Are we more moved by the disaster or its footage?

The harsh truth is that the earthquake disaster will not be a turning point for the victims but yet another chapter added to their long years of suffering and pain

AFP

Syrian men gather by a destroyed building at a flooded area, after the collapse of a dam on the Orontes (Assi) river near al-Tulul village in Salqin.

Are we more moved by the disaster or its footage?

Samer Abou Hawwach

last update on 09 Feb 2023

Following the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria, many voices have been raised, especially on social media, calling for a setting aside of political differences and rivalries and coming together to rescue those still trapped under the rubble, care for the thousands of injured, and assist the homeless.

This is especially important in Syria, where the government's presence is limited and the poorest communities, including refugees, have been hit the hardest.

The earthquake only added to the already tragic conditions caused by the destruction and killing inflicted by the regime's bombing and military control.

These calls stem from the initial shock, inherent human empathy, and an instinctive reaction to the numerous heart-wrenching videos and reports from the impacted regions.

Despite differences in background and affiliations of their initiators, and some politically motivated attempts to exploit the disaster, these calls remain idealistic and romantic. They fail to grasp the harsh reality, instead entertaining a misguided belief that tragedy alone can bring change.

However, the harsh truth is that the earthquake disaster is not a turning point for those suffering from its aftermath, but rather another chapter added to their long years of suffering and pain.

Reuters — Members of a Syrian family, whose house was destroyed during the war in Syria and later moved to Turkey, gather after their house in Turkey was destroyed in the deadly earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 9, 2023.

The Covid-19 crisis is still remembered globally as a time when a fleeting sense of unity briefly emerged, as people recognised their shared destinies and the need for solidarity against the wrath of an uncontrollable virus.

However, this unity was quickly overshadowed by political considerations as government conflicts and corporate pursuits took centre stage.

The hopeful music and singing from balconies and rooftops fell silent, giving way to the new reality.

Syria has long been a ‘disaster’

Before the recent devastating earthquake, the global and Arab perception was that what Syria experienced over the past decade was already a ‘natural’ disaster.

The high numbers of casualties, refugees, and detainees made it seem that the Syrian crisis was simply fate. People resigned themselves to this current state of reality in Syria: a divided country with conflicting interests between the regime, opposition groups, and international powers.

Its reality did not improve: the dictator remained in power, Syria did not become democratic, and justice was not served to the victims.

The persistent fundamental issue globally — from the atrocious use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria and up to the recent earthquake — is the essence of human empathy.

What is happening today is not new — it has already happened many times over and, unfortunately, will continue to occur in future disasters.

Yet our responses remain unchanged: an initial outpouring of emotion through comments, videos, and images that capture both tragedy and hope, followed by a rapid fading of empathy within days at best or hours at worst.

What is happening today is not new — it has already happened many times over and, unfortunately, will continue to occur in future disasters. Yet our responses remain unchanged: an initial outpouring of emotion through comments, videos, and images that capture both tragedy and hope, followed by a rapid fading of empathy within days at best or hours at worst.

The use of social media affects relationships between people and their connection to the world.

Moral debate needed

Today, the capturing and sharing of videos, such as the viral video of a young girl trapped with her brother and offering to become a rescuer's maid in exchange for being saved, raises moral questions and debate over the rights to share such videos, which are seen by millions around the world, and its impact on the child, who, like all victims, is powerless over being part of the "show" and may not even fully understand the situation.

The image of a father holding his deceased daughter's hand under the rubble is poignant, but isn't this moment meant to be intimate and private?

It raises questions about what could have led to this moment. Was the father saying goodbye to his daughter or was he still holding on to the hope that she may still be alive?

We may never know the full story and can only see the scene as it is captured in a single shot. The photographer chooses what to show and what to leave out, dictating how the tragedy is perceived by the viewer.

Public disasters, be they natural or man-made, obliterate personal space.

The victims are laid bare to the world and, in the case of earthquakes, this takes on a literal meaning as the home, meant to be a haven of privacy, is destroyed and the walls that kept the outside world at bay, along with all the personal history they were supposed to protect, have crumbled.

AFP — A man carries the body a child pulled out from the rubble in the town of Harim, in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey, on February 8, 2023.

The need for public attention to evoke empathy and prompt governments, states, and stakeholders to provide greater support and aid is undeniable. But this attention, particularly in the era of social media, raises ethical issues regarding the privacy of victims.

Circulating images of the deceased, injured, or those in distress in their most vulnerable moments raises concerns about preserving their privacy and dignity.

Empathy vs. exploitation

To put it differently, what distinguishes empathy from emotional exploitation? At what point does sharing a video, photo, or audio recording related to a tragedy become a positive way of participating, and when does it cross the line into intrusion and an invasion of privacy?

This leads us to asking, has social media made us merely consumers of stories and content in the form of images and video clips, causing us to substitute real-life experiences with portrayed tragedies?

Are we becoming so detached from events happening around us, even those that affect us directly, that our only connection is what we watch on video clips and what we choose not to watch? Has human sympathy become merely a form of entertainment and a way to pass the time?

Are we becoming so detached from events happening around us, even those that affect us directly, that our only connection is what we watch on video clips and what we choose not to watch? Has human sympathy become merely a form of entertainment and a way to pass the time?

I still believe otherwise.

Political disillusionment and economic turmoil gripping the world, particularly in the Arab region, are often passively observed through screens.

However, social media is amplifying the message that people are fed up with witnessing destruction and death and that action, not just words, is needed to bring even the smallest hope to those suffering this massive tragedy.

The continuous situation of "regarding the pain of others," as American writer and political activist Susan Sontag puts it, cannot be sustained. The bodies under rubble deserve more than just virtual likes, shares, comments, and condolences.

It's time for tangible help.

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