The Voice of Silence: Practices of Participation Among East Jerusalem Palestinians

• In Event: Collective Identities and Memories

Abstract

The waves of escalating violence in Israel, especially since the 2014 Gaza war, initiated a fundamental dispute regarding the role of social media as a tool for the mobilization and participation of Palestinians in the recent violent confrontation. This issue became even more dramatic after the Israeli minister of public security was quoted saying that “the victims' blood is on Zuckerberg’s hands”. To cope with this issue, new legislation was advanced to remove offensive content from social media sites, thus raising critical questions regarding freedom of speech online. Against this background, the current study aims to explore why and when people are silent on Facebook? The study suggest the concept of “participation avoidance” pointing to users’ online avoidance, which allows them to continue taking part in Facebook.

Author

• Maya de Vries, Hebrew U of Jerusalem