These are two links to facebook groups entitled:
"Israel is not a country - Delist it from facebook as one"
and
"Palestine is not a country - Delist it from facebook as one"
I thought these were interesting because each group tries to legitimate their claim to space by negating the others claim. Both groups continually reference time as the reason the land is theirs. In the "Palestine is not a country" group the members claim that Israel has claim to the land because it owned the land so long ago, while in the "Israel is not a country" group the members claim that Palestine has claim to the land because it owned the land so recently. It raises some interesting questions about whether recent or ancient ownership is more legitimate, or if they're even comparable.
Another interesting part about these groups is that you get to see the views of everyday people, not just politicians and reporters. There are also hundreds of groups that advocate peace between the two groups.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2366623903
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?sid=125865a3f54a141a4f6e31172d0156a7&gid=55153379953
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
Posts
Something both sides talked about was that the other side did exist, not as a nation and not as people with history. The anti-Palestine group used time to "win" the argument, saying that Jews held the region for longer, while the anti-Israel group gave many facts that said that others had rights to claim the land too.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting, but more-so eerie that they (at least the anti-Israel group) said if Zionists joined the group to post bad things they would delete their posts. Both facebook group members have the mentality that it is just as simple as saying something doesn't exist or clicking a button, and it will all disappear forever.
It is odd, or more so just eye opening, to see these conflicts spread into such personally defined spaces. Especially a social network such as this, which in its intention is most often to connect people, it is strange when it is used as a means to galvanize and divide people. I guess it is natural for this to happen, since these groups are the responsibility of individuals, but I am very surprised that facebook allowed them to exist. It seems that facebook has often cited members for posting inappropriate material, and these groups are offensive in trying to deny another's claim to a national identity.
ReplyDeleteIm my opinion, just because they are denying each-others claims to national identity does not mean that the threads should not be on facebook. I think that as long as they have both sides then it is OK. this situation reminds me a little of whether or not the US should broadcast Hezbollah TV or Al Jazeera. I agree that the spread of this sort of material could have some negative ramifications, im just not sure if i think it should be removed. If facebook only allowed one side and not the other then i think there would be more to be upset about. I think as long as both sides are equally represented there will not be any real problems.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the exact details, but apparently facebook removed the a group entitled "Israel is not a Country: Deslist it As One!" but hasn't removed any anti-Palestinian groups (that I know of)
ReplyDelete