Instagram a window to the world for besieged Gazans

In the coastal territory sealed off by Israel to the east and north, Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it is impossible for Gazans to leave without permission – which is rarely granted.

Israel also refuses to give permits for tourists to visit the Strip, leaving most people outside to imagine life there.

"I see Instagram as a window," Kholoud Nassar, 26, says.

Fatma Mosabah, 21, agrees, saying that "when I open the internet I can talk to people across the world."

Both have more than 100,000 followers on the social platform and say they get recognised multiple times a day in the tiny territory that is home to two million people.

Neither of the women has left Gaza in more than a decade.

The women use Instagram, with its focus on pictures over text and political arguments, to show another side.

"Take America: there is poverty, there are destroyed homes, but at the same time there are beautiful places. Gaza is the same."

"Through these pictures I want people to see Gaza, how people live, eat and work."

Nassar's pictures range from young children to harvests, all bathed in a range of colours, while Mosabah shows all sides of daily life.

Both women feature heavily in their own pictures, with wide smiles.

Mosabah agrees that the aim is to "change the perception of Gaza" away from political matters.

"To show its beautiful side, that's the most important thing. Far from the destruction, blockade and the wars."

'Trying to live'

Despite electricity to Gaza being limited to only a few hours a day, social media outlets remain popular.

Ali Bkheet, president of the Palestinian Social Media Club, estimates that around 50 percent of Gazans have Facebook, though numbers on Instagram and Twitter are significantly smaller.

He said the decade-long Israeli blockade has made Gazans particularly keen to use social media "to express ourselves and communicate our voice".

Nassar started before the last war in 2014 and documented the human toll of the conflict.

In the three years since, she has sought to focus on how Gazans struggle through terrible conditions – including creating a "trying to live" hashtag to show how people were putting their lives back together after the war.

A toy car of an old Volkswagen Beetle Nassar carries in her bag at all times, and which features in dozens of her photos, has become a trademark helping her connect with others.

Through these pictures I want people to see Gaza, how people live, eat and work - Kholoud Nassar, 26

Kholoud Nassar, 26, uses her mobile phone to take pictures for her social media account in Gaza City [Getty]

People from across the Arab world now send her pictures of the real cars, which she posts on her page.

For Mosabah, Instagram is also a source of revenue – making between $300 and $400 a month from e-marketing and adverts on her page.

In a region where 60 percent of young people are unemployed and the average salary is a couple of hundred dollars, she has carved out a niche for herself.

Sheldon Himelfarb, CEO of US-based PeaceTech Lab which has researched how social media impacts political awareness, said social media can help break down barriers between people across the globe.

But he warned researchers were still trying to assess whether the selective nature of what is published helps or hinders efforts to gain a fuller picture.

"I believe in my conversations with university students. They seem to imply they are more aware about parts of the world than certainly their parents were. But whether or not they are more accurately informed I don't know."

Fighting the trolls

Instagram is of course a selective version of life, with the women taking dozens of pictures before deciding on their favourite to show the world.

But despite the thought that goes into their selections, they aren't protected from the bane of social media – trolls.

Maybe I take a picture with someone, they say the picture is shameful because I was with a man. I do a lot of blocking - Fatma Mosabah

Hamas has conservative attitudes towards women, as do many Gazans.

Mosabah says she blocks between five and 20 people a day on Instagram who make inappropriate comments.

"Maybe I take a picture with someone, they say the picture is shameful because I was with a man. I do a lot of blocking," she laughs.

For Nassar, it has even strayed into the real world.

Once she was taking pictures in Beit Lahia, one of Gaza's most conservative areas, when women started screaming at her.

"There are people here who criticise me – they say 'you are going out, taking pictures. You should stay at home and cook'," Nassar says. 

"Maybe because I wear a hijab they criticise me more."