'Unprovoked': Partisan Views Flood Indian Social Media Amid Israel-Palestine War

(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 10 October 2023 and is being republished on the one-year anniversary of the war that broke out between Hamas and Israel.)Shortly after the war broke out on 7 October, support for Israel poured in from Indian netizens, with posts expressing solidarity – “Bharat stands with Israel”. One sentiment that gained instant popularity was calling the attack "unprovoked".Other hashtags like #StandWithIsrael, #IsraelUnderAttack, #IndiaWithIsrael and #HamasTerrorists were also used to express support for Israel, while using it as an opportunity to target Muslims in India.Several world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, condemned the “terrorist attacks” and loss of innocent lives and reiterated that they "stood with Israel".Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, too, called it an "unprovoked escalation by Hamas."Support for Palestine came from Indian Muslim groups like Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, and a few other social media users with hashtags like #StandWithPalestine, #freepalestine and #WithPalestine. Through this story, we deep dive into how the war in Israel has clearly divided Indian social media users and how the spread of mis/disinformation has only made it worse.Israel-Palestine: Why Did Hamas Attack, and Why Now? What Does It Hope To Gain?After prominent politicians and right-wing social media influencers started putting out posts supporting Israel, a major section of India’s (approximately) 2.75 crore X users also started rallying behind the country.This sentiment was seen under a Facebook post by ‘The Engineer Bro’, which has 37 lakh followers, where the page asked people to comment which side they supported.A similar pattern was seen in the comments under a video of Israeli ambassador to India Naor Gilon’s statement, shared by ‘Cheap Politics’, which has been sharing several unverified posts related to the conflict.Here, Indian users said they would be willing to take up arms to fight for the Israeli side.Their support for Israel does not end at the Israeli and Palestinian borders. One notable account sharing similar posts was that of Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi, who shared a video of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas’ attack, expressing support for Israel.After Shocking Hamas Assault on Israel, Both Sides Brace For Devastating FalloutAfter Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) held a small, peaceful march in support of Palestine, a small clip of this event went viral on social media. An X account, Kreately, which has been spotted peddling misinformation and communal content in the past, called the AMU students “Gaza’s sleeper cell” in Uttar Pradesh.Another user shared the same video, equating "support for Palestine" with "support for Hamas", while also targeting Indian Muslims. This misleading connection between supporting Palestine and sympathising with terrorism is a popular narrative shared by accounts which have a pattern of sharing right-wing content in the Indian cyberspace .Kreately went on to vilify Indian Muslims, comparing the large-scale, sophisticated attack on Tel Aviv with the communal clashes in Haryana in June.Reposting a post with an alleged statement by the Israeli Defence Minister which claims that he said, “The rules of war have changed, we will cripple Gaza so that it will remember it for the next 50 years,”, Kreately Media said “Make it 500.”Another account, with the username ‘MrSinha_’, which has previously been called out for spreading misinformation, posted a graphic video of a child’s murder as a recent video from Israel, attacking Islam and Hamas.However, the video is not from the ongoing conflict. It dates back to 2016 and is from Syria.'Thought of Holocaust After Seeing Butchered Bodies': Israelis Post-Hamas AttackThe account then shared a post addressing PM Modi, asking him to “declare (people) supporting #HamasTerrorists as an act of terrorism in India.” Demanding action against supporting them “online or offline,” the user said that the people should be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).Tajinder Bagga, national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing, shared a post stating that those who stand with Palestine today will be the ones to stand with Pakistan tomorrow.The BJP’s Tamil Nadu wing has politicised this conflict, calling the Congress party “weak-kneed” for not responding to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in the strong manner that Israel has.Another popular account on X, with the username ‘erbmjha’ and screen name Bala, shared anti-Islam narratives.Sharing a grid of photos showing Israeli citizens who were allegedly taken hostage by Hamas, Bala, whose account is followed by PM Modi, declared “Radical Islamists in India who sympathise with Palestinian terrorists are considered terrorists themselves.”The Israel-Hamas War: No Matter Who Loses, Iran WinsAdding to this, the account shared a video of an explosion with alarmist text, warning people that what is happening is Israel may soon “happen in your neighbourhood,” stressing the need to remove “illegal radical Islamists from your country.”It also shared several posts related to the conflict, some of which generalised the attack, calling Palestinians “terrorists."Bala also shared two posts, where they contradicted themselves by sharing visuals of the same woman – who we were able to identify as Noa Argamani – once as that of a “female Israeli soldier” and the second time, as a music festival attendee.Lastly, an account called MeghUpdates, which Team WebQoof has fact-checked on several occasions over the years, dubbed Palestine supporters as “radicals” and shared a video of Israel destroying Al Watan Tower in Gaza as a “massive blow to propaganda information”. The building reportedly housed offices of several international media organisations such as Al Jazeera, Associated Press and “other pro-Palestine media.”However, a section of Indian social media users also supported the Palestinian cause. Filmmaker Arindam Chaudhari took to Facebook, sharing a statement made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1977, where he said that Israel must vacate the occupied Palestinian land.Additionally, many users have countered the narrative of the attack being "unprovoked". On Monday, 9 October, the Indian Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind issued a statement along these lines.“Jamiat stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have endured 75 years of Israeli oppression and violence, resulting in their current dire circumstances. They find themselves living as prisoners in their own homeland, unwaveringly striving for their homeland’s freedom and the preservation of Masjid Al Aqsa.”Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Sharing older visuals of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, social media users have pointed out how the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have repeatedly attacked Palestinian places of worship.This user shared a video of one such aggression towards Palestinian night worshippers from April, highlighting how Israeli forces have killed lakhs of Palestinian civilians over the years.Other users shared visuals from 2021 and 2022, showing Israeli citizens celebrating attacks on Al-Aqsa.The counternarrative is not restricted to holy sites. Several social media users shared a map of Israel and Palestine, showing how Israeli forces gradually occupied more of Palestinian land over the years. In a statement on Sunday evening, Indian Muslim scholars’ group Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said, “It must not be forgotten that the current spate of violence is the result of Israeli aggression unleashed by the most right-wing (Prime Minister Benjamin’s) Netanyahu government against the Palestinians that has claimed the lives of hundreds of people including children".Old, unrelated visuals are also being shared on social media, where users have linked them to the ongoing conflict. One such example is this video of a mosque being attacked.Team WebQoof had verified this video in 2021, when it was being falsely shared as a video of conflict between Israel and Palestine. It dates back to 2014 and shows visuals from Raqqa, Syria.Social media users also shared a video of a footballer with the Palestinian flag, incorrectly identifying him as Cristiano Ronaldo. But we found that it showed Moroccan player Jawad El Yamiq, not Ronaldo.Whenever armed conflict breaks out in any part of the world, people share videos created using simulation software as real visuals of attacks and the military. This time, too, a video created using video game ARMA 3, was linked to this Israel-Hamas war.'A Missile Hit When We Were on Call': Husband of Kerala Nurse Injured in IsraelTimes of conflict, crises and natural disasters often see unverified content, misinformation, propaganda and act as a breeding ground for unfounded, polarising narratives. The Quint’s WebQoof team is actively working to bring you accurate and verified information.You can read some of our fact-checks related to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict here.

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'Unprovoked': Partisan Views Flood Indian Social Media Amid Israel-Palestine War

Indian social media users flooded platforms with pro-Israel posts and narratives after Hamas launched an attack.

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