Scroll, Swipe, Resist: Storytelling And Remix from Gaza’s Digital Frontlines

Abstract

Social media, once the domain of entertainingly curated reels, dance challenges, and ephemeral celebrity gossip, has undergone a radical transformation into a platform for real-time, high-stakes conflict narration. This paper investigates the paradigm shift from “entertainment” to “infotainment” and “citizen journalism” within the context of the Gaza conflict. It argues that the digital frontline has given rise to a new form of anti-war activism that diverges sharply from traditional literary canons. By employing Lawrence Lessig’s concept of “Remix Culture” and Lev Manovich’s five principles of new media: Numerical Representation, Modularity, Automation, Variability, and Transcoding, this research analyses how digital narratives are constructed, disseminated, and consumed. Through a close reading of digital artifacts, including the viral recitation of Refaat Alareer’s poetry by actor Brian Cox and the visual poetry of Instagram accounts like @gazapoets, this paper demonstrates how algorithmic frameworks and collaborative authorship are reshaping the documentation of war. The study posits that these “living archives” do not merely record history but actively produce it through a complex interplay of human agency and machine automation, creating a “Read/Write” culture of resistance that defies the static linearity of traditional war narratives.