ISLAMABAD: Social media is once again targeting Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Malala Yousufzai, for her silence regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
The recent trolling began when media personality Mia Khalifa expressed her sympathies for Palestine. In her statement, Mia Khalifa declared that Palestine was the oldest state and that the world had witnessed the ongoing genocide for years.
Following her statement, users on X, formerly known as Twitter, started targeting the peace prize winner, questioning, “Even Mia Khalifa was talking about the brutality of Israel, but did Malala say a single word?”
Some netizens labeled her as a tool of America.
Despite this, Mia came to Malala’s defense after a Twitter user accused her of not speaking out enough on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Mia responded, “I appreciate your sentiment, but I don’t agree with this rhetoric. We need to be more empathetic to people’s traumas and their ability to absorb and digest unfolding events in real-time. Freezing is a trauma response, feeling overwhelmed is common, and we need to give people time to speak on their own terms. Malala is a trailblazer for human rights, an inspiration, and a guiding light for many.”
On October 9, 2012, the Taliban targeted Malala for promoting girls’ education. Since then, she has become a prominent advocate for female education in Swat. She recently initiated a new project with Apple, announcing a storytelling platform on her X handle, inviting storytellers to change the world.
Despite her noteworthy work as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in education, Pakistanis on social media continued to target her for her political silence, which was not the first time she faced online trolling, as she remained silent on India’s actions in Kashmir.
