The hashtags “Al-Aqsa flood”, “Palestine” and “Gaza is being bombed” were in first place in most Arab countries
The Palestinian Hamas offensive against Israel has sparked a wave of solidarity across the Arab world. The hashtag “Al-Aqsa Flood” is named after this unprecedented attack that left hundreds dead and sent social networks into a frenzy. In Lebanon, from the first moments of the surprise offensive launched on Saturday, residents handed out cakes in the streets and danced in neighborhoods of Beirut and its southern suburbs, strongholds of the Hezbollah movement, and in Palestinian refugee camps.
A student rally also took place in front of the American University of Beirut. “It is a just cause and we always support it. If we can’t carry weapons, we can at least support them,” said Rim Sobh, an 18-year-old Palestinian. In the southern city of Saida, which borders Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, mosques broadcast prayers and incantations in support of the “Palestinian resistance.”
In Damascus, Syria, the opera house was lit in Palestinian colors and convoys of cars crisscrossed the city waving Palestinian and Syrian flags and broadcasting songs praising the “resistance” over loudspeakers. “The Hamas offensive awakened in us a feeling we had forgotten for years and gave us hope that one day the day will come when we can hold our heads high,” said Marah Sleiman, an official at Damascus University.
The hashtags “Al-Aqsa flood”, “Palestine”, “Palestine is my business” and “Gaza is being bombed” were in position X (formerly Twitter) in most Arab countries.
On national and pan-Arab channels, talk show hosts and guests competed in support of the Palestinian offensive. Even in Egypt, pro-government talk show hosts, usually very hostile to Hamas, praised “the resistance of an oppressed people” and an “insult to the theory of Israeli invincibility.”
As is often the case in Arab countries, solidarity with the Palestinians was demonstrated in the stadiums. During an Al-Ahly football match in Cairo, fans shouted: “With our soul, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Palestine.”
In Tunisia, a demonstration “in support of the Palestinian resistance” is planned for Thursday and, at the initiative of the Ministry of Education, students saluted the Palestinian flag in schools on Monday. In Baghdad, Iraq, several pro-Iranian groups organized demonstrations of support and waved Palestinian flags.
Late Tuesday, more than 4,000 people gathered in central Amman, Jordan, chanting “Go, go Hamas” and “Revolution, revolution to the death.”