Empty Chairs: Media, Movement, and Liberation

This article critically examines how Palestinian children navigate and resist the ongoing genocide in Gaza through digital media, challenging global spectatorship. Through a content analysis of over 300 social media videos, I explore how these children use digital platforms not only for survival but as powerful tools for education and resistance against the dehumanisation imposed by a Zionist settler-colonial regime. Methodologically, this study analyses social media content created by Palestinian children, supplemented by observations of trends and narrative strategies across popular platforms, primarily TikTok and Instagram. This approach provides a nuanced understanding of how these children, acting as both journalists and educators, assert their agency, document their experiences, and resist systemic oppression through digital media. The paper also critiques the global phenomenon of capitalist spectatorship, wherein audiences engage more with the spectacle of suffering than with meaningful action. It interrogates the ethical implications of this passive consumption of suffering and the challenges of fostering genuine solidarity in a digital landscape dominated by "clicktivism" and superficial engagement. By situating Palestinian children's narratives within this broader context, the paper calls for a shift from passive spectatorship to active engagement, urging the global community to move beyond observation and take concrete action in response to their voices and needs.