Palestinian Solidarity and Fandom

Ongoing prior to late 2023, but increasing beginning in late 2023, the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip as part of the 2023 escalation of the Gaza–Israel conflict, and the resultant Gaza Strip famine and Gaza humanitarian crisis, as well as the subsequent uptick in Israeli settler violence and general movement for Palestinian Liberation has had a particularly influential impact on fandom.
Fans held fannish fundraisers for humanitarian relief, engaged in political activism in a fannish context, had significant arguments about the crisis, and implemented rules about discussing the crisis in fannish spaces such as forums, subreddits, discord servers, and message boards. The fannish response to the unfolding crisis varied from hopeful to combative.
==Brief Context==
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the early 20th century, even before the state of Israel was officially created. 
Over the years, some pro-Palestinian advocates, including Palestinians themselves, have variously criticized and called for boycotting media and fandoms that support or legitimize the Israeli government or the Israeli state, in protest of the displacement and violence directed at Palestinians.
In late 2023, the conflict intensified in a phase that has been called the 2023 "Israel-Hamas War". The intensity and casualties of the violence attracted much international attention. At that point, the discussion and politics regarding the conflict became prominent and popular in fandom communities across the world.
==Fandom==
Palestinians have been frequently felt alienated by and within fandom.I think my issue with the “draw blorbo holding a watermelon or Palestinian flag” trend thing
===Fundraising===
During the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza beginning in 2023, fans held many charity fundraising events occurred to raise money to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. These fundraising events have primarily taken the form of charity auctions and charity zines. Commonly selected charities include the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and Medical Aid for Palestinians. 
One large fundraising initiative was Gotcha for Gaza, which was a loosely connected series of individual fandom auctions to raise funds, see the Gotcha for Gaza page to see all the individual auctions, which fandoms were involved, and the amount of funds raised. 
Additional fundraising activities include charity gaming streams.
The majority of these fundraising efforts took place in late 2023 and throughout 2024.
====Fundraisers/Charity Auctions Organized by Fans==== 
Title 	Fandom 	Link
ARMY 4 Palestine 	ARMY (BTS) 	army4palestine
Beefleaf Gotcha For Gaza 	Beefleaf, TGCF 	beefleafaction
BTS ARMY for PCRF Fundraiser 	BTS 	BTS ARMY for PCRF Fundraiser
Crows4Palestine 	QSMP 	crows4palestine, crows-4-palestine
D20 Artists For Palestine 	Dimension 20 	d20afp
DMC4Gaza 	Devil May Cry 	dmc4gaza at Tumblr, Twitter
Fandoms For Palestine 	Multifandom 	fandomsforpalestine
FE Rally for Gaza 	Fire Emblem 	
Fics for Gaza 	Multifandom 	
GIFs for Gaza 	Multifandom 	
Gotcha for Gaza 	Various 	
Grishaverse Artists for Palestine	Grishaverse 	Grishaverse Artists for Palestine promo post
JJKtwt4Gaza 	Jujutsu Kaisen 	Why is #JJKtwt4Gaza trending on Twitter? Here's everything you need to know about 'Jujutsu Kaisen' fandom
Jojotwt4Gaza 	Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 	Twitter
Our Flag For Palestine 	Our Flag Means Death 	
OFMD Gotcha for Gaza 	Our Flag Means Death 	ofmdaction
Oinkers for Palestine 	Technoblade 	oinkers-for-palestine tiltify, #OinkersForPalestine
One in An ARMY 	ARMY (BTS) 	oneinanarmy
#OPtwt4Gaza 	One Piece 	Twitter
QSMP for Palestine 	QSMP 	
Tumblr Artists for Palestine 	Multifandom 	artistsforpalestine
Star Wars Artists for Palestine 	Star Wars 	swartists4palestine
Stay for PCRF 	Stray Kids 	fundraising page
TLT Creators for Palestine 	The Locked Tomb 	
TMNT4P 	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	tmnt4p
Twisted-Wonderland Charity Drive 	Twisted Wonderland 	twst-charity
==== K-Pop ====
===== Media Coverage about Charity Fundraisers =====
* BTS fans in India raise over ₹3 lakhs for Palestine medical aid on J-Hope's birthday
* Indian BTS fans raise INR300,000 for Palestine
* Indian BTS ARMY Donate ₹3 Lakhs for Palestine Relief On J-Hope Birthday
* Fanbases of BTS's V actively donate to help Palestine
====Fundraisers/Auctions Organized by Creators====
Title 	Fandom 	Link
Books for Palestine Auction	Ali Hazelwood and other authors	BFP2023
Creators for Palestine 	YouTubers, multifandom 	https://tiltify.com/@creators-for-palestine/profile, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/quRSSYusEZI, https://old.reddit.com/r/youtubedrama/comments/1cp0x5o/several_creators_have_joined_together_with_the/
Project for Awesome 	Vlogbrothers, Nerdfighteria 	projectforawesome
====Charity Zines====
Title 	Fandom 	Link
Ace Omens (second volume proceeds donated to PCRF) 	Good Omens 	
The Auxiliary Wardobe Zine 	Our Flag Means Death 	
B Team Zine 	TMNT 	bteamzine
Blood Moon Rising: A Horror Zelda Zine 	The Legend of Zelda 	bloodmoonzine
Bubbles on the Water 	Blue Eye Samurai 	bubbles_zine; bubbles-zine; carrd
Catch Me If You Can 	multi-fandom Detectives & Thieves 	CMIYCzine, cmiyczine at Tumblr
A Chaotic Cataloging 	Friends at the Table 	hieronzine
Celebrate! A W.I.T.C.H fanzine 	W.I.T.C.H. 	
Cut and Weave 	World of Warcraft 	Tumblr announcement post
Desire: An Asoryuu Marriage Zine 	The Great Ace Attorney 	
Domain Expansion: A Jujutsu Kaisen Zine 	Jujutsu Kaisen 	
Don't Let Them Change Us 	Bad Buddy 	badbuddyfanzine
Donut Panic! A Trigun Cookbook 	Trigun 	triguncookbook
Earth Guardian's Domain 	Genshin Impact 	
Enemy Within (second volume proceeds donated to United Nations Crisis Relief for Gaza) 	League of Legends 	enemywithinzine
Every Day With You 	Project Sekai Colorful Stage 	anhanezine
Fallen: A Hegemon Zine 	Fire Emblem: Three Houses 	
From the Edge of Hope 	Pacific Rim 	edgeofhopezine
From the Shadows: The Women of Dai Gyakuten Saiban 	Dai Gyakuten Saiban 	dgswomenzine
Good Omens for Palestine 	Good Omens 	goodomensforpalestine
Heartland: a multi-fandom charity zine for Palestine 	Multi-Fandom 	heartlandzine
At Home in the Mirror 	Disco Elysium 	de-fanzine-at-home-in-the-mirror
In My Cottage 	Multifandom 	https://zez.am/zinencarton
In the Tiny Town of Hatchetfield 	Starkid 	
Incandescent: A Magical-Girls Zine 	Magical girls 	
Inheritance: An Attack on Titan Zine 	Attack on Titan 	aotwarriorszine
Inventing love 	Our Flag Means Death 	
Isla y Ovos: A QSMP Artbook 	QSMP 	qsmpartbook
Kyoko Zine 	Kyoko Kirigiri 	kyokozine
The Matchablossom Anthology 	SK8 the Infinity 	mbanthology
Metachrosis 	Blue Lock 	mikagereozine; carrd
Mob Psycho 100: Alternate Universe Zine 	Mob Psycho 100 	mp100auzine
No More: A Doctor Who Zine for Palestine 	Doctor Who 	thirteenfanzine
Only Justice Will Bring Peace 	ATLA 	atlafanzine
Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Book So We Wouldn't Get Sued: A Fall Out Boy Charity Fanbook	Fall Out Boy 	
Palimpsest 	Pentiment 	palimpsestzine
PJO Planner 	Percy Jackson and the Olympians 	pjoplanner
"pocket recipes" by tinymankai 	A3! 	Zine Announcement
Rattle the Stars 	Treasure Planet 	Donation announcement
Red Tape (second volume proceeds donated to PCRF) 	Good Omens 	
Refracted Lives 	Doctor Who 	
Riverside Wonders 	Touhou Project 	thriversidezine
RWBY Couture 	RWBY 	rwbycouture
Spill the Tea: a Kirumi Tojo zine 	 	kirumizine
The Song of Birds and Flowers 	Boku no Hero Academia 	thesongofbirdsandflowers
Sunshine Zine 	Call of Duty 	carrd, SoapZine2024
Swiftieism 	Taylor Swift 	swiftieismzine, swiftieismzine.com
Thirteen: An Unofficial Doctor Who Fanzine 	Doctor Who 	Announcement post
Ties Through Teyvat 	Genshin Impact 	
Trektastic Zine 	Star Trek: TOS 	Donation Announcement
Transcend: A Ranwan Zine 	The Husky and His White Cat Shizun	transcendzine
Vampire's Vestige 	Vampire Hunter D 	vampirehunterdzine
White Lace & Promises: An EruRi Zine 	Attack on Titan 	
Yasuhiro and Hiroko Hagakure Zine 	Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 	pastpresentfuturezine
Yip Yip! An Avatar Animals Fanzine 	Avatar 	yipyipzine, Announcement post
=== Fandoms and Boycotts ===
==== K-Pop ====
* BTS J-Hope's album sales decline amid fan boycott over HYBE's support for Palestine
====Blue Eye Samurai====
After the creator of the show, Michael Green, liked and retweeted various posts on Twitter, fans began to call for a boycott of the show Blue Eye Samurai.Nov 19, 2023 nitter post - Twitter via Nitter to show thread Some fans have pointed out the irony of his support for Israel, arguing that since anti-colonialism is a theme of the show, supporting the coloniser goes against his own show's message.Nov 19, 2023 Tweet by smallpog4One of the creators for Blue Eye Samurai, Michael Green, posted Israeli propaganda on his Twitter
In response, the fanzine Bubbles on the Water was created to raise money for 'Care for Gaza'.Nov 25, 2023 Tweet by Tokiimonbubblesonthewater caard
====Dune====
A primary criticism of Dune, both the original Frank Herbert book and its adaptations, has been its orientalist incorporation of various SWANA cultures, made arguably worse when the latter have few actors of SWANA descent. In November 2023, the lead actor, Timothée Chalamet, also appeared on an SNL sketch featuring a joke about Hamas that some viewed to be insensitive. With this, and given the release of Dune: Part Two and its timing during the ongoing situation in Palestine, many Palestinians encouraged a boycott of the film. This was further exemplified when Anya Taylor Joy, an actress in the film, wore what resembled to many to be a hijab during the film's premiere.The Hijab Obsession in Hollywood and High Fashion
====Eurovision Song Contest====
* It’s funny that this caused Russia to get kicked out of Eurovision but everything Israel does to Palestine doesnt warrant that somehow
* You must be fucking kidding me, what do you mean that Eurovision 2021 is happening right now
* I still don’t understand how society has not only allowed a literal Israeli soldier, Gal Gadot, to play a pacifist superhero
Activists intiially demanded the disqualification of the Israeli broadcaster from the competition, with comparisons made to the previous disqualification of the Russian broadcaster. Following confirmation that Israel would be participating, there were calls to boycott the competition, including from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), part of BDS. The boycott was also fueled by the inclusion of Azerbaijan, responsible for the 2023 flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians from the Republic of Artsakh.
Fannish discussion in spaces like :/r/eurovision was focused on the various controversies of the 2024 edition of Eurovision, including
* the banning of Palestinian flags, symbols and the EU flags at the event
* censorship of artists who wanted to reference the conflict 
* the disqualification of the Dutch entry due to an alleged altercation with a member of Eurovision staff
* The high percentage on votes to Israel by the public compared to the jury
* Jewish Insider: "Israeli and Jewish artists face threats, boycotts at U.S. shows"
During the event, fans who were in attendance booed the Israeli entry during her performances.Vid of Israel's performance at Eurovision being disrupted
The crowdfunded event FalastinVision was created as an alternative to Eurovision 2024, calling itself 'The Genocide Free Song Contest'
====Stranger Things====
There have been calls to boycott the show in response to some actors voicing support for Israeli government. how are stranger things fans reconciling their fandom identity with the israel gaza conflict? With the news of TLOU 2 remaster, this is a reminder not to buy it or ANY tlou content. Neil Druckmann is a zionist
====Marvel====
* Recently, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement has called for a boycott of all Marvel products (it looks like this zine was never completed)
====Music Fandom====
* Haaretz: "Musicians: Boycotting Israel Fans the Flames of Conflict" (2015) 
====#Blockout2024====
* Time: "Calls to Boycott Celebrities for Silence on the War in Gaza Spark a Debate Over Online Activism"
=== Other Fan Activism ===
==== K-pop ====
===== Media Coverage about Reactions and Activism =====
* BTS and BLACKPINK face Blockout Call from award-winning Palestinian Journalist; fans respond
* Why is ‘Cancel SUGA’ trending? BTS fans' petition misnomer debunked
* BTS fans demand removal of HYBE America CEO for supporting Israel
* BTS fans tell K-pop label Hybe to sack its American boss for backing Israel’s war in Gaza
* The K-pop stans fighting for a free Palestine
==== Taylor Swift ====
*Swifties for Ceasefire
*#SwiftiesForPalestine Trends As Fans Try to Bully Taylor Swift Into Opposing Israel
===== Other Fandoms =====
*Posting in Splatoon 3 - Decided to boot up Splat3 and holy SHIT the community is really coming together in support of Palestine
* Use of fandom in activism including stickers - Sticker seen in Zurich, Switzerland
* Some online spaces and fandoms have been used for virtual protests such as the pro-Palestinian protests on Roblox in 2023.Kids are attending pro-Palestinian protests on Roblox
===Fandom-related occurrences===
* Just got a second official warning (post by le-bjorn) - OTW volunteer le-bjorn wrote this callout post of the OTW, describing their resignation from the OTW following being reprimanded for their use of the political slogan "from the river to the sea, palestine will be free" as their status on the OTW volunteer chatting app.
* Creation of separate/private spaces for pro-Israel fans
* Related Do Not Interact
* dhobi ki kutti's fanworkers international coalition statement of solidarity with palestine Fanworkers International Coalition Statement of Solidarity with Palestine (goggle doc) Updates about the Statement of Solidarity, and the OTW
=== Fans Directly Affected by the Conflict ===
* LegitTayUpdates - In 2019, the Twitter account LegitTayUpdates posted after a period of inactivity, explaining she had been in prison. Upon questioning, she explained she was in prison due to refusing to join the IDF. The exchange went viral, and subsequent interviews revealed the Twitter user to be an Israeli teenager who refused to join the IDF out of moral objections to the oppression of the Palestinian people. Many found it humorous and inspiring that a teenage Swiftie--who would be expected to be a frivolous young person--made such a principled stand.Taylor Swift megafan goes viral after prison stint for dodging IDF draft, April 2, 2021 Tweet by jvplive, Meet the Taylor Swift Stan Who Went to Jail, 60 – Fuck You, Goku is Real, Before you mock stan culture, look to the Taylor Swift fan account which proved its wokeness in one viral tweet
* The Palestinian artist and JJK fan, Noury (@Noony_Boony), on Twitter was injured in an attack on Gaza during the 2023-2024 Israeli operation against the region. In response, fans on the site began to draw Gojo with sunflowers in honour of her and as a gesture of solidarity.Nov 8, 2023 tweet by butnotamermaidFanart of Gojo
==== K-Pop ====
*"My heart really hurts": BTS' V's fans heartbroken to find photocard of Tae-hyung from under the rubble in Gaza, confirming ARMY's demise
*BTS Fans Under the Rubble: The Plight of BTS Palestinian ARMYs
==TPTB==
Fans of celebrities - actors and singers etc - have responded in several ways whenever their favourite celebrity has voiced their thoughts on the situation.
Some celebrities and real people have shown support for Palestine:
*Macklemore has been to Pro-Palestine protests and in May 2024 released a protest song, Hind's Hall, sampling Fairuz. His reputation in wider fandom was that he was generally considered to be cringe, in a similiar sense to the likes of Imagine Dragons or Nickelback but for rap. Some folks apologised for their previous opinion on him, some insisted he was still cringe but it didn't matter.
*Artists4Ceasefire
*Hunter Schafer was arrested at a Pro-Palestine protest.
*76 Musicians Stand for Justice for Palestinians
===Celebrities who were Pro-Israel===
* Radiohead frontman appears to curse pro-Palestinian protesters at show
* Radiohead withstands pro-Palestinian jeers at Glastonbury Festival
* Lana Del Rey being a zionistNov 3, 2023 Reddit thread 
==Discussion==
* Whither the pro-Pals a year from now?
* Antisemitism in fandom spacesWBM
* aita for not wanting the zine I'm in to be explicitly pro-palestine / wibta for therefore not promoting the zine?
* A favorite YouTuber of mine is Pro-Palestinian :( What do I do now?
* i feel totally isolated from the fandom I used to be part of
* I saw a fan fiction writer whose stuff I really enjoyed tag something with “from the r*ver…”
* Another bit on the pro-Pal fandom, this one axiomatic
* I think my issue with the “draw blorbo holding a watermelon or Palestinian flag” trend thing
* Israel wants you to believe the only casulaties from their relelentless 75 year long campaign against Palestinians are all terrorists
* Would love it if people stopped fandomising the war
* some of you don't understand what it means to "fandomize" geopolitics.
* JU from hatsune. Yet another sub infected once more
* Jewish Insider: Jewish music fans question artists’ silence after Oct. 7 (archive link)
=== Undertale ===
* n updated policy on the Palestine - Israel discussion (tl;dr keep it under this post and please read it before yelling at us or each other)
* What do people expect to get from "Pro-palestine" posts?
=== DC ===
* Gal Gadot and Wonder Woman 1984
** What's wrong with Zionism? I tried googling it but didn't really get any definitive answers
** What really pains me about how morally fucked up and bluntly racist the Wonder Woman movies are
** This might look long and all over the place, but please bear with me here
** What really pains me about how morally fucked up and bluntly racist the Wonder Woman movies are
** Wonder Woman 1984 was racist, sexist, and all around awful
** “Wonder Woman 1984″ is straight-up an Israeli imperial propaganda
* Tom Taylor and Injustice comics
** Oct 10, 2021 Tweet
** Tom Taylor is not just an ableist, he’s also a Zionist White-liberal trash
** Tom Taylor is not just an ableist, he’s also a Zionist White-liberal trash
** 
=== Marvel ===
* Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe - SabraI just know the Zionist propaganda that Marvel will do with Sabra
=== Communities that Banned Discussion of the Conflict ===
*Fail-Fandomanon has banned discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,Every main post on FFA, such as this one, includes "discussion about current events in Israel and Palestine" under a short list of banned topics. possibly in relation to the rule banning religious discussions, although some users have complained that FFA still allows threads discussing USA, UK, and Ukraine-Russia politics.
* "The Israel/Hamas War" is one of few discussion topics banned on /r/hobbydrama. 
===Fandomisation===
Some folks have compared each side of the movement with fandom or sports teams.
However, this way of looking at a geopolitical issue, especially one that has resulted in mass displacement and killings of Palestinians has been extensively criticized.
The term 'Pro-Pal' has been heavily criticized not just by the pro-Palestine movement, but by Palestinians themselves.
====yourfavispropalestine Tumblr blog====
In the line of other yourfavis blogs, a Tumblr user created 'yourfavispropalestine' in March 2024, a decision that was criticised by many. Once it became clear the blog was run by a Palestinian, opinion stayed mixed, with some criticising the judgement of Palestinians' means of mourning and engaging with fandom, and others maintaining the inappropriateness of fandomising the situation in that manner.
====who-is-the-worst-palestinian Tumblr blog====
In April 2024, a poll blog titled who-is-the-worst-palestinian was created on Tumblr that drew massive backlash. The blog owner's reasons for doing so allegedly included that in their view, Palestinians on Tumblr had been bullying fandoms.Apirl 18, 2024 Tumblr post by trans4trans The blog was taken down very quickly after it appeared.
The blog mostannoyingfandom-poll received and answered the following ask:
==Fanworks==
===Fan art===
The Palestinian artist and JJK fan, Noury (@Noony_Boony), on Twitter was injured in an attack on Gaza during the 2023-2024 Israeli operation against the region. In response, fans on the site began to draw Gojo with sunflowers in honour of her and as a gesture of solidarity.
Some fans began drawing characters with the Palestinian flag or wearing a keffiyeh. Additionally, watermelons (or slices of the fruit) are also used as symbolism for support.
====Gallery====
File:Roier and the Palestinian Flag, by @Hero DZN.png|alt=Digital drawing of Roier holding a Palestinian flag.|by @Hero_DZN, featuring Roier from QSMP holding the Palestinian flag for QSMP for Palestine
File:TeaDuo for Palestine, by @FeralSimi.jpg|alt=Digital drawing of Tinakitten and Bagi wearing keffiyehs and eating watermelons under a tree.|by @FeralSimi, featuring Bagi and Tina, from QSMP, wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and eating watermelons
==Further reading==
* Judaism and Fandom
* Islam and Fandom
* Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Wikipedia
** Gaza–Israel conflict
** Gaza Strip humanitarian crisis
** Media coverage of the Israel–Hamas war
** Israel–Hamas war protests
** International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war
* Mashable: "Why fandom wars aren't helping pro-Palestine organizing — This is a people's movement, not a celebrity one." by Chase DiBenedetto and Elena Cavender on May 6, 2024
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Activism
Category:Race & Fandom