Gaza teenager becomes social media phenomenon by tweeting about war
Her followers on Twitter has jumped from 800 to 184,000 in the last few days
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-08-12 17:28 GMT
Gaza: A 16-year-old Palestinian teenager, Farah Baker, has risen to prominence on Twitter for capturing the turmoil and fear around her Gaza neighborhood through her posts, which went viral last week.
Baker, who lives with her parents and two younger sisters, has become a social media phenomenon as the number of her followers on Twitter has jumped from 800 to 167,000 in the last few days of the conflict, which began more than a month ago.
#Gaza teen @Farah_Gazan's war tweets make her a #socialmedia sensation: http://t.co/UrUnCHlDIh | @Reuters pic.twitter.com/1NRURQPgKe
— JewishVoiceForPeace (@jvplive) August 11, 2014Baker, who resides near Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, has drawn social media users eager to track the conflict with the help of evocative posts, including video coverage of the daily air strikes and shelling attacks, and the blaring sirens of hospital vehicles, Reuters reported.
Freedom is th piece that I've missed since I was born-16yrs- & I still can't get it! Maybe if I get it I'll be completed#GazaUnderAttack
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) August 11, 2014“I am trying to tell the world about what I feel and what is happening where I live,” Baker told Reuters at her Gaza home. According to her, she has been “trying to make other people feel as if they are experiencing it, too.”
Baker, who calls herself “Guess what” (@Farah_Gazan) on Twitter, said that she was surprised to see her following grow as she began posting updates on the micro-blogging site “for a small circle of people.”
I miss the sea, I miss my friends, I miss ice cream, I miss happiness and joy. I MISS MY ORDINARY LIFE #GazaUnderAttack
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) August 4, 2014In a recent interview with NBC News, Baker talked about her experience after she survived one of the heaviest nights of Israeli airstrikes.
“I used to say that the war in 2008 was the worst it has been, but after last night, I would say that this is the worst because I really felt like I could die at any moment,” Baker told NBC.
I have been hearing Israeli bombs horrible sound since I was born(16yrs) and I still can get uses to it #GazaUnderAttack #AJAGAZA
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) July 31, 2014Baker's prolific tweets with a personal touch have drawn a large online audience. According to TwitterCounter.com, she had 4,934 followers on July 23, but that number had grown to around 167,000 on Monday.
While Israel claims that Hamas, which has been branded a terrorist group by the U.S. and the West, has secret rockets hidden in schools and hospitals, and that the group uses civilians as human shields, Baker supports Hamas, saying that it defends people.
A big building of al-Shifa' Hospital is threatened to be bombed, we're evacuating home #GazaUnderAttack
— Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) August 1, 2014“People say that Hamas hides behind people but it doesn't — Hamas defends people,” Baker told NBC News. “I do not want this war to end until we become free, because the blockade is killing us.”
An aspiring lawyer, Baker wants to use her profession to advocate for “impoverished Gaza,” Reuters reported Baker as saying.
Watch Video: Teenage Girl Live Tweets During Israeli Airstrike