When it comes to the way conflict plays out on social media, we’ve previously shown you that One Direction’s Harry Styles has been trolled for being pro-Israel, and what life is like for the Israelis forced into bomb shelters as Hamas launches missiles their way in thisFacebook group, Bomb Shelter Selfies.
And now, we can see what it’s like for the other side via the social media account of a Palestinian who’s actually there right now.
Farah Baker, 16, seems to be using Twitter and Vine to document the bombings of her neighbourhood in the heart of Gaza, right near the Al-Shifa hospital. Going under the name Farah Gazan on Twitter, she wrote ‘I might die tonight’ as she live-tweeted the bombardment. Her tweets were so emotive and informative that she now has 32,000 followers.
She then recorded the haunting noise of drones as they flew into Gaza:
And the sound of missiles landing and exploding:
She also claimed that the hospital near her house had been hit by bombing
Some naysayers have been questioning the veracity of Farah’s tweets as they’re not tagged with the location they’re sent from, but the teenager has been blogging and tweeting about Gaza since 2012. In her latest post, she wrote: ‘I want to speak about what is happening these days in Gaza. We cannot leave our houses because it’s dangerous outside.’
Perhaps in defiance of the doubters, she posted to Twitter a photo of her holding up a sign reading: ‘I’m Farah Baker, Gazan girl, 16 years old. Since I was born I have survived 3 wars and I think this is enough #SaveGaza’
The death toll continues to rise in the conflict, even after a 12-hour ceasefire over the weekend: 1,088 Palestinians and 48 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the past few weeks’ conflict. Depressing numbers. Which is why Farah’s personal account of living through the conflict are perhaps even more poignant.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.