#Knowmyname campaign sheds light on Israel's carnage in Gaza

Imagine this: You live with your child in a place where at least 115 children die each day due to indiscriminate air strikes. Their dreams, aspirations and childhood - all gone in a matter of seconds.

Today, Palestinians in Gaza are living this nightmare.

More than twice as many children have died in Gaza since Israel’s aggression started on October 7, in comparison to all the conflicts worldwide in 2022, according to United Nations figures.

In an effort to raise awareness, among several other initiatives, a global social media campaign has been launched to remember thousands of children killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Started on November 15, the campaign encourages people to write their names (or the name of a child killed in Gaza) on their arms, share the images on social media, and tag friends and @know.collective, using the hashtag #KnowMyName, thereby raising awareness and driving a message of remembrance and advocacy.

This initiative highlights the practice of children in Gaza having their names inked on their bodies to ensure identification in case of death during air strikes.

Know Collective is an advocacy group run digitally by volunteers from around the world in order to amplify the voices of the marginalised and oppressed.

Through storytelling and digital advocacy, the initiative seeks to leverage their “global volunteer network to ignite change and drive a narrative of justice and equality”.

Several of those volunteers, who wish to remain anonymous, are university students based in Istanbul, Turkiye.

The group has also launched a second campaign called #WeWontBeSilenced to help raise a voice against shadow banning on social media and intimidation to try and silence voices in Palestine.

The campaign encourages people to share images of themselves with one hand covering their mouths and the other open with "Gaza" written on it.

The campaign seeks to draw attention to the suppression of voices advocating for justice, truth, and humanity in Palestine. Influential figures, including Imam Omar Sulaiman, have also participated in the initiative.

The social media posts are expected to carry the message that neither shadow banning, bullying, nor lobbying can deter the commitment to justice and humanity, according to their website.

For over three weeks, Israel has enforced a complete blockade on the already besieged enclave, restricting access to essential resources such as food, water, and fuel.

The admission of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, characterised by United Nations chief Antonio Guterres as "a drop of aid in an ocean of need," has been minimal.

Israel resumed its brutal attacks on Gaza on December 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 18,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 49,229 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since October 7.