American Prestige E334 - Silicon Valley and the Israeli Occupation w/ Omar Zahzah
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Nov 11, 2025 Omar Zahzah, Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University and author of *Terms of Servitude*, explores the intersection of technology and Palestine. He discusses the Sheikh Jarrah uprising and how digital settler colonialism differs from digital apartheid. Zahzah highlights Meta's role in censorship and the ties between Israeli defense forces and Silicon Valley. He emphasizes the power of social media in reshaping narratives and advocates for Palestinian creativity amid ongoing digital repression.
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Sheikh Jarrah Sparked A Digital Narrative Shift
- Sheikh Jarrah and the 2021 uprisings revealed how savvy digital storytelling can shift public narratives about Palestine.
- Mass censorship by platforms then exposed a systemic digital exception that disadvantaged Palestinian voices.
Why 'Digital Settler Colonialism' Is A Better Frame
- 'Digital apartheid' captures platform discrimination but misses the larger aim of elimination embedded in settler colonialism.
- Zahzah reframes platform suppression as 'digital settler colonialism' to highlight erasure and dispossession.
Early Web Helped Bypass Occupation And Then Backfired
- Early internet tools let Palestinians bypass occupation constraints and correct mainstream misreports during the Second Intifada.
- But platforms were also weaponized: sites like Canary Mission enabled long-term doxing and blacklisting of organizers.
