AS more people continue to condemn Israel’s ongoing assault in Gaza, various K-Pop fandoms have also come up with ways to rally behind Palestinians in social media.
“All eyes on Rafah,” cried people on the Internet as they protested against the Israeli airstrike on the Tel-al Sultan refugee camp in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, where 45 civilians were killed.
The supposed “safe zone” where Palestinians were instructed by the Israelis to seek shelter had seemingly become a faux consolation for refuge, what with the alarming rates of death and destruction that damaged the city and traumatized its people.
This was the latest in a series of Israeli aggressions in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas-led attack last year that caused an international outcry.
With people taking to social media left and right, K-Pop fans of various fandoms put their “Stan Twitter” or fan accounts to good use by trending hashtags that show support to Palestinians.
The hashtag includes the K-Pop fandom’s name before the phrase “ForPalestine.” Some fandoms that participated were: Carats (Seventeen’s fan base), NCTzens (NCT’s fan base), Stay (Stray Kid’s fan base), and ENGENES (Enhypen’s fan base), among others.
Other hashtags alluded to the K-Pop groups such as #SpeakYourselfBTS, referencing the ‘Love Yourself: Speak Yourself’ tour of BTS, and #SpeakUpLikeThatTXT, referencing Tomorrow X Together’s song ‘Do It Like That.’
For the fans, it’s not only about making it to the trending list. A lot of them have also made it their mission to get their words across to their beloved K-Pop idols by directly addressing them on their official X accounts. Others post photos which contain the Korean translation of their English messages to the idols.
Fans also encourage each other to post on the communication platforms they usually use to converse and keep in touch with their idols. Weverse, for example, is an online fan community app exclusive to a number of K-pop groups and artists where fans can interact with them and buy their merchandise. They also use it to call out certain companies.
Meanwhile, HYBE, a South Korean multinational entertainment company, is under fire for its link with controversial Israel supporter Scooter Braun, an American businessman who also happens to be the CEO of HYBE-America.
For months, K-Pop fans of idol groups under HYBE have been demanding the company to cut ties with Braun and divest from Zionism which, in simple terms, is a Jewish nationalist ideology that supports the creation of a Jewish state in historic Palestine and continues to recognize Israel as a state in modern times.
HYBE is a part of the “Big 4” Korean entertainment companies that also includes SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. Fans also called on these labels to stop organizing music collaborations between their artists and recognized Zionist celebrities.
The influence of K-Pop idols across the globe is undeniable, and for the fans, their idols’ voices can spark more conversations about issues that demand much needed attention and concern. With a clear humanitarian crisis claiming lives daily, fans continue to hold their idols accountable by encouraging them to speak up.
With reports from Adelainne Balbin
