Gaza and the Power of Social Media

by Naila Sheikh

I find myself very much immersed in my Facebook news feed lately. Not because of the everyday superficial things we so worry about, but because of the rawness of news delivery which I have come to realize is absent in mainstream media. The informative side of social media from which we are able to gain immediate real truth, where videos are uploaded by the minute, posted and shared within nanoseconds for the world to see from the convenience of our smart phones and devices, is indeed the best medium to open our eyes to the harsh reality.

We, the most privileged, spoiled, incredibly narcissistic people of THIS world – the world we have created to lavishly live our lives on the grounds of freedom; to have easy access to resources, education and security – WE have fooled ourselves, or perhaps, we have fallen into the traps of foolishness to believe that our existence revolves around pop culture, sex, TV and entertainment media. We have by far outdone ourselves in being brainwashed into believing that news on Entertainment Tonight is far more worthy of our attention rather than the killings of innocent people by corrupt governments and the cruel injustice that not only is taking place in the Middle East, third world countries, but also surrounding our very own vicinity and neighborhoods.

Our’s is a world where the beating of a black man by NYPD results in his death, because he is “assumed” to be a criminal and therefore, deserves to be stripped of his basic constitutional right.

Our’s is a world where political unrest between Russia and Ukraine has lead to a catastrophic loss of lives of 298 people in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, hit by a missile and crashed in a rebel-held area in Eastern Ukraine.

Finally, who can ignore the ongoing atrocities committed by the Israeli government to the helpless Palestinian people: killing women, children and elderly mercilessly, for the sake of what? Defense? Defense against defenseless innocents? How cowardly and disgusting.

The images of Gaza victims appearing and circling around social media, are creating a domino effect in the unified mourning and protesting in all the cities across the nation against violations of the basic human rights. The power of social media is knocking sense into people and the many hashtags on Twitter trace back to galleries full of images and recent videos are excruciatingly painful to watch. Individuals like you and I, who watch and share, who (in the luxury of our homes and from the safety within our four walls) are able to inform ourselves, feel compassionate, and then inform others to what’s happening in the world.

Are we to be blamed for our silence, for not sharing the truth when children are killed, ripped apart from their parents? Are we to blame for living our lives in ignorance, in selfish pursuits and be void of empathy towards humanity when we tuck our children in bed tonight?

What will it take for us to realize as we raise our next generation in the hopes of becoming wholesome, successful adults who we will send off to great colleges, expecting them to be articulate, intelligent and self sufficient when we are actually molding our kids into heartless, brainwashed buffoons?

YES, WE ARE TO BLAME!

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Naila resides with her husband and two kids in Houston, TX. Born and raised in Holland, she is always inclined to keep up with current affairs around the world. Her everyday life, apart from playing mommy, also consists of Food Blogging on her website: NailasKitchen.com.