Politics of phygital protests: Palestinian #GreatMarchofReturn discourse on Twitter

Abstract

Twitter aids public discourse, hashtag activism and sociopolitical advocacy. In terms of Palestinian resistance discourse against Israel, the hashtag #GreatMarchofReturn represents a peaceful digital protest by the Palestinian refugees based in Gaza. We identified 13,000 tweets related to #GreatMarchofReturn, which we analysed using content analysis and descriptive analysis, followed by a visualization of the findings. We argue that hashtag activism facilitates the collective Palestinian protest discourse on Twitter about Israel’s oppressive diplomacies in Palestine. The activism endorses Palestinian nationalism and the mobilization of civilian rights. Moreover, the micro-blogging site becomes a significant platform for politicizing Israel’s punitive populism and subsequent subjugation of Palestinian refugees, especially in Gaza. The psycho-politics of phygital protests affects the socio-emotional mobilization of the Great March of Return in both virtual and physical public spheres.