Users Generate Creative Ways to Fundraise for Gaza
By Sanaa Asif
Nov/Dec 2024
In recent years, popular social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have emerged as powerful tools for raising awareness and supporting humanitarian causes worldwide. Theve presented information that may not appear in traditional news outlets: supported the organization of demonstrations against foreign policy and illuminated protests against human rights violations. Currently, social media is also helping in raising funds for Palestinians suffering in Gaza.
TikTok Filters Help Raise Money and Awareness for Gaza
In November 2023, one month after the genocide started, a filter named FILTER FOR GOOD started making its way into young people’s TikTok feeds. Created with augmented reality (AR) effects — digitally-added objects, text, or images that enhance the real world seen through a phone, computer, or AR headset — by designer Jourdan Johnson (@xojourdanlouise), it allows users a free and easy way to donate to Palestinians. The more a filter is used, the more money it generates. Johnson has donated all the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders and to buy eSIMs for Palestinians to stay connected.
While raising thousands of dollars, this filter has also opened a new pathway especially for young donors. Thousands of TikTok creators started making videos, filters, and sounds to donate the proceeds to Gaza. Using the watermelon emoji as a symbol of support for Palestine became popular as well, so that videos weren’t flagged or taken down.
These methods made it easy to help those in Gaza. Filming a video with a filter or sound takes less than 10 seconds; however, it could help a family evacuate. This online activism also educated many TikTokers about the conflict.
The grassroots collective Operation Olive Branch (@operationolivebranch), a volunteer-led and global solidarity initiative with over 450K followers, soon became a main source of updates and information. Providing followers with easy ways to donate, receive updates on Palestinian families and gain knowledge on the war’s general history, it has raised awareness and gained support for Palestine.
Additionally, many Gazans have now turned to TikTok to raise donations directly. Palestinian families have created their own filters and sounds, and regularly post them on TikTok asking for contributions to their GoFundMe accounts. Many TikTokers use this platform to donate directly to those accounts by interacting with their videos, using their filters, and creating sounds to help them generate money.
Instagram Gathers Support
Many of these activism techniques are available on Instagram. Palestinian families and those trying to raise funds for organizations in Palestine turn to the reels feature, short videos similar to TikToks, to gain support. Instagram users interact with these videos to generate money for the creator, and often share these videos on their public stories to raise awareness and increase donations.
Instagram is also a central platform for journalists and press in Gaza. Bisan Owda (@wizard_bisan1), a journalist who has been documenting her life of displacement in Gaza, has accumulated over 4 million followers since October 2023. Her activism has reached many, and her account has allowed supporters to track her life and truly understand the conditions in Gaza.
Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza (@motaz_azaiza) is another key figure in spreading awareness via Instagram.. Although he evacuated Gaza in January 2024, his work reporting under Israel’s bombardment gathered him over 17 million followers and an extremely large amount of support. His photos of life during the genocide have been shared in thousands of stories, bringing more support and awareness to the ongoing issue. .
Let’s Talk Palestine (@letstalkpalestine), an organization dedicated to conveying accurate information about the conflict’s background, has almost 1 million followers. With posts such as Israeli Apartheid for Beginners, A Guide to Boycotting for Palestine, and numerous ways to donate to and support Palestinians, the account is a key player in educating Instagram users. Their broadcast channel contains daily updates on Palestine.
Additionally, many such activist organizations establish their home base on Instagram. National organizations such as Hearts in Gaza Project, Operation Olive Branch, and Doctors Without Borders use it as a central point of their platform, by reaching a wide audience and directing them to their website via their accounts. One of these organizations, Watermelon Warriors (@watermelonwarriors.io), uses Instagram as one of its main platforms.
Sanaa Asif, a senior at Hinsdale (Ill.) Central High School, is an avid reader and loves to learn and write about others and their experiences.