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MeCCSA 2013 PGN Panel: “Social Movements” Online Activism Palestine Solidarity Movement National University of Ireland, Galway Shadi Abu-Ayyash 10-1-2013

Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

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Abu-Ayyash, S 2013, ‘Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement’, paper presented at the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association ‘MeCCSA’ conference, Derry, 9-11 January.

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Page 1: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

MeCCSA 2013

PGN Panel: “Social Movements”

Online ActivismPalestine Solidarity Movement

National University of Ireland, GalwayShadi Abu-Ayyash

10-1-2013

Page 2: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

The Palestine solidarity movement is made up of international groups and societies that are active in supporting the Palestinian people rights of freedom and self-determination and opposing the Israeli occupation. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which is a major global movement defines it self as “a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli apartheid in Palestine by using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles…. It aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources, international solidarity and an international voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming military occupation force.”The solidarity societies, groups and campaigns that are widely spread around the globe are created on local and national levels; including on-campus.

ISM

Page 3: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Campaigns

The work of the solidarity groups could be classified under two levels:1) On-going campaigns that focus on- Raising awareness of the Palestinian cause (online websites, social media, on ground activities, stalls)- Organising visits to Palestine - Supporting the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel) campaign - Lobbying media, politicians and decision makers in favour of the Palestinian people rights

2) Responding to major incidents occur in Palestine (such as recent attack on Gaza, Palestinian prisoners hunger strike)- Organising demonstrations and protests- Contacting local media and MPs - Galvanising online campaigns through social media sites

Page 4: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Study Case: Pro-Palestine Groups Activity on Facebook & Twitter

During Attack on Gaza/Operation Pillar of Cloud14-22 November 2012

Page 5: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Questions

Examining patterns of online activities in particular type of materials posted on Facebook pages and Twitter accounts during the selected time frame:

- Nature of content- Similarities and differences between local and regional groups- Number of posts related to on-ground /offline activities- Priorities of the pro-Palestine groups during crisis

Page 6: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Data Collection• Data were extracted from the selected groups’ Facebook pages and twitter

accounts using Nvivo software• Content posted between 13th to 23rd November 2012• Materials posted only by the group admins were analysed , excluding other

content posted by group members/pages fans• Studied groups are local, national and university based groups• Non-active groups online were excluded form the analysis• FB posts were classified into several categories• Analysis of Twitter accounts is based related hashtags tweeted

Off Campus On Campus

Ireland 3 0

England 3 0

Northern Ireland 1 1

Scotland 0 2

Page 7: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Ireland Based Groups Activity on Facebook

1) Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC): HQ in Dublin, has branches in most Irish cities; active in organising protests, cultural activities, lobbying and BDS campaigns- content related to the attack and Gaza news were the top two subjects- The group on-ground/offline activities related materials came on 3rd and 4th places (including the group branches activities)

Page 8: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Ireland Groups cont.

2) Act for Palestine: Small group, but active in organising constant protests in Dublin

- Top content were related to the attack news; - Group and similar groups activities, mainly protests, took the next place

Page 9: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Ireland Groups cont.

3) Sadaka - the Ireland Palestine Alliance: The Dublin based organisation focuses on lobbying politicians and NGOs; active in issuing reports

- Low activity on the group page on Facebook during the war - The few posts were about news from Gaza - Has not posted content related to its activities

Page 10: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Northern Ireland Groups on FB1) Derry/Irish Friends of Palestine: Most active group in Northern Ireland; constantly updating it s Facebook page content with materials related to its on-ground activities, mainly its members’ visits to Gaza. - Vast number of posts were news from Gaza and the war news update, compared to few on-ground activities related news

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Northern Ireland Groups cont.

2) University of Ulster Palestine Solidarity Society: Relatively newly formed group - Shows limited activity online, in particular on its FB page - Lobbying MPs comes in the second rank

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England Based Groups on FB 1) The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC): the London based group, is active on the national level in lobbying decision makers and organising grass roots activities- Almost all of the content posted on the group page related to the war on Gaza- The group local activities, including announcements and the actual activities news

took the second place- News about England based protests in solidarity with Palestine and “sister” groups

news ranked on the 3rd place

Page 13: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

England Groups cont.

2) Leeds Palestine Campaign: Leeds based solidarity group with Palestine, often coordinates its on ground activities with the Leeds University based group.- Active FB page compared to other national and regional groups- Similar to other groups in terms of posting about the war and Gaza news- Significant number of its all posts on FB page were related to media advocacy, and

media lobbying campaigns

Page 14: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

England Groups cont.

3) Liverpool Friends of Palestine• Similar to Leeds group in terms of focusing on Gaza news and local media advocacy,

although less number of posts

Page 15: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Scotland Based Groups on FB 1) Glasgow University Palestine Society: One of the most active Scottish groups; a lot of its on-ground activities are carried on the streets of Glasgow city- Relatively small number of posts during the war time- Shares similar groups activities on its FB page- Uses the page to announce internal activates such as the group meetings

Page 16: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Scotland Groups cont.

2) Students for Palestinian Rights (Caledonian University): Glasgow based group; carries out a lot of shared activities with other Scottish universities groups.- On-ground activities, in particular demonstrations organising and news comes on the second place after the war related posts

Page 17: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

The Bigger Picture• Although groups differ from each others priorities, most of their FB pages were

focusing first on news coming from Gaza followed by the groups local activities, adverting other groups activities, and less focus on lobbying media and decision makers.

6

25

92

9

Lobbying Media & MPs

On-Ground Activities (meetings & protests)

Palestine (Gaza) News

Other Regular Campaigns (BDS, Settlements)

Page 18: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Ireland groups and Twitter #hashtags

1) Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@ipsc48) - Mostly tweeted about the war using the hashtags, Gaza and GazaUnderAttack

trending tweets- Mentioning and tweeting Irish cities names indicates announcements of and news

about local on-ground activities

Page 19: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Ireland groups and Twitter #hashtags cont.

2) Act for Palestine (@ActForPalestine) - Similar to IPSC in terms of using Gaza and GazaUnderAttack the most- Tweets about on-ground activities focused on Dublin as a primary place for the

group activities

Page 20: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

Northern Ireland groups and Twitter #hashtags

Irish/Derry Friends of Palestine (@IrishPalestine)- Low volume of activity on Twitter during the study frame time- GazaUnderAttack along with local related tweets were on same level of focus

Page 21: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

England groups and Twitter #hashtags

1) Kent University Palestine Society @KentPalSoc- GazaUnderAttack was used massively compared to other trending hashtags

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England groups & Twitter #hashtags cont.

2) Labour Friends of Palestine (@lfpme)- Gaza tweets were first (29 times), followed by BBC Question Time (bbcqt)

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Scotland groups & Twitter #hashtags

• Although, Scottish activists were using twitter during the war to tweet about events in Gaza, studied groups twitter accounts administrators, have not been so active.

• Could be tweeting through their personal accounts• More effort dedicated to Facebook or other social media sites

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Gaza News vs. Local Activities News

Ireland Northern Ireland England0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

67

4

140

14

2

138

15

Gaza news related tweetsTweeting about local eventsOther solidarity campaigns & activities

Page 25: Online Activism: Palestine Solidarity Movement

In other words…

1. FB & Twitter sites are used mainly for sharing news about the central point (Palestine/Gaza)

2. Second priority is announcing local events, sharing other groups activities

3. Similar language (attack, occupation, solidarity)4. Major/National level working groups is much more active online5. The smaller the group, the more it shows interest in organising

demos within its local area6. Level of effort put on lobbying decision makers and local media

advocacy is less than other areas of work7. No sign for organising online campaigns8. The online activity level/volume of materials posted, does not always

represent the effort carried out offline/on-ground9. The mission and organisational nature of the groups decide their

work priorities; towards focusing on decision makers lobbying or on streets demonstrations organising

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Thank You

Shadi Abu-AyyashHuston School of Film & Digital Media, NUI [email protected] http://actdigital.wordpress.com/

@shadi3000