Jewish-Palestinian content creation? It’s a complicated business

An Israeli and a Palestinian content creator walk into a room in San Francisco. War doesn’t break out, rather they engage in dialogue on how better to advocate for the lives of innocent people in the fight against Hamas.

This is the situation that ex-South African content creator Josh Buchalter found himself in when he attended the Nas Summit in San Francisco on 7 September, a conference started by Arab-Israeli vlogger and online influencer Nuseir Yassin, known to millions of followers as the founder of the popular online community Nas Daily. Buchalter was a delegate with Israel-Is and Talk Israel, organisations that prioritise the voices of Israelis on social media.

Yassin, born in the northern Israeli city of Arraba, grew up with conflicting views as a Muslim Palestinian living under the Israeli government with an Israeli passport. In 2016, after completing his studies at Harvard University and working in the global hi-tech industry, he decided to leave everything and travel the world. He started documenting his travels on his YouTube channel Nas Daily – “nas” means mankind – and it became one of the most popular channels on the platform, where he interacts with people he meets.

Nas Daily has amassed more than 4.4 million followers on Instagram, 22 million followers on Facebook, and 13.7 million followers on YouTube.

“My unique, controversial background helps me see things not many people can see,” Yassin said in a video posted to his social media pages. He said in the video that he had been called a terrorist by a 15-year-old Jewish girl, had been attacked by an Israeli soldier, and had been stuck at checkpoints. He also said he had seen rockets fall on Israel, had hidden in bomb shelters with his Israeli friends, and had seen Jews fearing for their lives.

“Suffering, pain, and anger exist on both sides. No-one can deny that. This isn’t a game where people get to pick sides. It’s life and death.”

With a combined one million views on his page, Buchalter was lucky to be chosen as one of three content creators to attend the Nas Summit to network and see how they could spread the message further after growing his Instagram page post 7 October.

“Before 7 October, I had a private Instagram, but after seeing everything and knowing that I work in media, I thought I could help. So I turned my page almost into a hasbara [public diplomacy] account,” said Buchalter.

He was one of the lucky few to meet Yassin at the summit.

“Everyone was trying to get his attention,” he said. “I used my networking skills and was able to ask good questions that maintained his attention. And then, obviously, that was converted into an actual photograph as well. Not everyone gets a photo with him. Not everyone gets to talk to him.”

Buchalter didn’t just want to network with Yassin and pick his business brain, he was also drawn to his background and outpouring of support for Israel in its fight against Hamas.

After Hamas attacked Israel and murdered more than 1 200 people, Yassin posted on X (formerly Twitter) which has since been shared by millions, “For the longest time, I struggled with my identity. A Palestinian kid born inside Israel. Many of my friends refuse to this day to say the word ‘Israel’, and call themselves ‘Palestinian’ only. But since I was 12, that didn’t make sense to me. So I decided to mix the two and become a ‘Palestinian-Israeli’. I thought this term reflected who I was. Palestinian first. Israeli second.

“But after recent events, thoughts turned to anger. I realised that if Israel were to be invaded like that again, we wouldn’t be safe. To a terrorist invading Israel, all citizens are targets.”

“And I do not want to live under a Palestinian government,” he said. “Which means I only have one home, even if I’m not Jewish: Israel. That’s where all my family lives. That’s where I grew up. That’s the country I want to see continue to exist so I can exist.”

He concluded his message with, “So, from today forward, I view myself as an ‘Israeli-Palestinian’. Israeli first. Palestinian second.”

While Buchalter was speaking to Yassin, someone from Iran walked by and asked Yassin if he would go to Iran since he had been to so many countries. “Nas started laughing,” Buchalter said. “He’s like, ‘I travel on an Israeli passport. I’m an Israeli citizen. I would get arrested if I tried to come to Iran.’”

The pair spoke about content creation and what it takes to make compelling social media. “We talked about his summits and the benefits of giving creators an opportunity to network and learn from each other.”

Buchalter came away from the conversation with a deeper understanding of Yassin. “His situation is complicated in a way that even as an Israeli South African Zionist, I don’t understand what it’s like for someone like him, born to Arab parents who identify as Palestinian who is trying to balance his Israeli identity. It’s extremely complicated, and I think 7 October was a test for a lot of Arab Israelis. He set it straight, making it clear that he preferred living under Israeli leadership, that he was against Hamas. But at the same time, he’s not going to disconnect from his Palestinian identity.”