The Black and Palestinian Conflict On Social Media, Explained
Photo by Mohammed Abubakr on Pexels.com
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Chicago next week for the Democratic National Convention, where the group Coalition to March on the DNC has planned an action, according to Block Club Chicago. Chicago is home to the largest Palestinian population in the United States, so this protest promises to draw a large crowd. As the election approaches, pro-Palestine sentiments have intensified both on- and offline.
During Harris’ visit to Detroit earlier this month, she shut down protestors who chanted about the war in Gaza in the middle of her speech. Following this, there was a debate on social media about if voting for Kamala was a vote for Israel, since she has taken money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and supported President Joe Biden’s stances on Israel.
Over the last week, conversations about Palestine came to a head on social media; one comment sowed a tense division between Black and Palestinian creators on the TikTok and X apps. Tori Grier, who makes political commentary on TikTok, replied to a comment about Vice President Kamala Harris implying that Harris was a war criminal. The commenter said “She [Harris] likes that war! Make sure your kids are on the front line.” Grier responded with witty quips about the user’s age and employment, and another commenter said, “Take the Palestinian flag out of your name if you’re voting Kamala. You’ve lost the f***** plot.”
As a result, Grier said she would be taking the flag out of her bio and never speaking on Palestine again if this was the sentiment from Palestinian users. When Maya Abdallah, a creator with a substantially larger following, saw Grier’s video about removing Palestine from her bio, Abdallah responded on her page, causing a rift between the creators. Grier then confronted Abadallah on a contentious livestream, and they went back and forth.
Afterward, this TikTok drama went well beyond the debate of the day. A firestorm of Palestinian and Black creators arguing in a series of videos followed.
TikTok user 5hahem called the incident a PSYOP (a “military term that refers to the use of information to influence the behavior of groups, organizations, governments, and foreign powers”). According to polls, support for Israel has decreased since the start of the Oct. 7 conflict.
Other reports have called AIPAC “desperate”. Despite the United States’ long-term support of Israel, several lawmakers have openly called for a ceasefire, and for some, this was costly. In Missouri, Representative Cori Bush was ousted from her congressional seat after AIPAC funneled “$8.5m into the race in Missouri’s first congressional district to support [Wesley] Bell through its campaign funding arm,” The Guardian US reported. Bush was Missouri’s first Black female Congresswoman.
However, AIPAC did not fund Wesley Bell only. Earlier in the summer, they fundraised $11 M to unseat Jamaal Bowman, a former New York Congressman. Bush and Bowman were both members of the Squad, a nickname for progressive members of Congress who historically opposed Israel. Some believe that because Bush and Bowman were vocal in their disdain for Israel’s genocidal ways, they were ousted.
Most recently, Bush and fellow Squad member Rashida Tlaib both held up signs that said “Stop Sending Bombs” during President Biden’s March State of the Union address. Yet, AIPAC is only one of the ways Israel has sent a warning message to Black Americans. In a video published online by African Diaspora News Channel, Israeli officials admit that Black Americans are considered a threat to Israel. Judith Varnai Shorer says, “The major problem with Israel is with the young generation of the Black community.”
Given these factors, the clues to a PSYOP are there. Another TikTok user named Khalil traced the comment left on Grier’s page and discovered that the commenter was a white man (not a Palestinian, as Grier originally thought).
So, where do we go from here?
For TikTok user 5hahem, it’s time to wrap up the discourse. On TikTok, they said, “Who would benefit the most from us being divided? Be honest. I’ma give you a hint – it starts with a Z. Or it could start with an I.” To 5hahem’s point, Black and Palestinian people have historically been in solidarity with each other. From Malcolm X to Nelson Mandela, Black people across the diaspora have historically shown empathy to the Palestinian cause. In recent years, Palestinians have shown support for Black people experiencing genocide domestically – via police brutality.
When Ferguson protesters were being tear-gassed, it was Palestinians who provided tips on dealing with the police. Really, the insinuation of a “beef” between these marginalized groups is fairly recent. One TikTok user Rosol even went as far as to call Black people colonizers because some serve in the military – ignoring the fact that the military preys on poor Black people or the fact that military veterans came home and got lynched.
Black Faces in High Places won’t save us
We don’t just need Black leadership. We need pro-Black leadership. In this piece, our Rwebel in Chief will look at the disconnect between Black leadership and pro-Blackness.
On the other side of the coin, Black Americans are suffering from American exceptionalism. This is the view that because we are marginalized, we cannot play a role in other people’s marginalization. Living in the West, we have access to some privileges that people in the Global South are not afforded (such as being safe from war because our military budget is so large). So, when Black people are referring to pro-Palestine voters as single-issue voters, they are exercising that privilege (because a genocide is certainly bigger than a ‘single issue’).
That said, there is room for growth on both sides, and the way forward is to come together. We are at a crucial time in election season, so it is pertinent to hear both sides to the issue of Palestine – or else we will end up with another Barack Obama (a Black face in a high place that harms the Global South).
About This Rwebel
Javanna is a multifaceted professional with a rich background in writing, education, and media. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in English, which has fueled her passion for storytelling and communication. Javanna is the CEO and founder of Rwebel, where she produces books, articles, and multimedia videos about culture and difference.
