Posted in Foreign News

What is ‘All eyes on Rafah’? Decoding a viral social trend on Israel’s war

   May 29, 2024
What is ‘All eyes on Rafah’? Decoding a viral social trend on Israel’s war


EXPLANATION

An AI-generated image with the text “All eyes on Rafah” was shared over 40 million times during Israel’s attacks on Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

An image with the text “All eyes on Rafah” appears in every other Instagram story and dominates the social media discourse about Israel’s war against Gaza.

Here you can learn more about the trend and the picture that has been around since Monday, one day after Israel’s deadly offensive on Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

What does “All eyes on Rafah” mean?

  • “All eyes on Rafah” is an image with a slogan drawing attention to the situation in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt.
  • After the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip from the north and then advanced downward, displacing Palestinians from their homes who fled south to seek shelter.
  • By February, about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents had been pushed to Rafah when Israel announced a ground offensive against Rafah, claiming that four brigades of Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip, were stationed there.
  • The announcement was condemned worldwide. In February, Richard “Rik” Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said “all eyes” were on the impending Rafah offensive. It is believed that “All eyes on Rafah” was taken from his statement.
  • Since then, the slogan has appeared on protest posters and other social media posts.

What is happening in Rafah?

On Sunday, two days after the The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel stops offensive on Rafah and Israeli bombardment at least 45 people killed People in al-Mawasi in the west of Rafah, which had previously been declared a security zone.

Another Israeli hit killed 21 people in a refugee camp west of Rafah on Tuesday, at least 12 of whom were women. Air strikes were reported on Wednesday morning.

Israel has killed at least 36,171 people in Gaza since October 7said the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

What does the image “All eyes on Rafah” look like?

  • The AI-generated image shows an aerial view of a camp set up in neat rows of tents between what appear to be snow-capped peaks. In the middle, a few lighter tents are arranged to look like “All eyes on Rafah”. In the background you can see a clear blue sky with cotton wool clouds.
  • In Rafah, the situation is very different: the sky is grey from the smoke of Israeli bombs and there are no neat rows of tents to be seen – many are still smoking after the bombings while their occupants are inside, and rubble is scattered between them.
  • Rafah is also much more crowded – with an estimated 1.4 million people According to the United Nations, they sought refuge there from Israeli bombs in February.
  • Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad confirmed that the image was created using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.
  • There are telltale signs of AI, including repetition, the symmetrical orientation of the tents, missing details, and the absence of shadows. Learn more about recognizing AI-generated images here Here.

This is what Rafah looked like on Monday:

[Jehad Alshrafi/AP]

Here is a picture of Rafah from Tuesday:

A man looks on as Palestinians inspect a tent camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, that was damaged in an Israeli attack during an Israeli military operation.
[Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

Who shared the AI-generated image “All eyes on Rafah”?

The image is reposted in Instagram stories by users around the world.

As of 11:30am GMT on Wednesday, it had been reposted on 40.4 million Instagram stories, including the accounts of:

  • American supermodel Bella Hadidwhose father is Palestinian.
  • Irish actress Nicola Coughlan from the Netflix series Bridgerton.
  • The American comedian and author Hasan Minhaj and the American actor Aaron Paul.
  • British actress and activist Jameela Jameel and British singer Dua Lipa.
  • Famous Indian actors including Varun Dhawan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

The first Instagram story using the image was posted on Monday by user @shahv4012. Al Jazeera could not confirm whether that user created the image.

In addition to Instagram, the image was also reshared on X.

Why is “All Eyes on Rafah” so viral?

The image has attracted more attention than many photos from Rafah or Gaza.

This may be because the image is shared using Instagram’s “Add Yours” feature, which allows users to repost it in seconds without having to search for images.

In addition, it is an easy way to talk about the war as celebrities and influencers face increasing criticism for their silence on the war.

Some speculate that people are sharing this AI image because they find it more sympathetic than real photos from Gaza, which are very graphic and show blood, corpses and violence.

“I believe the virality of this image is largely due to its stark contrast to the prevailing visual images of the war… To show a human side to the victims in Gaza and Rafah, social media users often share haunting images of victims and grieving family members,” Eddy Borges-Rey, associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera.

He adds: “This could explain why algorithms on platforms like Meta [Facebook and Instagram]designed to filter graphic violence did not flag this image. Unlike real, graphic images of war, which may be restricted or removed due to content policies, this AI-generated image was able to spread more freely, contributing to its rapid virality,” Borges-Rey said.

How did people react to “All Eyes on Rafah”?

It seems as many social media users are upset about the post as those who are celebrating it.

Critics of the viral post say its re-share is performative activism that distracts from real images and important news from Rafah.

Some have suggested what else to post instead of re-sharing the AI-generated image.





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