Netizens think AI-generated Rafah template "hides" Israel's gruesome atrocities in Gaza

The AI-generated template of Rafah, shared over 30 million times on Instagram, has come under fire from netizens who believe it trivializes the real, gruesome atrocities on the ground documented by Palestinians.

Critics have argued that the template overshadowed the horrific situation and offered many people, including celebrities who remained silent throughout the genocide, a shallow and inauthentic way to express concern.

The "All Eyes on Rafah" template went viral on Tuesday as people around the world shared it on their Instagram stories. However, many have disapproved of it by highlighting that Israel is using AI-generated visuals for propaganda, given the lack of evidence for widespread destruction on its part.

The template has been criticised for doing a disservice to Palestinians who have been documenting the horrific atrocities they are facing. 

They asserted that the content filmed by Gazans went unseen and unheard by those who remained silent on the genocide, while the aesthetic template offered a convenient way for some to assuage their guilt.

Israel unleashed a massacre on camps sheltering displaced civilians in Rafah on Sunday, resulting in the deaths of at least 45 people, including children who were beheaded and burned alive. 

Videos from the scene showed harrowing images of destruction, including a person holding the headless, burned body of a child as people searched the burning tents to rescue their loved ones.

Despite the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease military operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army stated that the strike targeted two Hamas installations and killed two fighters.

Israel is relentlessly targeting displaced civilians in Rafah who took shelter in the humanitarian zones as a recent airstrike on the so-called “safe area” of al-Mawasi killed at least 21 people, mostly women and girls. 

The attacks on civilians continued in Jabalia and the rest of the Gaza Strip. 

The tanks of the Israeli army also moved into central Rafah on Wednesday which indicates the beginning of a ground invasion, which has been widely condemned by the international community. 

Filmmaker and writer Saoud Khalaf said, “The idea that we need to create or promote fake imagery, when the suffering is very real, can come across as disingenuous.“

Palestinians have to record and document everything they’re enduring in Rafah just so the world believes them so to reshare an ai generated template is sooooooo weird actually

— natasha (@tashteshtish) May 28, 2024

Celebrities sharing an AI photo to talk about Rafah is actually demonic when Gazans have begged us for 8 months to bear witness and show the world what is being done to them. There’s millions of REAL images to be used for this

— Ali! 🌟 (@spacecowboysue) May 28, 2024

“It is so crazy seeing people who have been silent for weeks repost that ugly AI-generated “All Eyes on Rafah” pic with no actual information on what’s happening, no practical ways to provide aid, no protest information just “all eyes of Rafah'' ok?? what’s next??” an ‘X’ user said. 

it is so crazy seeing people who have been silent for weeks repost that ugly ai generated “all eyes of rafah” pic with no actual information on what’s happening no practical ways to provide aid no protest information just “all eyes of rafah” ok?? what’s next??

— khadija (@fulbhes) May 28, 2024

“People sharing this AI image because it fits their Instagram minimal mysterious aesthetic instead of videos, posts from Palestinians or footage from Rafah…” another pro-Palestine X user stated

people sharing this ai image bec it fits their instagram minimal mysterious aesthetic instead of videos, posts from palestinians or footage from rafah are just as shallow & performative as the celebrities they like to slander, resistance is not meant to be pretty or pleasing https://t.co/n2I5vsUosm

— ৎ୭ (@m4hvm) May 28, 2024

Israeli using an AI generated pics because there's absolutely zero proof Hamas slaughtered babies, while we clearly see in Rafah a poor father had to documented his beheaded babies so the world would believe them.

Fuck Israel and everything they stands for. https://t.co/ekfRTHKsxy

— ✨ Widas ✨ (@WidasSatyo) May 28, 2024