All Eyes on Rafah

AI-generated "All Eyes on Rafah" image that went viral on Instagram in May 2024
The phrase on a placard at a demonstration in Helsinki, Finland, in February 2024

"All Eyes on Rafah" is a pro-Palestinian political slogan during the Israel–Hamas war and Rafah offensive, mostly used on social media.[1][2][3]

The phrase derives from a comment made by Richard "Rik" Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative for Gaza and the West Bank,[4][5][6] when he told journalists at the UN in February 2024 that "All eyes are on Rafah".[7] This extract from Peeperkorn's broadcast began to be shared when the Rafah offensive began in early May, and an AI-generated image of the slogan went viral on Instagram later that month.[7]

The hashtag #alleyesonrafah has been featured in videos viewed millions of times on TikTok,[8] and the slogan has been used internationally at protests.[7]

Meaning and origin

The phrase "All Eyes on Rafah" references the Rafah offensive, an ongoing military operation in and around the city of Rafah, a city near the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. By February 2024, when Israel announced the operation, nearly half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million had been pushed into Rafah due to Israeli orders for Palestinians to evacuate there and actions elsewhere in the strip.[9][10] The announcement was condemned by many countries.[11][12][13] About a million Palestinian civilians left Rafah after repeated warnings and following Israeli calls for evacuation prior to the commencment of Israeli military operations. About a million Gazans followed Israeli instructions and evacuated from Rafah.[14]

Viral image

In late May 2024, an AI-generated image depicting the phrase had been shared more than 47 million times in the space of a few days on Instagram,[7] going viral on social media about Israel's war on Gaza.[11] Users with large followings,[1] including celebrities like Bella Hadid and Nicola Coughlan,[15] also participated in the trend. The AI-generated image accompanying the sentence shows an aerial view of a camp set up in orderly rows of tents, with snowy peaks in the background.[16][17] Light-colored tents are arranged to spell out the words "All eyes on Rafah".[11]

The origin of the image is disputed. The image has been attributed to Malaysian photographer Amirul Shah who first posted it to Instagram,[5] but AI hobbyist Zila Abka claims to have posted a square, watermarked version of the same image to Facebook in February, having used AI to generate it herself. She believes that Shah took this image and expanded it to remove her watermark and add a mountain range across the top, before sharing it to Instagram.[18]

'All Eyes on Rafah' also gained notable traction within the association football community, as the image was posted by many professional footballers, including Arsenal's William Saliba, Barcelona’s João Cancelo, Paris St. Germain's Ousmane Dembélé, Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, Atalanta's Gianluca Scamacca, AC Milan's Rafael Leão, Inter Milan's Marcus Thuram, 2023 women's Ballon D'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, and BBC broadcaster Gary Lineker.[19]

Criticism

Some social media users criticized the trend, comparing it to 2020's Blackout Tuesday, which some criticized for being performative activism or virtue signaling.[5][20] Other users suggested that the trend was sanitizing ongoing events, and that users should instead post actual images from Rafah.[20]

After several Bollywood celebrities shared the "All Eyes on Rafah" poster on social media, "Boycott Bollywood" started trending on Twitter. Users taking part in the Boycott Bollywood trend asked Indian actors who had shared the image why they did not also speak out about attacks on Hindus in other countries, such as Pakistan.[21]

A pro-Israel response to the image that asked "Where were your eyes on October 7th?" was removed by Meta after having been shared by several hundred thousands.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "'All Eyes on Rafah' image shared by millions on Instagram following Israeli airstrike". NBC News. 28 May 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Why 'All Eyes on Rafah' is trending as Israel ramps up offensive on Gaza city". India Today. 2024-05-29. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  3. ^ "'All eyes on Rafah' AI-image goes viral on social media". Al Jazeera. 2024-05-29. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  4. ^ Lau, Evelyn (2024-05-29). "'All Eyes on Rafah': The meaning behind the post going viral on Instagram". The National. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  5. ^ a b c Prinsley, Jane. "What is the 'All Eyes on Rafah' graphic and who is behind it?". www.thejc.com. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  6. ^ "'All Eyes on Rafah' image garners millions of shares in latest social media solidarity campaign". Arab News. 2024-05-29. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  7. ^ a b c d "All Eyes on Rafah: The post shared by 47m people". www.bbc.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  8. ^ "Explainer: What is 'All Eyes on Rafah' and why has it gone viral?". Newshub. Archived from the original on 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  9. ^ "Israel continues bombarding Gaza, including places it told Palestinians to evacuate to". PBS NewsHour. 2023-12-09. Archived from the original on 2024-02-23. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  10. ^ Tanno, Helen Regan,Caitlin Hu,Mohammed Tawfeeq,Akanksha Sharma,Nadeen Ebrahim,Sophie (2023-10-13). "Israel tells 1.1 million Gazans to evacuate south. UN says order is 'impossible'". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22. Retrieved 2024-06-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b c Shamim, Sarah. "What is 'All eyes on Rafah'? Decoding a viral social trend on Israel's war". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  12. ^ "Global protests condemn Israel's attack on Rafah". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  13. ^ "International action vital in Rafah as UN resolution is ignored". Amnesty International. 2024-04-03. Archived from the original on 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  14. ^ Fabian, Emmanuel (20 May 2024). "IDF estimates 950,000 Gazans have evacuated from Rafah amid offensive". Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  15. ^ Burga, Solcyré (2024-05-29). "Why the 'All Eyes on Rafah' AI Post Is Going Viral on Social Media". TIME. Archived from the original on 2024-06-01. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  16. ^ Asmelash, Leah (2024-05-30). "How a likely AI-generated image of Gaza took over the internet". CNN. Archived from the original on 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  17. ^ Hassan, Jennifer; Dadouch, Sarah (29 May 2024). "An image calling for 'All Eyes on Rafah' is going viral. But it seems AI-generated". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  18. ^ Allyn, Bobby (3 June 2024). "'All eyes on Rafah' is the Internet's most viral AI image. Two artists are claiming credit". NPR. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  19. ^ Levy, Daniel. "It's Time to Sideline Israel from International Sports". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2024-09-27. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  20. ^ a b "Why has the viral 'All Eyes on Rafah' graphic sparked so much anger?". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  21. ^ "'آل آئز آن رفح': انڈیا میں 'بائیکاٹ بالی وڈ' کے ٹرینڈ کا باعث بننے والی اے آئی سے بنی تصویر وائرل کیوں ہوئی؟" ['All Eyes on Rafah': Why did the AI-generated image that led to the 'Boycott Bollywood' trend in India go viral?]. BBC. 30 May 2024. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  22. ^ Boker, Ran; Halabi, Einav; Agencies (2024-05-29). "Instagram removes pro-Israel response to viral 'All eyes on Rafah' campaign". Yedioth Ahronoth. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
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