Dispersing the Smokescreen or Adding Fuel to the Fire? Social Media Users in Israel and Narratives of the Conflict with the Palestinians

Narratives have a significant role in times of conflict, as they provide justification and explanation to the conflict, its eruption, dynamic, and the desired solution (Bar-Tal 2007, 2013). Therefore, they are an important target for change, when promoting inter-group reconciliation (Salomon, 2004). Social media is one of the channels for constructing and disseminating those narratives, and it is seen nowadays as an important player during conflicts. Compared to traditional media, these platforms have potential to be more pluralistic, as dominant actors can be challenged by alternative actors with less resources and visibility (Fuchs, 2010). The process of digitalisation over the past years reduced the threshold for public to access the public sphere, and created possibilities to many other individuals, even if they are not in a position of power – to create, share and access content online (Chadwick, 2017; Stasi, 2020). As a result, social media users can not only be exposed to alternative narratives in the context of the conflict, but also produce and disseminate them. The paper aims to study the role of narratives in social media during conflicts, by focusing on the audience, social media users. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with social media users in Israel, the study examine how they learn about the conflict with the Palestinians through the online platforms; how they interpret, engage with, and perhaps even disseminate narratives about the conflict and the other group; and how they think that those narratives influence on their views and actions in the context of the conflict. The findings and their Implications will be discussed.