Bypassing the Regime's Crackdown on Public Protests: Egyptians' Individual Mobilization into a pro-Palestinian Cyberadvocacy in the Aftermath of al-Aqsa Flood Operation

Abstract

Drawing on the aftermath of al-Aqsa Flood Operation against the Zionist blockade on Gaza in 2023, this study examines how Egyptian supporters of the Palestinian cause overcame the regime's repression of public protests through individual mobilization into cyber-advocacy campaigns on social media. Building on scholarship addressing youth political mobilization, the Palestinian cause has been the epicenter of social activism and political engagement in public sphere in contestation of the legitimacy of successive Egyptian regimes. Although the Sisi regime has embarked on arrest campaigns against pro-Palestinian protestors, social media's legacy in the Arab uprisings as a reliable and secure platform of political mobilization prompted Egyptians to individually engage into cyberadvocacy campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok in support for Palestine. Examining social media outlets since 7 October 2023, Egyptians' pro-Palestinian cyberadvocacy has enabled them to show support toward Gazans, expose Arab leaders' complicity with the Zionist regime, and defy the Zionist narrative about the right to Palestine as a homeland for Jews. Utilizing Social Movement Studies (SMTs)' notion of individual mobilization and relying on the critical discourse analysis of al-Sisi speeches, the content analysis of pro-Palestinian campaigns, and the author's interviews with 58 Egyptian activists, the study highlighted a three-layered pro-Palestinian cyberadvocacy which consisted of raising public awareness of the Zionist human rights' violation committed against Palestinians, debunking the Zionist myths of fighting terrorism in Gaza, and boycotting pro-Zionist brands.