“It became almost part of American values, post 9/11, to demonise the Middle East.”

Jess Natale created the Instagram account So.Informed in 2020 so that she could keep her colleagues who were campaigning for Bernie Sanders up to date with information and facts that were well sourced.

Once Bernie dropped out, the account became a reference that sourced reliable information that aimed to pushback against misinformation being spread by Donald Trump supporters.

Now, four years later, So.informed has 3.1 million followers, unapologetically criticises Israel’s occupation and atrocities, and strongly advocates for a free Palestine.

In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC we speak with the person behind the account, Jess Natale, who tells us why she started the account, how her perspectives were shaped by her country’s and father’s reaction to 9/11. How she learnt about Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the content journey she has been on with so.informed since it began.

Other episodes of UNAPOLOGETIC can be seen here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySmZCDwUxqccJkdFSC27TTI&si=nmawha50CjsLmV4w

Chapters

00:00 Intro
01:00 Lessons from the last six months
01:45 Starting so.informed, Trump and Bernie
05:10 How do you manage to run so.informed
07:30 Thoughts on mainstream media
11:00 Moving from presenting information to having a voice
13:05 May 2021 Covering West Bank and the reaction to that
15:00 Receiving death threats
17:30 influence of the Iraq War and 9/11
20:00 hate crime at a gas station and relationship with her father
23:30 How has the page been received since doubling down on Palestine.
25:00 Shutting down thinking about followers
27:15 Being disappointed with Bernie Sanders and AOC reaction to Gaza
31:30 Will the U.S government become more humane on Palestine?
34:00 Special interest groups or plain old white supremacy
36:00 What will the USA be like in 2040?
38:30 Stuck between Genocide Joe and Donald Trump, what do voters do?
41:00 Would Obama or Bernie done a better job the Joe on Gaza
43:30 Will the world heal from this atrocity
46:00 Iran has had no affect of protest action
47:30 The settler apartheid state needs to come to an end
50:00 The spirit of Palestinians

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