[Trigger warning] When I was younger, I had heard from family relatives about how in a certain riot in India, the rioters pulled out a foetus from a pregnant woman's body and slashed it with a sword or smashed it with a rock (different people used different versions) Immediate reaction was horror and gut-wrenching shock. A few moments later it turns into utter disgust and a undercurrent of hatred for the group of people who, in the story, did the act. Many years later, more socially and historically aware of the actual incident, I dug further through the evidence and witness statements of police, doctor who did postmortem etc, and from all credible sources I could find, was never able to corroborate the incidence of slashing with sword or smashing with rocks. (There are many other ghastly acts of violence that happened during that riot, but specifically this incident I heard of, I couldn't find any evidence of) While the violence of that riot definitely took place, specific graphically horrifying stories can sometimes be Chinese whispers, and fairly easy to use to drive up hatred. Sometimes even without any particular person having actively orchestrated a conspiracy - simply people exaggerating the story at different links of the chain of narration. Most would never care to fact check, and live forever with the deep hatred the imagined visuals of such a story will create. In my case, I know relatives in my family who still believe these stories. ------ Mentioning this because the stories coming out of the current war and conflict happen to carry many such allegations, about the actions of both the sides. Just 2 suggestions from my side 1. It is okay to be disconnected from social media for a few days if the visuals and narratives are too gut-wrenching or triggering for you, staying updated with every minute details of the war is not worth scarring yourself for life 2. We live in an era where entirely or partially fabricated information can seed lifelong hatred in people. As much as possible guarding yourself against that is a good idea. Living your entire life with deep rooted hatred of entire groups of people just because you read something horrifying about one incident, is not something you want your life to be. ------ Anywhere above didn't name Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia or anyone because I am not geopolitically informed enough about either conflict to pass judgements. I don't think armed conflicts where humans are being killed are like football matches where you _have_ to pick a side to cheer and jeer the others even if you have no clue about the reasons for the conflict. What I do feel strongly about is innocent civillians, who have not volunteered into armed conflicts, being killed with rockets/missiles, or people who are at cultural festivals being attacked is absolutely not the world I want to see around me. It sadly has happened over and over again in history and is happening right now in multiple places in the world, and I desperately wish it didn't.