With a inexperienced headband, a camouflage uniform and a Palestinian flag patch, a person dressed as a Hamas fighter seems in a social media video pointing a rifle and a knife on the digital camera. However, he’s not a member of Hamas or every other armed group however a vlogger on the Chinese video web site Bilibili.
Over the previous two months, netizens in China have cheered for Hamas and shared cartoons that includes Hamas fighters on Bilibili and different Chinese social media platforms.
Some have posted photographs of themselves dressing as Hamas fighters. In one cartoon, three smiling cats dressed like Hamas fighters sit on the bottom in a tunnel, every consuming a can of beans.
An computerized weapon lies close by. One commentator gushes in response: “how cute!” one other says: “When you sacrifice yourself for the people you have nothing to fear.”
The movies, which maintain coming in every day, spotlight what number of in China settle for the narrative that Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the United States and different nations, is engaged in a legit nationwide liberation wrestle.
In the weeks after the Israel-Hamas battle broke out on Oct. 7, overwhelming help for the Palestinian facet flooded the Chinese Internet accompanied by robust antisemitic sentiments.
However, Manya Koetse, founder and editor-in-chief of the news web site ‘What’s on Weibo’ and a Dutch Sinology scholar, stated antisemitic feedback on the Chinese Internet have decreased considerably since a gathering between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese chief Xi Jinping in mid-November.
She stated it could be as a result of the Chinese authorities has tightened controls or as a result of the conflict is now not a scorching subject on social media.
‘Since across the Biden-Xi assembly, it looks like Weibo and Douyin [the Chinese version of TikTok] have been making efforts to make antisemitic movies and posts much less seen. I additionally do a whole lot of video scrolling and barely come throughout movies associated to Palestine anymore. Compared to October, it went from throughout to barely noticeable.’
At a routine press briefing on Oct. 30, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated China’s legal guidelines “unequivocally prohibit disseminating information on extremism, ethnic hatred, discrimination and violence via the internet.’
Still, VOA found many videos on Bilibili depicting Hamas in a positive light. The videos depict an image of Hamas as heroic and capable on the battlefield. The title of one video read, ‘Hamas marched barefoot into an Israeli military post, killed ten people, and escaped unharmed.’
A compilation video of attacks launched by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is called ‘Thirty Best Goals of the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigade and the Jihad Al-Quds Brigade,’ depicting the attacks as soccer games. Such videos don’t always credit the sources of the images, but some have the Al Jazeera logo.
In the comment section of these videos, netizens left messages praising Hamas. They compared Hamas’s attacks on the Israeli army to the Chinese Communist Party’s counterattack against the Japanese during World War II.
One highly liked comment read, ‘It can be said that in them, we can see the figures of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army fighters among the white mountains and black waters in the old days.’
Under a video that appeared to show Hamas fighters greeting a child, one comment said, ‘Only by fighting a way out for children can the children grow up healthy and happy.’
Netizens use the affectionate term ‘fellow countrymen’ to describe Hamas fighters. Videos of Hamas attacking opponents on the battlefield are often described as ‘blockbusters.’
In late November, a Hamas cartoon video went viral on Bilibili. In the short video, which has now received more than 160,000 views and 14,000 likes, a Hamas fighter appearing as a cartoon cat attacks an enemy tank with a rocket launcher.
Pictures of Hamas cartoon cats were also reposted on Weibo.
Netizens affectionately refer to these Hamas cartoon cats as ‘Ha Meow Si’ or ‘Meowmas.’
‘Hope all the cats are safe and complete their mission,’ one comment read.
The author of this animation is the influencer ‘National Juche Party’ on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The influencer, who posted in English, claimed to be in North Korea. VOA was unable to contact the author to confirm his identity.
In the original post, the National Juche Party stated that the cat in the animation was made by artificial intelligence. The animation on the battlefield comes from the Japanese anime ‘Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01.’
On Bilibili, some netizens posted videos of themselves dressed as Hamas fighters. A vlogger named ‘AK-74mOfficial’ wore the costume of a Hamas soldier and explained in front of the camera how to destroy Israel’s main tank, ‘Merkava.’
Under these videos of Hamas cosplayers, netizens discussed how to buy Hamas clothing. Some netizens said they were sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo and Xianyu. Others posted photos of themselves cosplaying as Hamas fighters in the comments section.
VOA confirmed that there are indeed merchants on Xianyu selling the same green headbands worn by Hamas fighters. On Taobao, another Chinese e-commerce platform, merchants are selling Hamas flags.
Some Bilibili vloggers who support Hamas admit their thinking is shaped by Beijing’s official position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
‘There is no clear designation of Hamas in China,” wrote one. “I believe it’s a resistance group, possibly due to the empathy from the anti-Japanese conflict. In the long run, if China designates it as a terrorist group, I’ll delete all of [the posts].’
Yang Han, an Australian commentator and former Chinese diplomat, instructed VOA that help for Hamas on the Chinese Internet is the results of Chinese official propaganda.
‘China’s official narrative is to help Palestine, criticize Israel, and downplay the terrorist acts of Hamas. Therefore, younger folks, particularly these with a nationalist wolf-warrior advanced, naturally admire and worship Hamas as a logo of nationwide liberation and resistance to colonization,’ he stated in an e-mail to VOA.
‘Especially within the context of the confrontation between China and the United States, the United States is anti-Hamas, so [the young Chinese] should help Hamas.’
In a survey launched by China’s state-run Global Times final 12 months, 72% of Chinese younger folks aged 14 to 35 stated their opinion of the United States was ‘poor’ or ‘very dangerous.’
People on this age group are the principle customers of Bilibili. Data launched by Bilibili in July confirmed that its customers are concentrated beneath 30, with a median age of twenty-two.8.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.