The war in Palestine proves the failure of brand-activism

In the last few hours, the escalation of violence in Palestine between the Israeli army and the various Palestinian groups has reached a state of war level that has not occurred in years. The rain of rockets on Israeli cities often intercepted by Israel's anti-missile system gives a dimension to the drama of recent days when violence has left an as yet unspecified number of deaths on both sides (Reuters reports 35 Palestinian deaths in Gaza caused by Israeli bombing alone on the night of Tuesday and Wednesday). The reaction of the international political community has been very standard and limited to calls for peace as is often the case when it comes to violence in Palestine, while on social media many activists have disseminated videos of bombings and clashes, as well as posts explaining the situation in most of which highlight Israel's historical responsibilities. Amid the many rumors on social media, the profiles of fashion brands have remained in a deafening silence and an embarrassing pinch when compared to the social race on #BLM and many other political events that have occurred in recent months. 

It can rightly be argued that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a topic that can interest a fashion brand, yet the fledgling practice of brand activism - described as the company's willingness to take responsibility in the social field - has shown all its limitations: it is easy to take sides in battles on which it is easy to agree (racism, DDL Zan , equal pay) and mobilize their media strength towards that battle, the less easy it is to take sides on issues that presuppose a stance that displeases someone. To date, among the most remarkable personalities in the fashion world who have talked about the issue is Diet Prada, which has posted a series of memes-explains about the history and errors of narration on the Palestinian question but above all Gigi Hadid, whose family has Palestinian origins. Hadid's own post stressed how hypocritical "pick and choose" is what human rights are down important to others.

The truth is that despite unequivocal social change, it is wrong to expect private companies to direct political and social battles that assume a breakup, because they will always choose a way of resolution that safeguards the business. Despite the reduction to an Instagram post of such a layered and complex conflict obviously becomes a trivialization that results in performative activism, however activations of brands such as ANTI-DO-TO - which has built a skate ramp in Gaza - or a simple appeal for peace can be tools to catalyze attention and push users to seek more information.