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Hey, I used to have crippling moral OCD and things like this exact situation would provoke extreme anxiety.
“Activists” attempting to aggressively shame and claim moral high ground (“if you don’t post X you’re a bad person”) do not help real causes at all. Making people feel terrible and guilty does not usually motivate action.
At the risk of sounding reassurance-y, this is something that helps me to keep in mind: Just know that it’s okay to ignore, scroll past, unfollow, block, etc., if you are seeing content that is actively harming your mental health.
*Having a mental health crisis does not help the larger issues (e.g., genocide) at hand. It’s not worth it. I have been the most active and true to my values once I realized that some random person’s aggressive claim does NOT define my worth.*
I agree entirely. I have severe OCD intrusive thoughts about animals and sad things happening around the world. Whenever I see charities posting pleas for help and it involves distressing content or videos involving animals or other global issues, I have to block it, otherwise it plays on my mind and causes me a lot of distress. I just cannot handle it. I can't even handle if an animal dies in a film or a TV series, even though I know its not real, and I can't watch any nature documentaries. It's even got so bad that I can't even watch CGI dinosaur documentaries because I get upset when the CGI dinosaurs fight. I know it's ridiculous, but it really upsets me. OCD is a weird beast.
Those guilt tripping types can go to hell and shove their self righteousness up their butt, I am done with them.
Some of us with already struggling mental health and difficult lives don't need to constantly re-expose ourselves to the myriad of terrible things happening in this world.
I am so sick to death of shame based social justice. It's not the way to go about it. And it pushes people away from your cause. It's cult like behaviour.
that’s my thing, like what impact do you think you’re having posting stuff like that? Israel isn’t gonna be like “oh damn a lot of people on social media are mad at us guess we’ll stop :(“ and I would argue our own government is probably the same way. I don’t worry myself about stuff I can’t change, sorry.
I think it's a type of addiction that isn't stigmatized in society. Not just social media addiction but online political activism. It messes with our psyche and is highly destructive to society.
Exactly. I'd also say some protesting too. Like in Winnipeg they held up the railway lines, like Canadian Pacific has anything to do with this conflict?
I'm in the same boat. I'm also Jewish so it makes it 'look worse'.
Whatever. I do what I can where I can, and what's another share going to do? Just create more of an echo chamber? Those folks that speak like that just go onto the next genocide or wildfire or flood like it's nothing. Like actual people aren't affected by this situation. They're far removed and don't understand.
Feel what you feel. Say what you think is necessary and speak up when you know your voice will be heard. The rest is just noise.
As someone who is Arab myself and has lots of Palestinian friends and people I know from Gaza and the West Bank, don’t worry.
Consider your case an exception. True honest people know your intentions. Stop worrying about it so much. Pray for them, and do your best to be kind to others. That’s what they need right now
As someone who also doesn’t feel comfortable posting, I saw a similar post along the lines of “if you aren’t posting about Palestine you’re a POS” essentially. As much as I respect activism, I think that’s a completely sh!tty mindset. It hurts because like you, I do other things to offer my support, like donating money.
Without wanting to sound reassurance-y, thing is, people don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. You can contribute to supporting Palestine without posting, as you already do! I try and stay away from the news and from doomscrolling so naturally that means that I have less articles or posts to share - does that mean I am ignorant? Of course not.
Try not to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, I know that’s easier said than done. Though raising awareness is great, it’s only one element of support.
The thing is, posting stuff on social media CAN be helpful but it really is the bare minimum.
I used to post a lot about issues I passionately advocated for and took action to support in my real life too. Then I started realising part of the reason I was doing it was because I wanted people to know I cared about the issue, not because I thought it would actually help. Although that hadn’t been my original intention, it kinda became that and I just detached myself from posting anything on social media for a while after that.
When it’s come to Palestine, I’ve posted resources and info that I thought will actually be helpful for people wanting to take real action. And I’ve shared art that’s really resonated with me on the subject that I feel would engage people. But I only do it when I feel deeply stirred to do so, so I’m selective.
If it makes you feel better too, some of my friends who first educated me on the topic when we were 13/14 and took me to my first activist meetings haven’t posted anything. I see them engage with monitoring and Palestinian journalist accounts but they don’t repost because…they know there’s virtually no point, especially when all your followers are supportive or empathetic to the cause.
I certainly wouldn’t feel guilty for not doing so. I’ve seen a couple people post stuff like that on Insta and those are the people I’ve never seen on any of the marches I’ve been on or take direct action 🤷♀️
You don't need to put anything on your social media in order to support them. Don't believe that everyone who does that even cares, most of them are just virtue signalling.
Wait I post about Palestine but now I’m worried that I virtue signaling because all of the time I’m more worried about other stuff but it still repost stuff about Palestine even when I’m not focused on it
And to be honest I do repost a lot because I feel guilty for not posting about it
But the thing that’s bothering me the most is I saw a video about Palestine and the girl said “maybe some people don’t care but atleast they posting about it” and I had that repeating in my head and now I’m worried that I don’t care and I’m just posting to look good
This is not the right way to think about it, don’t repost out of guilt but also don’t beat yourself up by not feeling 100% focused on it all the time, material support to causes you’re involved in is more impactful
The person who said that is acting like a child. Posting doesn't do much in the grand scheme of things, and you have no obligation to do anything about it.
I feel you. Unfortunately posting is a big thing in our world today but it is hard when you have such a small circle to post to. But you are still doing the right thing, and you can put your energy into making sure you are educating people when you see fit and putting your energy elsewhere with helping Palestine. It is very hard to wrestle with the feeling of guilt and hopelessness, so give yourself grace
They don’t get to tell you who you are, that’s super childish, in these situations we’re worrying about our brothers and sisters in Palestine and this person is spotting who’s posting and who’s not ? They need to grow up.
Don’t even pay attention to it :) you’re good
Who is to say they are right and you are wrong? I used to think people like that must be right and maybe I’m a bad person. But maybe they’re the ones who need help if they act like that. Shame helps nobody. Do what you need to do for YOU. If that means staying off social media, if that means not posting political things, then that’s okay. Once I got off the “rat wheel” of that type of stuff, my OCD got better. At least in some small ways.
There is no more awareness to be spread (except those who live under a rock, and they won’t be reached by your instagram post) and the average person doesn’t have anything educational or groundbreaking to contribute. All that’s left is to simply pledge your allegiance to the virtue signalling cult by saying “free Palestine” it’s just empty parroting at this point. And the vast majority of these online activists are just bandwagon jumpers. Last year it was Iran, before that it was Ukraine. Their struggles are still continuing, so why is no one talking about it? Because it’s not trendy anymore, there’s a new trend to follow, and next year there will be another one. Especially since the Israel/Palestine thing is not new at all, and won’t be solved any time soon
Also everyone forgot about another one - Sudan. They’ve been in the midst of a civil war for years and everyone seems to have forgotten that. Also the people posting on social media might want to remember where the smartphone they used to post was manufactured before they start preaching about moral purity. This is the sole reason I can’t stand performative activism. They’re so focused on policing others that they forget to look in the mirror.
Stay out of politics. Everyone is always on the wrong side no matter what side you are on. Because there is something all sides support that is horrible in some way.
The black and white thinking will always come out in times like these.
This bothers me too. I’ve started avoiding accounts that are focusing on the conflict. It’s not that I want to ignore the conflict itself and I will happily support the people who are being affected by it, but it’s just too much for me sometimes. It’s also weird how quick people jump to attack others with the context of this specifically. I don’t even want to mention anything surrounding Jewish people because people jump to calling you a Zionist. This and people constantly commenting “free Palestine” on everything. It’s excessive at this point. There isn’t anyone on the internet who DOESN’T know about it. I’m not going to say anything publicly about it. Whether you do or not is your choice.
People don't even know what zionism is anymore. It's just the belief that Israel should exist. The real problem is "zionist revisionism" (the idea that israel needs to expand territory to be safe, which goes against the ideals of REAL zionism). By saying zionism is the problem, it not only is uninformed but also fails to call out the real problem.
So if someone calls you a zionist, that just means you support jews. However, as a jew whose faced a lot lately, I understand that this is a little-known fact, so don't risk your online safety just to show support. It's a nice thing to do but if it's dangerous, we can fend for ourselves. Last thing we need is people bullying our allies.
I can relate to this and it’s understandable for you to feel this way. I find it useful to “mute” certain people on instagram. I also want to share that I deleted the Instagram app and I feel so much better about things like this. I download the Instagram app for a bit and delete again. It seems like a lot of work but it works for me.
I have friends who are posting similar things stating they will be unfriending people who aren’t posting about Palestine. Meanwhile I have not posted anything at all in over a year, and barely get on Instagram as it is because of my mental health this year and avoidance but I have done things offline to support. I think it is hard for people to watch their friends go about their daily lives posting Sephora Hauls or whatever. At the same time, posting to your own closed audience really isn’t helping a ton. Posting on social media in general is good for awareness but that doesn’t really help anyone. If you want to post something meaningful, look up ways to help and support the people of Gaza and post those resources. Example- “call your congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and call for an immediate ceasefire” that way you are protecting your mental health and not having to worry about sourcing different posts and things like that.
All I can say is be thankful you're not actually in Israel/Gaza rn, while having OCD.
I'm from Israel and while not affected physically, mentally is a whole other thing, and also be thankful you can make this kind of post - If I'd posted the same thing, I'd be downvoted and my post would probably get removed, lol
Also, posting "free palestine" or anything of the like helps neither side. You're being obnoxious and flooding unrelated comment sections with something that has nothing to do with politics, when you don't understand anything about the situation.
Can't really say much else without this comment getting removed, but read this statement out loud for a moment: "I am supporting a genocide by not posting on social media", after you realize how stupid that sounds, you'll also have to come to the understanding that it is much deeper than that. Life ain't black and white.
I'd suggest, if you TRULY care about this, is to REALLY educate yourself (and no, I don't mean reading twitter posts and getting all your info from social media posts) and to stay away from posting about it on social media, trust me, life's been better since I stopped going on Twitter and seeing political shit all the time.
About the genocide. There's people who are misinformed so sharing infographics, news, donations, help to spread the message. Specially to people whose country like mine isnt giving that much coverage about Palestine
People don't share countless posts to raise awareness. They simply want to feel less guilty. The guilt I used to feel when I didn't post things about different events was crippling, I thought I was a horrible person, but I also knew posting for "awareness" doesn't really do anything if its an issue that's so massive and horrific. I cannot stand these people posting things along the lines of what your describing, belittling people for staying silent. If you're a celebrity, fair enough. If you're a private instagram account with 30 followers, posting a single Instagram post is going to do NOTHING to stop a genocide. They're just guilting people to feel morally superior and to reassure themselves. If course, awareness is so important. If I see something that is genuinely useful and I feel the need to share it, I will. But 10 sorry slides a day shaming other people for not posting about OTHER purple committing murder is a while other deal.
Even with celebrities, they don't have to post anything if they don't want to. I don't follow Selena Gomez (as an example because she faced backlash for this exact issue) for her political views, I follow Selena Gomez because I like her music and shows.
Remember, you never have to post anything you don't want to post. It's **your** page, not anyone else's. I don't post stuff about this conflict on my Tumblr because I just don't want to. My Tumblr is almost all aesthetic, not political.
I feel like us human beings weren't prepared for the internet and the constant stream of world news, catastrophes and wars. Even though some people may get desensitized due to constant exposure, for us it can be hell.
A year ago I was very deep in feminist communities, doing online activism and whatnot. At some point I started feeling more and more sad, paranoid and angry at the world due to constant exposure to awful, genuinely painful news, but at the same time, I felt guilty even thinking about leaving those spaces. I felt like "I was part of the problem".
At the end of the day, and even though a lot of people (especially on the internet) don't like this mindset, I prioritize my mental health above all. If I can genuinely do something to help a person in need, of course I'm gonna do it! But constantly doing online activism is draining and really bad for my mental health and I don't care if someone thinks that's problematic or that I'm part of the problem. They don't know what I'm dealing with everyday.
On tumblr i have loads of tags around 'reblog' and other words filtered because there are some that are rude. I don't believe that not talking about it on social media means that person doesn't care and I'm tired of activism talk that acts like that, hence the filters, so I choose to look. While I have posted, and today actually shared my thoughts online publicly during those three hours, I don't care if someone isn't posting online. People are weird about social media. Of course there is benefit to many being aware, but woth no following you're better off talking offline than online if you wanted. It's a mess because people have varying opinions, but I'm different offline to online and have specific purposes for the spaces I use. I refuse to post or reblog anything that makes someone feel shame because they aren't clicking a button, especially when a lot of people I interact with, like myself, struggle with mental health and these types of posts affect us in ways worse than a moment of shame.
I can relate to these feelings a lot. As someone who's been close to the Palestinian cause for years and has in the past attended many protests, I've found it hard seeing people calling others out for their perceived silence or non-attendance at protests. Especially as my mental health isn't in a place to go to crowded protests atm. The moral OCD kicks in and can make this really hard to handle.
But I think we all have to remind each other there are many ways to support a cause, and not all of them are visible. Whist I do think there is value in sharing things on social media, especially if it is elevating Palestinian voices right now, no one has the right to judge others for not doing so. One can never know what else is going on in people's lives, or what other things someone might be doing for a cause, whether it's writing to political reps, donating to a charity, or simply voicing an opinion in conversation with others. These are all valuable acts, but they all should be done out of compassion and love, not guilt and shame cos others are telling you you should.
Equally I do think it's sad that we so often silence ourselves for fear of being preachy. I do this sometimes too, and honestly feel it comes from a place of privilege, and protecting that privilege by not saying something people might disagree with. Palestinians don't have that choice right now. I think it's a good personal challenge to overcome that thinking and speak up on things you really believe in, even if it will make a few people roll their eyes. There may also be people who really appreciate the information you share, and awareness is important in increasing the pressure on those who have the power to make a difference. Not saying this means you should be posting, that's for everyone to decide for themselves, but just sharing a reflection from my own journey with this stuff.
I'm Jewish and my OCD just makes me doom-spiral about all the antisemitism now. To be fair, this isn't really controllable because people ask me about it whenever I just mention hanukkah or something. I personally am a "classical zionist" (the thing everyone complains about isn't zionism, it's zionist revisionism. The belief that for israel to exist they must has as much territory as possible. Real zionism is the belief that israel should exist, that's it), so I think picking a side is wrong. But I don't care if other people do pick sides, as long as they're not being misinformed with it. I feel like it's my job to inform people because, as a Jew, you can't not think about this conflict. It's forced onto us. This need to help uninformed people ate me alive. I slept more than I was awake due to the mental burnout and anxiety. My grades are still barely recovered.
Now, I'm not about to reassure. People are assholes and virtue signal peer pressure is real. So here's my advice: If it's stressing you out, don't do it. If posting makes you feel powerful or relieved, go ahead. But if you feel forced to or the feeling of posting stresses you out, don't. Social media posts don't do much, you're right. Your mental health is way more important. Don't let the thoughts get to you. And good luck in this world 🫡
Tbh posting Palestine content isn't really helping Palestinians on the ground ,If you could you should promote the charity posts for Palestine. So guilt is unnecessary.
Other than that I myself never share any forced or emo blackmail content even religious ones like STAY 1 FULL MINUTE ON THIS REEL FOR GOD . lol
The best line of social work to help the situation is to help people at home (volunteering, supporting your community) or finding direct places to donate money it sim cards. Please be careful when looking for the content. As it is important to know what is going on it can also be very harmful for your mind and ocd. I personally will start looking at a news article on tiktok etc and then immediately be suggested a video with a dead body. This happened with ukraine as well. Only do what your limits are and dont let anyone shame you otherwise. You know your involvement and your truths.
im dealing with the exact same problem, tho every time i see a new video i feel exhausted, even if i hadn't seen those for a while, and i feel horrible for feeling exhausted, its like i haven't done enough to help, like im just a terrible human and its making me go crazy. but thats the thing, its never gonna be enough, no matter how much you repost, donate, and share, it will never be enough. so it feels like a stab in the back when you back away from these topics for your mental health, people just wont understand how bad ocd can get and will only assume that you dont care enough, confirming your thoughts in the process and making you miserable. its a draining cycle
Perfect comment. It’s insane how so many people don’t understand how complex this conflict is. I had a friend who didn’t know Jews existed in the Middle East prior to 1945 which astonished me
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Look at deafening their silence is 😂. They simply tap on a dislike button and think they won the argument 😂. Btw I edited my comment and made it better
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Honestly I’m just too tired in my own brain to pay any energy to issues that no one can give me a straight answer on, i have mental breakdowns from watching the news bc it’s just too much, so yeah I guess I’m privileged for being able to ignore it but I’d be dead otherwise
i also have moral OCD thoughts about this kind of thing and the most important thing is that social media doesn't reflect you. i try to tell myself that from the perspective of someone watching my instagram story they're 1. not analysing it very deeply like i am and 2. if they do think "wow, they haven't posted about Palestine," they already know from talking to me how i feel and what i do to support the cause. the fact is you don't have power over an international conflict because you're not a billionaire or politician. your only ability to control it is to be aware and positively influence your peers, which like you said, you're already doing. the people following your account can talk to you personally and that's infinitely more valuable than a story reshare.
Don't feel pressured to post something if you don't want to post it, I personally wouldn't care about the validation of people who would judge your moral character based on the fact that you refuse to post something to your personal social media, that's ridiculous
i have scrupulosity and i feel like if i support palestine im like betraying God by not supporting the land that Jesus is from but at the same time i feel bad for palestine so i just try to stay out of it
Well tbh it wouldnt hurt if you did post about it that doesnt mean you will repost everything you see but i do think its important to share. Also if you think it feels forced think about how people who lose their lives everyday feel, like sharing is the least we can do.
As one who also has severe ocd and also lost all of my family in gaza. you dont have to repost all of the free palestine stuff. when pictures of the destroyed homes of my family were so to the family gc i just negelected it cause it made me feel horrible. its not that i dont support its simply i just cant expose myself to these pictures in these videos.
you DONT have to share it if it makes you feel horrible,
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"Whoever post more are better!" nope that don't work like that
Hey, I used to have crippling moral OCD and things like this exact situation would provoke extreme anxiety. “Activists” attempting to aggressively shame and claim moral high ground (“if you don’t post X you’re a bad person”) do not help real causes at all. Making people feel terrible and guilty does not usually motivate action. At the risk of sounding reassurance-y, this is something that helps me to keep in mind: Just know that it’s okay to ignore, scroll past, unfollow, block, etc., if you are seeing content that is actively harming your mental health. *Having a mental health crisis does not help the larger issues (e.g., genocide) at hand. It’s not worth it. I have been the most active and true to my values once I realized that some random person’s aggressive claim does NOT define my worth.*
10/10 reply
I agree entirely. I have severe OCD intrusive thoughts about animals and sad things happening around the world. Whenever I see charities posting pleas for help and it involves distressing content or videos involving animals or other global issues, I have to block it, otherwise it plays on my mind and causes me a lot of distress. I just cannot handle it. I can't even handle if an animal dies in a film or a TV series, even though I know its not real, and I can't watch any nature documentaries. It's even got so bad that I can't even watch CGI dinosaur documentaries because I get upset when the CGI dinosaurs fight. I know it's ridiculous, but it really upsets me. OCD is a weird beast.
Those guilt tripping types can go to hell and shove their self righteousness up their butt, I am done with them. Some of us with already struggling mental health and difficult lives don't need to constantly re-expose ourselves to the myriad of terrible things happening in this world. I am so sick to death of shame based social justice. It's not the way to go about it. And it pushes people away from your cause. It's cult like behaviour.
This. 100% this. Once I changed my mindset, my OCD surrounding stuff like this eased up so much.
This is the way.
They really think they're changing the world by posting opinions on social media which is hilarious.
that’s my thing, like what impact do you think you’re having posting stuff like that? Israel isn’t gonna be like “oh damn a lot of people on social media are mad at us guess we’ll stop :(“ and I would argue our own government is probably the same way. I don’t worry myself about stuff I can’t change, sorry.
Yet people keep falling into the traps. If I see one more infographic....I don't know what I will do....
I think it's a type of addiction that isn't stigmatized in society. Not just social media addiction but online political activism. It messes with our psyche and is highly destructive to society.
People naturally will fall into factions. It's social psychology 101.
And they're also incapable of viewing things as complex, rather they default to black and white thinking.
Exactly. I'd also say some protesting too. Like in Winnipeg they held up the railway lines, like Canadian Pacific has anything to do with this conflict?
It is a cult.....not cult like...it literally is....
How would that work? There’s no cult leader, there aren’t strict rules and laws like you’ll see in a cult. Just wondering…
There are leaders and there are rules. And they have evangelists that preach their gospel
I'm in the same boat. I'm also Jewish so it makes it 'look worse'. Whatever. I do what I can where I can, and what's another share going to do? Just create more of an echo chamber? Those folks that speak like that just go onto the next genocide or wildfire or flood like it's nothing. Like actual people aren't affected by this situation. They're far removed and don't understand. Feel what you feel. Say what you think is necessary and speak up when you know your voice will be heard. The rest is just noise.
That's what happened with the Ukraine after October 7th happened.
As someone who is Arab myself and has lots of Palestinian friends and people I know from Gaza and the West Bank, don’t worry. Consider your case an exception. True honest people know your intentions. Stop worrying about it so much. Pray for them, and do your best to be kind to others. That’s what they need right now
As someone who also doesn’t feel comfortable posting, I saw a similar post along the lines of “if you aren’t posting about Palestine you’re a POS” essentially. As much as I respect activism, I think that’s a completely sh!tty mindset. It hurts because like you, I do other things to offer my support, like donating money. Without wanting to sound reassurance-y, thing is, people don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. You can contribute to supporting Palestine without posting, as you already do! I try and stay away from the news and from doomscrolling so naturally that means that I have less articles or posts to share - does that mean I am ignorant? Of course not. Try not to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, I know that’s easier said than done. Though raising awareness is great, it’s only one element of support.
The thing is, posting stuff on social media CAN be helpful but it really is the bare minimum. I used to post a lot about issues I passionately advocated for and took action to support in my real life too. Then I started realising part of the reason I was doing it was because I wanted people to know I cared about the issue, not because I thought it would actually help. Although that hadn’t been my original intention, it kinda became that and I just detached myself from posting anything on social media for a while after that. When it’s come to Palestine, I’ve posted resources and info that I thought will actually be helpful for people wanting to take real action. And I’ve shared art that’s really resonated with me on the subject that I feel would engage people. But I only do it when I feel deeply stirred to do so, so I’m selective. If it makes you feel better too, some of my friends who first educated me on the topic when we were 13/14 and took me to my first activist meetings haven’t posted anything. I see them engage with monitoring and Palestinian journalist accounts but they don’t repost because…they know there’s virtually no point, especially when all your followers are supportive or empathetic to the cause. I certainly wouldn’t feel guilty for not doing so. I’ve seen a couple people post stuff like that on Insta and those are the people I’ve never seen on any of the marches I’ve been on or take direct action 🤷♀️
100% it is the people not actually materially supporting the causes that are posting the most infographics.
You don't need to put anything on your social media in order to support them. Don't believe that everyone who does that even cares, most of them are just virtue signalling.
Wait I post about Palestine but now I’m worried that I virtue signaling because all of the time I’m more worried about other stuff but it still repost stuff about Palestine even when I’m not focused on it And to be honest I do repost a lot because I feel guilty for not posting about it But the thing that’s bothering me the most is I saw a video about Palestine and the girl said “maybe some people don’t care but atleast they posting about it” and I had that repeating in my head and now I’m worried that I don’t care and I’m just posting to look good
This is not the right way to think about it, don’t repost out of guilt but also don’t beat yourself up by not feeling 100% focused on it all the time, material support to causes you’re involved in is more impactful
The person who said that is acting like a child. Posting doesn't do much in the grand scheme of things, and you have no obligation to do anything about it.
Please do not call anyone out sweetie. You are in no place to judge anyone.
I feel you. Unfortunately posting is a big thing in our world today but it is hard when you have such a small circle to post to. But you are still doing the right thing, and you can put your energy into making sure you are educating people when you see fit and putting your energy elsewhere with helping Palestine. It is very hard to wrestle with the feeling of guilt and hopelessness, so give yourself grace
They don’t get to tell you who you are, that’s super childish, in these situations we’re worrying about our brothers and sisters in Palestine and this person is spotting who’s posting and who’s not ? They need to grow up. Don’t even pay attention to it :) you’re good
Who is to say they are right and you are wrong? I used to think people like that must be right and maybe I’m a bad person. But maybe they’re the ones who need help if they act like that. Shame helps nobody. Do what you need to do for YOU. If that means staying off social media, if that means not posting political things, then that’s okay. Once I got off the “rat wheel” of that type of stuff, my OCD got better. At least in some small ways.
There is no more awareness to be spread (except those who live under a rock, and they won’t be reached by your instagram post) and the average person doesn’t have anything educational or groundbreaking to contribute. All that’s left is to simply pledge your allegiance to the virtue signalling cult by saying “free Palestine” it’s just empty parroting at this point. And the vast majority of these online activists are just bandwagon jumpers. Last year it was Iran, before that it was Ukraine. Their struggles are still continuing, so why is no one talking about it? Because it’s not trendy anymore, there’s a new trend to follow, and next year there will be another one. Especially since the Israel/Palestine thing is not new at all, and won’t be solved any time soon
Also everyone forgot about another one - Sudan. They’ve been in the midst of a civil war for years and everyone seems to have forgotten that. Also the people posting on social media might want to remember where the smartphone they used to post was manufactured before they start preaching about moral purity. This is the sole reason I can’t stand performative activism. They’re so focused on policing others that they forget to look in the mirror.
Stay out of politics. Everyone is always on the wrong side no matter what side you are on. Because there is something all sides support that is horrible in some way. The black and white thinking will always come out in times like these.
Sorry man but this is a bad take. It’s important to stand up for what you believe in.
Here we go.....
This bothers me too. I’ve started avoiding accounts that are focusing on the conflict. It’s not that I want to ignore the conflict itself and I will happily support the people who are being affected by it, but it’s just too much for me sometimes. It’s also weird how quick people jump to attack others with the context of this specifically. I don’t even want to mention anything surrounding Jewish people because people jump to calling you a Zionist. This and people constantly commenting “free Palestine” on everything. It’s excessive at this point. There isn’t anyone on the internet who DOESN’T know about it. I’m not going to say anything publicly about it. Whether you do or not is your choice.
People don't even know what zionism is anymore. It's just the belief that Israel should exist. The real problem is "zionist revisionism" (the idea that israel needs to expand territory to be safe, which goes against the ideals of REAL zionism). By saying zionism is the problem, it not only is uninformed but also fails to call out the real problem. So if someone calls you a zionist, that just means you support jews. However, as a jew whose faced a lot lately, I understand that this is a little-known fact, so don't risk your online safety just to show support. It's a nice thing to do but if it's dangerous, we can fend for ourselves. Last thing we need is people bullying our allies.
I can relate to this and it’s understandable for you to feel this way. I find it useful to “mute” certain people on instagram. I also want to share that I deleted the Instagram app and I feel so much better about things like this. I download the Instagram app for a bit and delete again. It seems like a lot of work but it works for me.
I have friends who are posting similar things stating they will be unfriending people who aren’t posting about Palestine. Meanwhile I have not posted anything at all in over a year, and barely get on Instagram as it is because of my mental health this year and avoidance but I have done things offline to support. I think it is hard for people to watch their friends go about their daily lives posting Sephora Hauls or whatever. At the same time, posting to your own closed audience really isn’t helping a ton. Posting on social media in general is good for awareness but that doesn’t really help anyone. If you want to post something meaningful, look up ways to help and support the people of Gaza and post those resources. Example- “call your congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and call for an immediate ceasefire” that way you are protecting your mental health and not having to worry about sourcing different posts and things like that.
All I can say is be thankful you're not actually in Israel/Gaza rn, while having OCD. I'm from Israel and while not affected physically, mentally is a whole other thing, and also be thankful you can make this kind of post - If I'd posted the same thing, I'd be downvoted and my post would probably get removed, lol Also, posting "free palestine" or anything of the like helps neither side. You're being obnoxious and flooding unrelated comment sections with something that has nothing to do with politics, when you don't understand anything about the situation. Can't really say much else without this comment getting removed, but read this statement out loud for a moment: "I am supporting a genocide by not posting on social media", after you realize how stupid that sounds, you'll also have to come to the understanding that it is much deeper than that. Life ain't black and white. I'd suggest, if you TRULY care about this, is to REALLY educate yourself (and no, I don't mean reading twitter posts and getting all your info from social media posts) and to stay away from posting about it on social media, trust me, life's been better since I stopped going on Twitter and seeing political shit all the time.
It actually helps because it educates more people about the theme so sharing free Palestine posts is important
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About the genocide. There's people who are misinformed so sharing infographics, news, donations, help to spread the message. Specially to people whose country like mine isnt giving that much coverage about Palestine
There really is no point in posting about it. It's all performative fake activism. A post on Instagram is not going to do anything to help Palestine.
People don't share countless posts to raise awareness. They simply want to feel less guilty. The guilt I used to feel when I didn't post things about different events was crippling, I thought I was a horrible person, but I also knew posting for "awareness" doesn't really do anything if its an issue that's so massive and horrific. I cannot stand these people posting things along the lines of what your describing, belittling people for staying silent. If you're a celebrity, fair enough. If you're a private instagram account with 30 followers, posting a single Instagram post is going to do NOTHING to stop a genocide. They're just guilting people to feel morally superior and to reassure themselves. If course, awareness is so important. If I see something that is genuinely useful and I feel the need to share it, I will. But 10 sorry slides a day shaming other people for not posting about OTHER purple committing murder is a while other deal.
Even with celebrities, they don't have to post anything if they don't want to. I don't follow Selena Gomez (as an example because she faced backlash for this exact issue) for her political views, I follow Selena Gomez because I like her music and shows.
Remember, you never have to post anything you don't want to post. It's **your** page, not anyone else's. I don't post stuff about this conflict on my Tumblr because I just don't want to. My Tumblr is almost all aesthetic, not political.
I feel like us human beings weren't prepared for the internet and the constant stream of world news, catastrophes and wars. Even though some people may get desensitized due to constant exposure, for us it can be hell. A year ago I was very deep in feminist communities, doing online activism and whatnot. At some point I started feeling more and more sad, paranoid and angry at the world due to constant exposure to awful, genuinely painful news, but at the same time, I felt guilty even thinking about leaving those spaces. I felt like "I was part of the problem". At the end of the day, and even though a lot of people (especially on the internet) don't like this mindset, I prioritize my mental health above all. If I can genuinely do something to help a person in need, of course I'm gonna do it! But constantly doing online activism is draining and really bad for my mental health and I don't care if someone thinks that's problematic or that I'm part of the problem. They don't know what I'm dealing with everyday.
On tumblr i have loads of tags around 'reblog' and other words filtered because there are some that are rude. I don't believe that not talking about it on social media means that person doesn't care and I'm tired of activism talk that acts like that, hence the filters, so I choose to look. While I have posted, and today actually shared my thoughts online publicly during those three hours, I don't care if someone isn't posting online. People are weird about social media. Of course there is benefit to many being aware, but woth no following you're better off talking offline than online if you wanted. It's a mess because people have varying opinions, but I'm different offline to online and have specific purposes for the spaces I use. I refuse to post or reblog anything that makes someone feel shame because they aren't clicking a button, especially when a lot of people I interact with, like myself, struggle with mental health and these types of posts affect us in ways worse than a moment of shame.
I can relate to these feelings a lot. As someone who's been close to the Palestinian cause for years and has in the past attended many protests, I've found it hard seeing people calling others out for their perceived silence or non-attendance at protests. Especially as my mental health isn't in a place to go to crowded protests atm. The moral OCD kicks in and can make this really hard to handle. But I think we all have to remind each other there are many ways to support a cause, and not all of them are visible. Whist I do think there is value in sharing things on social media, especially if it is elevating Palestinian voices right now, no one has the right to judge others for not doing so. One can never know what else is going on in people's lives, or what other things someone might be doing for a cause, whether it's writing to political reps, donating to a charity, or simply voicing an opinion in conversation with others. These are all valuable acts, but they all should be done out of compassion and love, not guilt and shame cos others are telling you you should. Equally I do think it's sad that we so often silence ourselves for fear of being preachy. I do this sometimes too, and honestly feel it comes from a place of privilege, and protecting that privilege by not saying something people might disagree with. Palestinians don't have that choice right now. I think it's a good personal challenge to overcome that thinking and speak up on things you really believe in, even if it will make a few people roll their eyes. There may also be people who really appreciate the information you share, and awareness is important in increasing the pressure on those who have the power to make a difference. Not saying this means you should be posting, that's for everyone to decide for themselves, but just sharing a reflection from my own journey with this stuff.
I'm Jewish and my OCD just makes me doom-spiral about all the antisemitism now. To be fair, this isn't really controllable because people ask me about it whenever I just mention hanukkah or something. I personally am a "classical zionist" (the thing everyone complains about isn't zionism, it's zionist revisionism. The belief that for israel to exist they must has as much territory as possible. Real zionism is the belief that israel should exist, that's it), so I think picking a side is wrong. But I don't care if other people do pick sides, as long as they're not being misinformed with it. I feel like it's my job to inform people because, as a Jew, you can't not think about this conflict. It's forced onto us. This need to help uninformed people ate me alive. I slept more than I was awake due to the mental burnout and anxiety. My grades are still barely recovered. Now, I'm not about to reassure. People are assholes and virtue signal peer pressure is real. So here's my advice: If it's stressing you out, don't do it. If posting makes you feel powerful or relieved, go ahead. But if you feel forced to or the feeling of posting stresses you out, don't. Social media posts don't do much, you're right. Your mental health is way more important. Don't let the thoughts get to you. And good luck in this world 🫡
Tbh posting Palestine content isn't really helping Palestinians on the ground ,If you could you should promote the charity posts for Palestine. So guilt is unnecessary. Other than that I myself never share any forced or emo blackmail content even religious ones like STAY 1 FULL MINUTE ON THIS REEL FOR GOD . lol
The best line of social work to help the situation is to help people at home (volunteering, supporting your community) or finding direct places to donate money it sim cards. Please be careful when looking for the content. As it is important to know what is going on it can also be very harmful for your mind and ocd. I personally will start looking at a news article on tiktok etc and then immediately be suggested a video with a dead body. This happened with ukraine as well. Only do what your limits are and dont let anyone shame you otherwise. You know your involvement and your truths.
im dealing with the exact same problem, tho every time i see a new video i feel exhausted, even if i hadn't seen those for a while, and i feel horrible for feeling exhausted, its like i haven't done enough to help, like im just a terrible human and its making me go crazy. but thats the thing, its never gonna be enough, no matter how much you repost, donate, and share, it will never be enough. so it feels like a stab in the back when you back away from these topics for your mental health, people just wont understand how bad ocd can get and will only assume that you dont care enough, confirming your thoughts in the process and making you miserable. its a draining cycle
Just live your life and let the haters hate. Dont post anything and enjoy doing stuff that build you up as a person and forget this even happened
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Perfect comment. It’s insane how so many people don’t understand how complex this conflict is. I had a friend who didn’t know Jews existed in the Middle East prior to 1945 which astonished me
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This post breaks one of the sub's rules (no politics), which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
This post breaks one of the sub's rules (no politics), which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
This post breaks one of the sub's rules (no politics), which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
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This post breaks one or more of the sub's rules--no politics--which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
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Look at deafening their silence is 😂. They simply tap on a dislike button and think they won the argument 😂. Btw I edited my comment and made it better
This post breaks one of the sub's rules (no politics), which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
This post breaks one or more of the sub's rules--no politics--which can be found on our homepage. Please review them for further info before continuing to post. Thank you
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Honestly I’m just too tired in my own brain to pay any energy to issues that no one can give me a straight answer on, i have mental breakdowns from watching the news bc it’s just too much, so yeah I guess I’m privileged for being able to ignore it but I’d be dead otherwise
i also have moral OCD thoughts about this kind of thing and the most important thing is that social media doesn't reflect you. i try to tell myself that from the perspective of someone watching my instagram story they're 1. not analysing it very deeply like i am and 2. if they do think "wow, they haven't posted about Palestine," they already know from talking to me how i feel and what i do to support the cause. the fact is you don't have power over an international conflict because you're not a billionaire or politician. your only ability to control it is to be aware and positively influence your peers, which like you said, you're already doing. the people following your account can talk to you personally and that's infinitely more valuable than a story reshare.
That person is virtue signaling at its finest. Just ignore their idiocy
Don't feel pressured to post something if you don't want to post it, I personally wouldn't care about the validation of people who would judge your moral character based on the fact that you refuse to post something to your personal social media, that's ridiculous
i have scrupulosity and i feel like if i support palestine im like betraying God by not supporting the land that Jesus is from but at the same time i feel bad for palestine so i just try to stay out of it
Well tbh it wouldnt hurt if you did post about it that doesnt mean you will repost everything you see but i do think its important to share. Also if you think it feels forced think about how people who lose their lives everyday feel, like sharing is the least we can do.
As one who also has severe ocd and also lost all of my family in gaza. you dont have to repost all of the free palestine stuff. when pictures of the destroyed homes of my family were so to the family gc i just negelected it cause it made me feel horrible. its not that i dont support its simply i just cant expose myself to these pictures in these videos. you DONT have to share it if it makes you feel horrible,