Israel-Palestine: Mapping Islamophobia on Facebook by U.S. Presidential Candidates

In addition to the daily bombardment, Israel’s blockade has prevented the entry of vital humanitarian and medical aid, which has led to “full blown famine” in northern Gaza. As per Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 20 people, including six children, have been killed due to dehydration and malnutrition in northern Gaza as of March 2024. 

Israel’s genocide of Palestinians began following the October 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas militants, which left about 1200 Israelis dead and wounded another 1,500. Members of Hamas also took 240 Israelis hostage. Hamas * is a Palestinian political and military movement that governs the Gaza Strip. In response to the attack, Israel began an aerial bombardment of the strip along with imposing a complete blockade of the 140 square mile territory. Since October, Israel has dropped over 25,000 tons of explosives in Gaza, a figure that surpasses the explosive yield of the first nuclear bomb ever used in war, dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan. An assessment by the United Nations Development Programme has found that Israel’s bombing and devastation of the Gaza strip “may reduce levels of health, education, and wealth in the territory to those of 1980, wiping out 44 years of development,” and that rebuilding homes in the territory “could take until 2040 in the most optimistic scenario.”

• As per the April 2024 Associate Press report
  • 1.1 million Palestinians are facing "catastrophic food insecurity.
  • 90% of school buildings damaged, 100% students are out of school.
    • All 12 universities in the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed or damaged (Al Jazera)
  • less than 30% of hospitals remain functional.
  • Over 200 mosques damaged.
  • Targeting of churches including the destruction of St. Porphyrius church, one of the oldest in the world.
• As of May 9, 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists recorded at least 97 journalists and media workers confirmed dead: 92 Palestinians, 2 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese.
• As per United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees,
  • 165 team members have been killed
  • More than 400 people were killed while seeking shelter under the UN flag.

Within three weeks after the October 7 attack, Israel had killed over 6,500 Palestinians. While Israel’s retaliatory actions were not acknowledged as genocide early on, a group of legal scholars raised concerns regarding the complicity of the U.S. government under international law. The scholars directed their warning to the Biden administration and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, highlighting the need for attention and action.

Around the same time, after a series of walkouts by students from various universities, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution denouncing what it perceived as "pro-Hamas, anti-Israel" student organizations nationwide. The walkouts, organized by groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine and the Jewish Voice for Peace, took place at Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, and numerous other colleges. The participants sought to emphasize their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to American military assistance to Israel. The US government’s efforts to smear these student-led movements as “pro-Hamas” seek to delegitimize their views. This is yet another example of the instrumentalization of the “War on Terror” discourse to discredit and criminalize political movements that bring attention to violence enacted upon Muslim-majority populations by western governments. 

In April 2024, protests at US colleges intensified following the Senate's approval of $26.3 billion in aid for Israel during the month of April. Reuters reported, “On universities, protests have recently grown to encampments that draw students and faculty of various backgrounds, including of Jewish and Muslim faiths, that host teach-ins, interfaith prayers, and musical performances.” A few days later, there were arrests of over 100 students across the country. 

The movement in support of Palestine and the call for a permanent ceasefire in the US have been called “antisemitic” not just by the Israeli Prime Minister but also by several US-based media outlets and politicians. The Washington Post reported, “At least four Republican committee chairs are now investigating the student-led demonstrations as part of what House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has described as a House-wide probe of antisemitism in America.”

In response to the growing grassroots movement in support of Palestine's call for a permanent ceasefire, the US, along with many western governments, have demonized these voices, labeling them as antisemitic. Such action not only undermines individuals’ right to free speech and expression but also weaponizes antisemitism (a very real problem today) to shut down criticism of Israel. Further, this narrative engages in Islamophobia, as outlined by a 2023 report by  the Center for Security, Race, and Rights at the Rutgers Law School titled, ‘Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine–Israel Discourse’. The report notes that Islamophobia in America is a bipartisan problem, and given the pro-Israel stance across the political spectrum, politicians from both the left and right have engaged in Islamophobia when it comes to their position with Israel. They have done this by devaluing Palestinian life due to the Islamophobic belief that Islam is a threat, and thus fail to even acknowledge Israel’s repeated human rights violations of Palestinians. Additionally, pro-Israel voices have repeatedly labelled Muslim voices in support of Palestine as antisemitic. The report notes that the “presumption that Muslims are antisemitic until individually proven otherwise is a component of the so-called “New Antisemitism,” which is strategically conflated with anti-Zionism.” This was recently exemplified in President Joe Biden’s speech, where he claimed that Hamas was driven by an “ancient desire to wipe out Jewish people.” ‘Hamas’ has become a smear wielded on Palestinians and Muslims to delegitimize their voices. President Biden’s accusation plays on the Islamophobic trope that all Muslims are inherently antisemitic. Additionally, it falsely attributes the conflict in the region as a religious issue, despite Palestinian voices saying this is about their land and their human rights.  

Since October 7, criticism of Israel’s genocide has largely been met by two responses:  labeling the critic as a) Hamas sympathizer and/or b) antisemitic. Both invoke Islamophobic tropes that a) all Muslims are terrorists; and b) all Muslims are antisemitic.

On May 4, Israel-based news outlet Haaretz reported, “Hamas was guaranteed by the U.S. for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and that Israeli forces will not continue fighting once the hostages are released.” However, “An Israeli official told Haaretz that 'Israel will, under no circumstances, agree to end the war as part of a deal' and is determined to enter Rafah.” Two days later, it was reported that Hamas had accepted the terms, but Israel rejected them and continued its bombing in Rafah.

In the last week of May, a day after the International Court of Justice issued a ruling on Israel's military offensive, Israel killed over 35 Palestinians and wounded dozens in Rafah, a place designated by Israel as a “safe zone” for forcibly displaced Palestinians. Two days later , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “tragic mistake.” In response, the White House said that Israel did not cross the Biden administration’s “redline.”