As the conflict between Israel and Palestine continues apace, you might notice a lot of people on your social media timelines debating the issues. It’s the same over there, as most recently evidenced by these images of young Israelis posing for smiley selfies as they hide from Hamas’s missile attacks in their purpose-built bomb shelters.
Sara Eisen, who lives in Beit Shemesh in central Israel, started the group, ‘Bomb Shelter Selfies’, where Israelis can upload the photos.
She told Haaretz, an Israeli news source: 'There’s a selfie for everything so I figured why not bomb shelters?'
She added that by uploading the photos, Israelis are ‘showing the world that we weren’t letting this get to us,' reports Buzzfeed.
Facebook users from around the world are sharing tips on how to avoid injury and how to keep busy during attacks. They’re also re-sharing the images, and commenting positive thoughts underneath: ‘Love how you are keeping safe and finding the wonderful positive attitude and smiling. The Jewish community in the Washington DC area had a rally to support Israel. Be well!!’
Of course, this is causing no end of controversy, with people accusing them of being insensitive to the fact that over 760 Palestinian civilians have died in this conflict, according to Reuters. Equally, 32 Israeli soldiers have died since their military began its attack on cross-border tunnels and the Gaza strip, where Israel claims members of terrorist group Hamas are hiding amongst civilians.
In defence of the Facebook group, Facebook user Stephen Epstein, writing from Rehovot, Israel, posted on its wall: 'I just wanted to take a moment and say that we are trying to stay sane in this crazy war. Our pictures are a way of expressing our survival while rockets are hopefully) being shot down around us…despite our smiles, there is a heaviness in our hearts.’
However, we’re not exactly sure if smiling selfies are the right way to go about showing an intensity of emotion.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.