How Emotion Conflicts with Critical Thought

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

February 12th, 2026

When I first read Gaza in My Phone, I mostly wrote it off as an emotionally charged visual novel which desperately tried to convince people to Kerbaj’s viewpoint. At the time, it was my only exposure to literature of the Gazan conflict. Now, having read a portion of El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, I can confidently say that my opinion of Kerbaj’s work has worsened.

El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, offers a compelling and interesting mix of personal annecdote and political thought. While I personally disagree with much of what El Akkad believes, I can respect his viewpoints and the way he presents his argument. On the other hand, Kerbaj’s Gaza in My Phone is essentially an emotionally charged piece of propaganda which greatly uses the suffering of the Palestinians to create the emotional argument against Israel’s actions. It provides little in terms of ethos or logos to convince the reader and seems meant to reinforce the biases of a pro-Palestinian reader rather than convince someone who is pro-Israel.

There is a specific page of Gaza on My Phone which reads: “Palestine is the world’s moral compass.” This page is the highlight of the author’s attempt to convince the reader with pure pathos. People already on the side of Palestine will agree with no question, while people opposed to Palestine will whole-heartedly disagree. Even people who are religious will disagree, such as myself. I believe the Catholic Church is the world’s moral compass, and this page only alienates me from the topic.

Speaking of alienation, this type of ethos creates short-term engagement at the cost of alienation, polarization, and extremism. This is extremely visible when looking at the current discourse of the Gazan war. People who argue in favor of Palestine are labeled terrorists and people who argue in favor of Israel are labeled genocidal Nazis. Gaza on My Phone engages in this ethos and labels opponents of Palestine to be complicit in the Gazan Genocide, not realizing that people can be opposed to both Palestine and Israel.

If this trend continues of increasing polarization, how long will it take for people to justify murder against those who disagree?

Himelboim, I., Borah, P., Lorenzano, K., Lee, J. J., & Cao, X. (2025). If it Bleeds, it Doesn’t Lead: Emotional Appeals and Engagement in Immigration and Election Conversations on Twitter. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 69(1/2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2025.2459948