Note: I encountered many problematic narratives when reading current statements and communication about Gaza, even in pieces and comments by humanitarian actors. I started collecting problematic points and compiled them in this document to offer a practical tool to avoid them. Some issues can be resolved with simple stylistic adjustments, while others require deeper reflections on our stances and worldviews. This is not a polished document but an offering I hope will —beyond improving communication and narratives in use—help to decolonize our thinking on Gaza and beyond.

Thanks, as usual, to Tanja Berretta for her contribution and deep insights. Comments, references and further ideas are VERY welcome in comments. Please keep them practical and actionable. Let’s help each other become more aware - to overcome the traps of ingrained colonial narratives, and build better ones.

When you communicate about Gaza - through statements, articles, and others - you shall seek to highlight crimes at risk to be hidden or inspire meaningful action. All this requires questioning simplistic, oppressive narratives that echo colonialist views and are functional to aid washing and oppression.

So, keep 3 basic principles in mind  for all your communication: 

• Respect the dignity and rights of the oppressed, and educate audiences on the oppression and war crimes faced by people in Gaza;
• Advocate for meaningful action and points - not cosmetic niceties and distractions;
• Challenge and dismantle preconceived notions rooted in colonialism and aid dynamics.

Practical Tips

Be Precise in Language:

For a long time, language manipulation has obscured the occupation. Reclaiming and accurately using words is key to describing the realities of occupation and resistance and dismantling propaganda’s grip on discourse. 

• Call things by their name, referring to international law to describe the situation accurately. For example, recognise the situation not as a 'war' but as an 'occupation,' in line with United Nations resolutions:  this distinction highlights the occupying power's responsibility.
• Do not shy away from using words such as “war crimes” or 'genocide'. Acknowledge the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) rulings and competence on the matter, including its issuance of provisional measures.
• Prefer active, rather than passive forms. Passive voices obscure responsibility and depersonalise issues. Attribute actions in an active voice (e.g., "Israel killed..." rather than "people were killed..."). Clarity helps accountability.
• Maintain consistent terms for similar groups. Minimise biases or prejudgments influencing perceptions by using the same words across groups. For example: avoid saying "children" when referring to Israelis under 18, but "minors" for Palestinians. Other common variations included soldiers vs. militants / terrorists; hostages vs. detainees; victims vs. collateral damages/ human shields. 
• Keep emotional tone consistent across groups. Avoid words evoking different emotional responses for similar situations, undermining the suffering of the oppressed. For example, if a situation is described as an "atrocity, slaughter, massacre" for Israelis, avoid softer terms for equivalent events affecting Palestinians. 

Be Aware of Humanitarian Law:

Understanding and upholding humanitarian law is crucial during conflict, especially when dismantling humanitarian law is part of the Occupying power's agenda. We must not only understand but also rigorously defend these principles against any form of distortion or misuse.

• Civilians are civilians, as defined by international protection laws, regardless of nationality. This principle must be central in any appeal.
• Do not contribute to the distortion of humanitarian terminology and principles. Reclaim their precise meanings. Propaganda has twisted terms like "proportionality," and words like “collective punishment” have been underplayed. When in doubt, refer to the United Nations' understanding. 
• Make bold and sound humanitarian demands, such as calling for accountability, ceasefire,  ICC & other criminal charges, sanctions, or other relevant measures for all complicit actors. 
• Refer to international obligations: numerous United Nations resolutions exist and have historically been disregarded.

Acknowledge Historical and Social Contexts:

The current facts do not occur in a vacuum but stem from complex historical events. Becoming an expert in these events isn't necessary—it might even lead to diversion. Your guiding principle should be to adhere to the facts, maintain a humanitarian moral compass, and carefully avoid the false narratives that have infiltrated the discourse. Look at the big picture: recognize the ongoing nature of oppression without recounting every grievance or crime committed by all parties involved: do not divert into a counterproductive tit-for-tat recounting of grievances.

• Contextualise events within the broader occupation. Ensure that narratives don't mistakenly start on October 7th, but acknowledge the ongoing occupation and its impacts. Also, remember that Gaza is only one occupied territory. The West Bank is experiencing a surge of oppression, and the rights of Palestinian refugees are continuously downplayed. 
• Do not mix up oppressors and oppressed: Move beyond the oversimplified and misleading narratives that equate the actions of the oppressed with those of their oppressors. For example, there are not “two countries at war,”  but an occupying colonial country has oppressed another population for decades, in violation of international agreements. 
• Avoid treating incidents as separate and isolated. Contextualise each event as part of a larger, ongoing story, and point to the pattern.  This helps avoid giving audiences only a fragmented understanding likely to perpetuate systemic issues.  For example, do not report only about individual journalists killed, highlight the pattern of journalists being deliberately targeted.
• Do not fall for the "bad apple" narrative: Stress that systemic issues cannot be blamed on individuals alone. Oppression is deeply rooted in state entities' structures, policies, and ideologies and their culture. Avoid narratives stopping at merely replacing political leaders, or blaming low rank officers. 
• Check: are you falling for flawed narratives and manufactured consent? Be aware of dominant narratives from propaganda, biased media coverage, or historical misrepresentations. Avoid adopting these viewpoints unconsciously (for example: whilst individual countries labelled Hamas as a “terrorist movement”, the UN never did, and dealt with it as a legitimate political movement).
• Avoid seeking 'balance' in every statement. Equating the grievances of oppressors with the oppressed skews the narrative. For example, you do not need to recall the events of October 7th every time you denounce crimes against humanity in Gaza. Acknowledging facts doesn't mean ignoring the oppressors' past grievances, but constantly recalling them can overshadow current oppression.

Demonstrate genuine commitment to decolonising aid and support:

The events in Gaza are rooted in colonialism, and reporting on them demands self-reflection on our stance and our capacity to decolonise our thinking. And this goes beyond Gaza. We should continuously challenge ourselves to avoid falling back into old discourses and mindsets inadvertently. Instead of being swayed by the occupying power's narratives, we should focus on the voices of liberation, anti-oppression, and decolonisation movements and make these tragic events an opportunity to shift thinking and worldviews to counteract oppression on a global scale. 

• Embrace and promote the vocabulary and perspective of decolonisation and liberation movements. These movements are decolonising language and creating useful words to describe oppression: terms like "victim blaming," "dehumanisation," “gaslighting,” and “normalization of violence” (and many more!) can accurately describe situations experienced in Gaza. Use them—while educating your readers to understand them. 
• Humanise the oppressed, not only the oppressor. Generate empathy, and avoid double standards whereby Israelis are deemed worthy of narrative, while Palestinians are - at best reduced - to mere statistics, their personal stories untold.
• Emphasise the agency of the oppressed and their supporters. Avoid portraying the oppressed only as victims, but share their immense capacity to act, respond, and organise themselves (and, because of this, becoming targets: remind the patterns of activists, and intellectuals being targeted and killed). Also highlight and support the actions of genuine anti-colonial actors worldwide now at risk of being sidelined and persecuted, including conscientious objectors, demonstrators, and peace movements (including Jewish and Israeli ones).
• Do not overshadow Palestinian experiences and expertise by focusing mostly on international (Western) actors. Value and humanise Palestinian people to the same extent as international ones. For example, do not just condemn and report attacks against internationals - when Palestinian humanitarian workers had been subjected to the same violations. Also, watch out for 'expert bias'. Relying too much on Western experts to make convincing points reinforces outdated views and overlooks non-Western expertise, perpetuating colonial mindsets.
• Acknowledge your stance so far: Be honest and ensure your communication is consistent with your history. If you have not taken a strong stance on Gaza, you contributed to the problem. It is never too late to start, but be honest in recognising this. Commit to amplifying existing voices for justice and human rights in your appeals.
• Do not be sidetracked by false narratives. A key aspect of propaganda is distracting from what matters and twisting the facts. False narratives (e.g., using terms such as “human shields”) and weaponizations of words (e.g., “antisemitism”) have been constantly used to deny crimes or divert attention. When words are weaponized, do not get distracted from the core of the matter; stick to the point and the facts. 
• Concentrate on humanitarian facts, and evade rhetorical politicised queries. Questions like 'Do you condemn Hamas?' aim to deflect criticism on humanitarian issues and entangle us in a balancing act, pleasing opposing factions at the expense of focusing on the core message. Such queries have become formulaic, undermining genuine dialogue. Recognise these as rhetorical traps and stick to the point.
• Remind everyone of the importance of engagement. Decolonisation is a collective endeavour. Remind your audience of the danger of becoming desensitised to violence and oppression, to normalise an occupation and the linked human rights abuses and war crimes. Remind that indifference is complicity.

Be Prepared for:

• Shadowbanning: Your appeal will likely have limited visibility due to social media shadowbanning. Plan for even more extensive coverage and encourage active support from readers.
• Backlash: Be prepared to respond to backlash but avoid being distracted by professional trolls and bots.
• Criticism from long-term supporters of the oppressed: If you are criticised by those who've been active longer in support of the oppressed, approach them with humility. Your stance might still be too late, too little. Understand their frustration and use it as an opportunity to learn and unite in advocacy.
• Consequences: Defending humanitarian law and basic rights is challenging in a highly propagandised environment. Some people might resist the appeal. For example: you might experience personal backslash. Complicit donors might choose to defund your organization when you express a clear position. Consider which side of history you want to be on: connivent or part of a just solution?