Gaza Teenagers Become Influencers Creating Online Diaries To Survive
According to a psychotherapist from Gaza, an online diary gives these teenagers significance and self-worth to a certain degree.
While teenage influencers from around the world post videos and reels of themselves opening gifts, girls in Gaza reveal a different reality. By revealing their actions, “The diary gives them significance and self-worth, and, to a certain degree, the ability to cope with their emotions.”
Gaza Instagram influencers reveal the truth
Teenage girl influencers from around the world post videos and reels of themselves opening generous gifts. Speaking of the launch of Instagram influencers during the current horrific genocide, these teens reflect an alternative reality, including hunger, shortages and loss. Meanwhile, the Gazan girls are taking this step as a tool to collect donations, while their current situation also has a therapeutic effect.
In one Instagram post, Nana Abu Hashem, a teenage girl in Gaza, reveals an “unboxing” click, including some mulukhiyah (Egyptian spinach), two eggplants and a single potato. As most people in the world know, the people of the Gaza Strip are being purposely starved, leading to babies and children dying of malnutrition.
Instagram users regularly see unboxing videos, with many teens Abu Hashem’s age opening packages, containing treats, or expensive gadgets. In Nana’s case, she was supposed to start the tenth grade this year, and she decided to use the familiar format to showcase items contained in a typical aid package [occasionally] distributed in Gaza.
Meanwhile, other reels shared by the Gaza teenager reveals more about her life in the Gaza Strip – including the intolerable reality of two years of “war.” In the clips, Nana includes footage of Gazans in long queues, waiting for clean drinking water on a hot and dry day. She further reveals that she has to carry these heavy containers back to her tent where she lives with her family, while moving from one place to another in the latest of many displacements in the Palestinian-owned territory.
Followers witness firsthand Gaza teen’s harsh life
Since she started, Abu Hashem’s Instagram followers have grown to half a million from around the world. Nana, and other Instagram users in Gaza, can witness firsthand the cruel life of an adolescent, completing exhausting daily tasks while the sole purpose of their actions is survival.
This harsh experience includes actions that require endless energy, often lacking due to scarce food and water. In some cases, Nana gets to “unbox” a typical aid package that helps Gazans stay alive.
Gaza teen is not alone
While Nana Abu Hashem has attracted half a million Instagram followers, other young people in Gaza are revealing public online diaries. This includes Sara Shaqfa (12) of the Shati refugee camp, who lost a hand at the beginning of the current “war” on Palestinians. Like so many Gazan residents, she has not received any rehabilitation or been fitted with a prosthetic hand.
Back in September 2024, Sara moved with her family to Khirbet al-Adas, close to the remains of Rafah. There she began publishing a digital diary of her daily routines. On reel reveals Shaqfa washes dishes, while another shows the Gazan teen cooking lentil soup over an open fire.
While Shaqfa reveals her strength, back in June she revealed the difficulty of living with an amputated hand without the benefit of rehabilitation. She captions one Instagram post in English, writing:
“I want freedom and peace. I want my hand. I want my house and my school. I want to live my childhood. Please help me.”
Interested readers can follow Nana Abu Hashem on Instagram at @nana.diaries1. Moreover, Sarah Shaqfa can be followed on the social media platform at @asil14._. Learn about other Gazan Instagram influencers on Haaretz’s website here.
About the Creator
Anne Sewell
Freelance and travel writer who lived in Africa before moving to a charming seaside town on the Costa del Sol, Spain.
I enjoy writing about lesser-known places, beautiful nature, and sustainable travel. Open to writing opportunities.
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