingly being viewed as occupiers by both.
The Holocaust & Post-WWII Realities
The Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany, intensified global sympathy for Jewish refugees. Many survivors sought to emigrate to Palestine, but Britain restricted immigration, fearing further Arab unrest.
This led to widespread anger from Zionist groups. Some Jewish underground organizations, like Irgun and Lehi (the Stern Gang), even began attacking British forces, aiming to force them out of Palestine.
By 1947, exhausted and unable to resolve the conflict, Britain handed the issue over to the United Nations.
The UN Partition Plan
In 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan (Resolution 181) to divide Palestine into:
A Jewish state (55% of the land)
An Arab state (45%)
An international zone in Jerusalem
Jewish leaders accepted the plan. Arab leaders rejected it, arguing it was unfair, given that Jews were still only about a third of the population, and owned around 7% of the land (UNSCOP Report).
1948: Declaration of Israel and the Nakba
On May 14, 1948, Jewish leader David Ben-Gurion declared the State of Israel. The next day, five Arab nations (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon) invaded in support of the Palestinian population.
The result was war. Israel won, and in doing so:
Expanded its territory beyond the UN plan (capturing 78% of historic Palestine)
Displaced over 750,000 Palestinians, who became refugees. This is known as the Nakba: Arabic for “catastrophe” (UNRWA).
By the war’s end:
Israel was established and internationally recognised by countries including the US and the USSR.
Palestine, as a state, was never formed.
The West Bank was occupied by Jordan, and Gaza by Egypt.
Palestinians were left stateless and their descendants remain so today.
So did Britain “give” land to the Jews?
It’s more accurate to say that:
Britain facilitated the conditions for a Jewish homeland through the Balfour Declaration and by managing immigration.
But it did not have the legal or moral authority to give away the land. A land inhabited by an indigenous Arab majority for centuries.
The conflicting promises Britain made to Arabs (in the McMahon–Hussein correspondence of 1915), to Jews (in the Balfour Declaration of 1917), and to the international community (as an appointed Mandate power) were at the heart of the problem.
This contradiction is considered by many historians to be a major factor in the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians (Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine, 2020).
The UK’s ongoing relationship with Israel
Economic & Technological Ties
Trade & Investment: The UK–Israel trade relationship is robust, with bilateral trade exceeding £6–7 billion per year.WikipediaWikipediaParliament Committees
Jobs & Economic Impact: Israeli firms in the UK have contributed around £1 billion in gross value and created about 16,000 British jobs.GOV.UKReddit
Tech Collaboration: The UK hosts the only government-funded tech hub at an embassy the UK‑Israel Tech Hub—in Tel Aviv, supporting high‑tech partnerships and innovation.WikipediaWikipedia
Strategic Trade Agreement: Following Brexit, a new Trade & Partnership Agreement (TPA) came into effect, ensuring tariff-free trade for over 99.5% of UK exports to Israel.Parliament CommitteesWikipedia
2030 Roadmap: This strategic agreement, signed in 2023, commits the UK and Israel to deepen cooperation across tech, cyber, security, health, climate, gender, and science sectors, with around £20 million pledged for joint innovation programmes.GOV.UK
Security & Defence Cooperation
Strategic Dialogue: The UK and Israel regularly hold joint strategic meetings, including defence cooperation dialogues and coordinated intelligence efforts.Parliament CommitteesGOV.UK
Military Collaboration: The UK supplies components for Israeli military platforms such as missile boats, fighter jets, UAVs, and artillery systems. Wikipedia
Intelligence Support: The RAF, including possibly subcontracted aircraft, continues surveillance flights over Gaza, sharing intelligence with Israel, officially for hostage-recovery but also drawn into operational support.The Times+1
Arms Exports & Legal Context
Components for F-35 Jets: Around 15% of F‑35 components originate from UK firms (e.g., BAE Systems, Leonardo). This valuable partnership fuels UK industry and reinforces geopolitical ties.Oxfam GBWikipediaCAAT
Suspensions & Exceptions: In 2024, the UK government suspended approximately 30 export licenses over humanitarian law concerns, but crucially exempted F‑35 components, citing security and alliance considerations. GOV.UKThe GuardianAssociated Press
Legal Rulings: The UK High Court ruled in 2025 that continued F-35 component supply through the international pool is lawful, deeming such foreign policy decisions to be within government authority. Financial TimesReuters
Scale of Sales: While the UK arms trade to Israel is small compared to elsewhere, it has sanctioned £574 million in licenses since 2008, mainly for high‑tech components, showing that defence trade, though niche, is strategically significant for UK industry.BICOM
Why It Matters to the UK
The UK stands to enhance its economy through trade, innovation, and job creation.
Strategic collaboration allows the UK to share intelligence, influence regional dynamics, and maintain defence partnerships.
Supporting F‑35 collaboration bolsters the UK’s role as a trusted NATO partner with high-end technological capabilities.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) & the definition of genocide
What is the ICC? Who founded it? Is it neutral?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established by the Rome Statute, adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome in July 1998, and officially came into force on 1 July 2002 after 60 countries had ratified it Wikipedia+1.
Its purpose: to prosecute individuals, regardless of their nationality, for the gravest international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, since 2018, the crime of aggression WikipediaReutersInternational Criminal Court.
As of early 2025, 125 countries are members of the ICC, meaning they've agreed to its jurisdiction ReutersWikipedia. Notably, Israel, the U.S., China, and Russia are not members, often citing concerns over political bias ReutersWikipedia.
The ICC operates on the principle of complementarity, it only steps in when a state is unwilling or unable to prosecute crimes itself WikipediaReuters.
Budget & operations: In 2025, the ICC’s annual budget is around €195 million. To date, it has issued 60 arrest warrants, convicted 11 individuals (mostly African militia leaders), with 31 suspects still at large. Recent high-profile cases include investigations involving the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, Myanmar, Congo, and more Reuters.
Neutrality? While the ICC’s mandate is unbiased, enforcement and political perceptions vary widely. Powerful non-member states often challenge or dismiss its authority, which can undermine both practical operations and public confidence AP NewsThe Guardian.
What Is the Legal Definition of "Genocide"?
The term “genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944 and defined legally in the 1948 Genocide Convention, which entered into force in January 1951. It’s considered a peremptory norm under international law, meaning all states are bound by it, even if not signatories United Nations.
The Rome Statute (Article 6) mirrors the Convention’s definition: to qualify as genocide, one or more of the following must be committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group:
Killing members of the group
Causing serious bodily or mental harm
Deliberately inflicting life conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction
Imposing measures to prevent births within the group
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group Public.LawUnited NationsTHE GENOCIDE REPORT.
A few key takeaways:
"Intent" is critical. Accidental or reckless acts, even resulting in mass harm, don’t alone meet the definition without proof of intent to destroy the group Ciao TestThe Guardian.
Not all atrocities are genocide; many may instead be crimes against humanity, which require widespread or systematic attacks on civilians but not necessarily targeting a protected group with intent to destroy them completely American UniversityTHE GENOCIDE REPORT.
This high legal bar to prove special intent makes genocide among the hardest crimes to prosecute successfully The Guardian.
Courts like ICTR (Rwanda) and ICTY (Srebrenica/Bosnia) have ruled specific cases to be genocide—but it's rare DocslibThe Guardian.
Real-World Application: ICC & Genocide Cases
The ICC has not yet delivered a final conviction for genocide. While it has pursued cases for crimes against humanity and war crimes, proving genocide is particularly challenging due to the requirement of demonstrating specific intent The GuardianReuters. If you’d like to stay up to date on the situation we are discussing here, and other global conflicts, here’s the website https://www.icc-cpi.int/
Allegations of genocide in contexts like Gaza have emerged; human rights groups have filed lawsuits with the ICC accusing Israeli leaders of genocide. Some experts argue the criteria may be met; others stress the nearly unattainable threshold for legal proof TIMEThe Guardian.
October 7th: A Human centered perspective
Why it felt so shocking
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel: around 1,200 people were killed, including hundreds at a music festival, and approximately 250 hostages were taken. Some subjected to horrific violence.Wikipedia+1
The scale and savagery of the attack stunned the world, becoming one of the deadliest single days in Israeli history.Wikipedia+1Axios
Official investigations later found that this came after significant intelligence failures. Hamas had been spying using compromised cameras and emails for years, yet warning signs were missed. The SunAP News
(For context, as of early August 2025, at least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7, 2023)
But it didn’t come from nowhere
Violence on both sides has been ongoing for decades—this isn't a single moment but part of a broader, tragic history:
First and Second Intifadas: Palestinian uprisings in 1987–1993 and 2000–2005 saw widespread protests, suicide attacks, and heavy military operations on both sides.Wikipedia+1
Repeated Gaza Wars: Major flare-ups include 2008–09, 2012, 2014, each triggered by rocket fire from Gaza and leading to intense Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.American Jewish Committeeeducation.cfr.orgpb-impact.washingtonpost.comfrequencytraders.com
Symbiotic Escalations: There have also been back-and-forth cycles: like Israeli raids in Jenin in 2022 provoking attacks, followed by more intense Israeli military campaigns.The Washington Postfrequencytraders.com
What's being missed
Too often, discussions isolate October 7th as a standalone atrocity, without acknowledging these deeper currents:
Historical grievances: displacement, blockade, occupation, political exclusion, have fueled bitterness on both sides.
Political moves, like repeated military responses or restricted self-governance, have increased despair and anger.
Cycle of retaliation: Violence leads to violence, trust evaporates, and the next round of conflict becomes more likely.
To summarise
October 7th was horrifying on its own, and rightly condemned.
Yet, it’s also a cumulative result of decades of unresolved conflict, trauma, and failure to build sustainable peace.
Recognizing the long cycle of suffering on both sides doesn’t excuse violence, ever, but it brings necessary clarity.
Only by acknowledging these patterns and humanizing all affected can we begin to change the narrative and healing.
Timeline of key conflict flashpoints leading up to October 7
1947–1948: Partition, Declaration & Nakba
1947: UN proposes partitioning Mandatory Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Arab leaders reject it.
May 14, 1948: Israel declares independence. The next day, war erupts with neighboring Arab states intervening. Israel expands its territory; more than 700,000 Palestinians are displaced—widely known by Palestinians as the Nakba ("catastrophe") The Washington PostVoxeducation.cfr.org.
1956: Suez Crisis
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal; Israel, Britain, and France invade. Under international pressure, they eventually withdraw France 24The Washington Post.
1967: Six-Day War
Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. It captures East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and Golan Heights—shifting the regional map dramatically The Daily Guardianeducation.cfr.org.
1973: Yom Kippur War
Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel during the Jewish holiday. Israel repels them with U.S. military support. Heavy losses on both sides armwoodopinion.comThe Daily GuardianGulf News.
1978–1979: Camp David & Peace with Egypt
The Camp David Accords pave the way for peace between Israel and Egypt, and Israel gives up the Sinai Peninsula armwoodopinion.comFrance 24.
1987–1993: First Intifada
Palestine rises against occupation—mostly nonviolent but met with strong Israeli military response. The uprising ends with the Oslo Accords groundwork laid WikipediaInstitute for Curriculum Serviceseducation.cfr.org.
2000–2005: Second Intifada
Another wave of intensifying violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces; includes suicide bombings and Israeli military incursions (noted in broader timelines) education.cfr.orgWikipedia.
2008–09, 2012, 2014: Gaza Wars
A series of intense conflicts between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, marked by rocket fire and heavy airstrikes. The 2014 operation, Protective Edge, caused major destruction and casualties WikipediaAmerican Jewish Committeeeducation.cfr.org.
2021: Hamas–Israel Crisis
Hamas rockets and Israeli airstrikes erupt anew. Both sides suffer significant casualties before a ceasefire is brokered Institute for Curriculum Serviceseducation.cfr.org.
October 7, 2023: Hamas' Attack & Aftermath
Hamas stages a devastating, surprise attack on Israel—killing over 900–1,200 Israelis, including civilians, and capturing hostages.
Israel responds with a full-scale military offensive and siege on Gaza The StandardWikipediaReuters.
Palestinian Death Toll Since October 7
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, as of early August 2025, at least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7, 2023 OCHA Palestine.
Broader estimates including indirect causes like starvation, lack of healthcare, and collapsing infrastructure suggest the true death toll could be far higher.
A study in The Lancet estimated over 64,000 traumatic injury deaths by mid-2024, with projections potentially reaching over 93,000 by 2025 Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2.
Other analyses suggest that when including indirect deaths, the total may even exceed 186,000 Wikipedia.
In summary:
Confirmed (Ministry figure): 61,000 killed
Estimates via injury-focused studies: 64,000–93,000
Broader mortality projections (including indirect causes): Could exceed 186,000
Current Palestinian Governance: Who Represents the People?
Palestinian Authority (PA) & Election Status
The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, emerged from the 1990s Oslo Accords. However, it has not held elections since 2004, leading to a serious democratic deficit and growing distrust among Palestinians. Long-standing leaders like President Mahmoud Abbas have governed by decree, dissolving parliament and sidelining political rivals.The Australian
In July 2024, 14 major Palestinian factions—including Fatah and Hamas—signed the Beijing Declaration. It called for ending internal divisions and forming an interim unity government to manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war.Wikipedia
In February 2024, the entire PA government resigned amid public discontent and international pressure, signaling potential reforms.WikipediaTIME
As of mid-2025, a technocratic committee of independent figures was proposed to oversee postwar reconstruction—bypassing entrenched factionalism—but questions remain about its legitimacy and power.Wall Street JournalThe Guardian
In summary: The PA’s legitimacy is weakened by a lack of elections and deep internal divisions. Efforts toward unity and reform are underway—but fragile and perhaps insufficient until a truly representative leadership emerges.
Zionism vs. Judaism: What’s the Difference?
Judaism is an ancient religion, culture, and ethical tradition. It’s rooted in the ancient Israelites of Canaan, the development of Hebrew scripture, and the evolution of religious thought over millennia. It’s neither monolithic nor political by definition.
Zionism, however, is a political ideology and movement that emerged in the late 19th century. It advocates for the establishment and continued support of a Jewish national homeland in the historic region of Israel/Palestine, particularly in response to rising antisemitism and persecution in Europe.
While many Jews identify with Zionism, the two are not the same—Judaism represents faith and culture; Zionism represents nationalist aspirations.
UK Arms Exports to Israel: Facts & Controversies
Official Overview
The UK issues export licenses, not direct weapon transfers, and has stated that between 2022–2023, military export licenses to Israel amounted to approximately £18 million (2023), down from £42 million (2022).MP-IDSAAl Jazeera
In September 2024, 30 of around 350 active licenses were suspended due to international humanitarian law concerns. Notably, the F‑35 joint aircraft program was exempted from this suspension, citing NATO and security considerations.MP-IDSAWikipedia+1AP News
Reports between October 2023 and early 2025 indicate that the UK exported over 8,000 munitions and components for F‑35 jets, even amid a formal suspension—prompting questions about loopholes and transparency in export data.ICJPcaat.org.ukThe GuardianAl JazeeraAnadolu AjansıAP News
Oversight & Political Scrutiny
MPs—including Liam Byrne and Zarah Sultana—have challenged the government over continued arms exports, particularly concerning their legality and ethical implications given the civilian suffering in Gaza.The GuardianReddit
A 2025 High Court ruling upheld the legality of continuing F‑35 component exports, asserting that such decisions lie within governmental prerogative, not judicial oversight—despite opposition from rights groups like Al‑Haq, Amnesty, and Oxfam.AP News
Critics have also highlighted the role of UK intelligence assets, citing over 570 surveillance flights over Gaza since late 2023—raising concerns about complicity in targeting and civilian harm.Anadolu Ajansı
Media Impartiality, Misinformation, and Polarization: How Narratives Shape Reality
Media Bias & the Construction of Narratives
Media outlets don’t simply relay events they construct reality through framing and selective storytelling. What becomes accepted as “truth” is often the result of repeated narratives shaped by powerful sources, not neutral fact-giving. In conflicts, this leads to “tunnel vision” coverage where one side is cast solely as the aggressor or victim, and important historical or contextual layers vanish.Middle East Forum
In the Gaza conflict, for instance, many mainstream reports unquestioningly cite Hamas figures while barely referencing Israeli data with only 3% of articles noting militant casualties and a mere 1% challenging Hamas-supplied statistics.DISA This skewed framing influences public perception, policy responses, and legal avenues, such as appeals in international courts or calls for sanctions.
Echo Chambers, Algorithms & Disinformation
Social media platforms, optimized for engagement, often reinforce users’ existing beliefs. Algorithms suggest content that aligns with what’s already been liked or viewed, creating echo chambers and filter bubbles that amplify polarization. lawtransform.noWikipedia+1
Studies show that while fully isolated ideological bubbles are rare, a small segment (about 4%) of highly politically active users within echo chambers can disproportionately distort discourse—and social media algorithms amplify this effect.WIRED
Further, a tiny group of “hyperusers” just 10% of social media users generate 97% of political content, and only 0.1% are behind 80% of fake news. These accounts thrive on sensationalism and fuel polarizing narratives.The Guardian
Disinformation as Warfare
In conflicts, misinformation is weaponized. Both state and non-state actors utilize bots, edited visuals, and conspiracy narratives to manipulate public discourse and inflame tensions—often using social media as a battlefield. TIMEDISA
In the Israel–Hamas context, platforms like Telegram and Twitter have amplified graphic, one-sided narratives, creating ideological echo chambers with few opposing voices.The Disinformation Project
Healing the Digital Divide
Solutions start with media literacy. Empowering individuals to critically evaluate sources, detect manipulation, and seek diverse perspectives. Fact checking, balanced algorithmic design, and platform accountability are critical. Social media must prioritize informational accuracy and pluralism over engagement metrics.Vanity FairWordPressIemed
UNITY & HUMANITY
At its core, the Israel–Palestine conflict is more than a geopolitical struggle, it’s a profound human tragedy shaped by centuries of loss, hope, and longing.
In navigating this, our most powerful tool is empathy: the radical recognition that pain, love, fear, and aspiration are universal.
Beyond narratives and headlines, there are mothers grieving children, communities striving for dignity, and individuals yearning for a life of meaning and belonging.
When we remember our shared fragility and humanity, we resist the divisiveness that misinformation and echo chambers feed on.
Our collective future depends not on who is always right, but on who has the courage to see beyond difference and to choose compassion, truth, and unity.
I hope this helps you to feel at least a little bit more informed on an incredibly emotive, complex, nuanced situation. I personally just want to remember my humanity and empathy for all. Its hard not to feel angry. But when I do, I try to channel my anger in to doing something to HELP those most affected, those in need.
I’ve designed (and are in production) some chart-tees whereby 100% of the profits made from these will go straight to the PCRF - Palestinian Children’s Relief Fun. My regular tees and sweats will donate 20% of profit to the PCRF. If you want to support - go to my “OFFERINGS” header and choose your tee.
Love you all xxxx