Searching the Twitterverse for #MiddleEast produces surprisingly uncontroversial results. Most stories are posted with hashtags of the specific country or character, not the region. I decided to focus my search on the Kurds and found quite a few interesting accounts and discussions.
The first that I found was named "פטריק פולוק," with the Twitter handle "Red Brasco." He is a zionist and historian with over 8,000 followers. Many of his posts relate to women in the Middle East.
The photo that brought me to his page is about the female Kurds fighting ISIS. It was posted in 2015, but people are still retweeting and commenting on it today.
Most commenters point out how brave and effective these women are. I did also find two Tunisian men who want to order a few to be their wives. Apparently there just aren't enough Tunisian women who know how to shoot assault rifles.
The next story that I decided to focus on is happening right now (1/31/2016) in the Gazi neighborhood of Istanbul. In response to the state violence and restrictions in Kurdistan that I wrote
about on my Reddit post, protests have erupted in Turkey's largest city.
The photo that brought me to his page is about the female Kurds fighting ISIS. It was posted in 2015, but people are still retweeting and commenting on it today.
Most commenters point out how brave and effective these women are. I did also find two Tunisian men who want to order a few to be their wives. Apparently there just aren't enough Tunisian women who know how to shoot assault rifles.
The next story that I decided to focus on is happening right now (1/31/2016) in the Gazi neighborhood of Istanbul. In response to the state violence and restrictions in Kurdistan that I wrote
about on my Reddit post, protests have erupted in Turkey's largest city.
MLKP militia resist police attacks in Gazi district of Istanbul tonight in protest of State violence in Kurdistan. pic.twitter.com/Otn6FqK5Pg
— ѕyndιcalιѕт (@syndicalisms) January 31, 2016
This video was posted by ѕyndιcalιѕт, who claims to provide updates on "global resistance and struggles." Most posts and the few news articles about these protests are written in Turkish. Some claim that the protesters were justified in reacting with violence, while many others take a more pro-government approach.
Protest in Istanbul's Gazi neighborhood (where this often happens) turns violent https://t.co/SHvIE6oX3R
— Aliza Marcus (@AlizaMarcus) January 31, 2016
If I hadn't gotten frustrated with the "Middle East" feed a few days ago, I wouldn't have even checked Twitter today. Chances are I would have never even heard about these protests because violence only makes international news when enough people die.In my opinion, narrower search topics yield more interesting and passionate results. My major is Middle East & North African studies, but my focus is definitely Kurdistan. Even so, it looks like I'll have more than enough material to work with this semester.
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