No One Behind: A Visual Sentiment Analysis of Refugees from Gaza and Ukraine Saving Their Pets

Abstract In the desperate times of war, children often flee with only their lives—and sometimes their pets, who become deeply symbolic companions on this uncertain journey. This study investigates how editorial photographs of refugee children from Gaza and Ukraine—sourced from Getty Images and Reuters Pictures during the first months of each conflict—visually encode narratives of survival, loss, and emotional endurance. Through a visual sentiment analysis, the research examines how children’s interactions with pets mediate affective resistance, producing counter-memories that challenge dominant visual regimes of suffering. While Gaza images tend to foreground destruction and conflict, with resilience appearing more subtly, Ukrainian images more frequently emphasize displacement, emotional strength, and hope. The paper argues that these curated visual representations are not neutral but operate within hegemonic frameworks that privilege certain geopolitical sympathies. By tracing the editorial differences and symbolic visual cues, the study positions online image banks as discursive battlegrounds—capable of both enforcing dominant narratives and enabling counter-hegemonic perspectives. Refugee children’s companionship with pets becomes more than an emotional gesture; it becomes a visual grammar of survival and a semiotic challenge to the dominant representations of vulnerability in global media.