As Los Angeles wildfires burn, social media points to Israeli-made fires in Gaza

𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁: 𝗔 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮, 𝗼𝗻 𝟴 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 (𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵 𝗘𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻/𝗔𝗙𝗣) 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹𝗶 𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗹-𝗔𝗾𝘀𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝘇𝗮'𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗹-𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗵, 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟰 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 (𝗨𝗻𝗿𝘄𝗮/𝗔𝗙𝗣)

As Los Angeles continues to combat the ongoing wildfires ravaging the area, many online have highlighted the similarities between Angelenos’ experience of destruction and displacement and that of Palestinians suffering from Israel’s ongoing bombardment in Gaza.

In three days, the fires have burned more than 117 square kilometres of land, killing at least five and displacing more than 180,000 people from their homes. One of the fires, the Palisades fire, has been categorised as the most destructive fire in LA's history, burning almost 69 square kilometres alone.

As Americans take to social media this week to post about the horrors unfolding in the "city of angels", many have highlighted LA county's budget cut of nearly $18m to the fire department and the United States' increase in financial support for Israel.

Last week, the Biden administration announced a planned eight-billion-dollar weapons sale to Israel.

"Meanwhile the LA Fire Dept got a $17.6M budget cut. And Israel, which already got a $23 billion increase, is set to get 8 billion more," Palestinian journalist Ahmed Eldin posted on X.

Other social media users have pointed out the double standard of empathetic reactions to Americans affected by the wildfires compared to the reactions - or lack thereof - of Israel’s destruction of Gaza, which the United Nations relief and works agency for Palestine refugees says has displaced at least 1.9 million Palestinians thus far.

James Woods is one of the many celebrities who have lost their homes to the wildfires in LA. He has been vociferously supportive of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. In response to Woods losing his home, many have circulated an earlier post of his on X, where he reportedly said, “No ceasefire. No compromise. No forgiveness. #KillThemAll”.

Imam Omar Suleiman took to his Instagram account, which has over three million followers, to respond to Woods’ loss, saying: “Praying that God protect the lives and properties of innocent people in Los Angeles and beyond. But can’t help but notice this. The people of Gaza continue to be exterminated by the cruel in houses of power, with the support of the cruel who feel invincible in their mansions.”

Another aspect of the catastrophe in LA that is receiving a lot of attention online is that nearly 400 firefighters who are being deployed are prison inmates being paid less than five dollars an hour.

Many have criticised wealthier Angelenos seeking "private" firefighters, saying they would pay whatever cost for a faster response.

"Wealth inequality is drastic in LA, and those left behind are mostly very poor and/or homeless and unable to flee. For every mansion you see burned, there are thousands of poor people losing everything, mostly renters who can't replace what's lost. Their homes aren't being shown," one social media account posted.

Many online also claim that the wildfires in LA are, in part, a consequence of Israel's intense bombing of Gaza, which researchers say has had a huge toll on the environment. A recent study showed that the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations were released within only the first two months of the war in Gaza.

“Dropping hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs on Gaza, turning it into a blazing inferno, has consequences that extend beyond our moral condemnation - there are climate consequences that will find us all,” New York activist Fatima Mohammed posted on X.