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Pallywood (a portmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood") is a disinformation campaign used to falsely accuse Palestinians for supposedly faking suffering and civilian deaths during their conflict with Israel. The term came into currency following the killing of Muhammad al-Durrah in 2000 during the Second Intifada, involving a challenge to the veracity of photographic evidence. Israeli pundits have used the term to dismiss videos showing Israeli violence or denial of Palestinian suffering. During the Israel–Hamas war, it has been used to dismiss Palestinian suffering such as claiming dead Palestinian babies as fake dolls, and is regarded by some news sources as a conspiracy theory. The term and related disinformation has been used and circulated as a propaganda tool by official Israeli government profiles.

Origination

The term was coined and publicized in part by Richard Landes, as a result of a 2005 online documentary video he produced called Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources, alleging specific instances of media manipulation. Journalist Ruthie Blum describes "Pallywood" as a term coined by Landes to refer to "productions staged by the Palestinians, in front of (and often with cooperation from) Western camera crews, for the purpose of promoting anti-Israel propaganda by disguising it as news." Landes himself describes Pallywood as "a term I coined... to describe staged material disguised as news."

In Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources, Landes focuses in particular on the widely publicized killing of Muhammad al-Durrah, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed by gunfire (widely reported to have been Israeli gunfire) in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada. His death was filmed by a Palestinian freelance cameraman and aired on the France 2 television channel. Landes questions the authenticity of the footage and disputes whether al-Durrah was killed at all, arguing that the entire incident was staged by the Palestinians. Landes and pro-Israel advocates argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Besides the killing of al-Durrah, Landes cites the Gaza beach blast and Hamas's alleged exploitation of electricity shortages during the 2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict, as incidents of Pallywood.

Subsequent usage

David Frum alleged that pictures, taking during the 2014 Gaza War, showing two brothers, weeping and with the bloodied T-shirts after carrying the body of their dead father had been faked. The pictures, which were published by Reuters, The New York Times, and Associated Press, had been targeted for criticism by a pro-Israeli blogger. Frum backtracked from his accusation, and apologized to NYT photographer Sergey Ponomarev, after extensive debunking by Michael Shaw, but justified his "skepticism", describing other "Pallywood" claims.

After the death of two Palestinian teenagers in Beitunia, Michael Oren and an Israeli army spokesman argued the video from a security camera was manipulated and the teenagers had only pretended to be hit, a Pallywood view contradicted by both the videos themselves and the official investigation which discovered misconduct by a Border Police officer, who was put on trial for his actions.

Anat Berko, a research fellow with the conservative Israeli think-tank, International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, and Edna Erez, head of the criminal justice department of the University of Illinois at Chicago, said that "the phenomenon of manufacturing documentation about the conflict has been referred to as "Pallywood" (Palestinian Authority Hollywood)." The Mackenzie Institute, a conservative Canadian defense and security think tank, has argued that given "a long history of posing for the cameras... the cynical 'Pallywood' nickname from once-deceived journalists for news services becomes understandable."

Israel–Hamas war

During the Israel–Hamas war, conspiracy theories involving online influencers mocking victims and claiming that Palestinians are using "crisis actors" went viral on social media, often citing the "Pallywood" term. Israel's official Twitter account accused Gazans of placing live people in body bags before deleting the Tweet, while AIPAC promoted similar content. Many of the most viral videos used to "prove" that crisis actors exist have been disproven. The term often results in anti-Muslim hate speech and was especially popular after Israel announced plans to increase aerial bombardment of Gaza.

In November 2023, Israeli diplomat Ofir Gendelman circulated a clip from a Lebanese short film, claiming that it was proof that Palestinians were faking videos and calling it an example of "Pallywood".

Criticism

Ruthie Blum says that Richard Landes's claims, which are considered quite severe, have led to him being labeled as a right-wing conspiracy theorist in certain circles. Critics argue that Landes's language, which seemingly favors Israel, displays characteristics commonly associated with conspiracy theories.

In 2014, Larry Derfner described Pallywood in +972 Magazine as "a particularly ugly ethnic slur". In 2018, Eyal Weizman, whose work with Forensic Architecture has been called "Pallywood" in Israel, replied that "The bastards' last line of defence is to call it 'fake news'. The minute they revert to this argument is when they've lost all the others." In an article published by Mondoweiss, Jonathan Cook argued that "Pallywood" was a convenient excuse used by Israelis to dismiss filmed evidence of brutality by their soldiers.

See also

• Media coverage of the Arab–Israeli conflict
• Deception: Betraying the Peace Process
• Peace, Propaganda, & the Promised Land
• Décryptage
• Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East
• The Road to Jenin
• Public diplomacy of Israel (Hasbara)

References

1. "'Pallywood propaganda': Pro-Israeli accounts online accuse Palestinians of staging their suffering". France 24. 2023-11-21. Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
2. ^ Ramirez, Nikki McCann (2023-11-03). "No, Palestinians Are Not Faking the Devastation in Gaza". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
3. ^ Carpenter, M.J. (2018). Palestinian Popular Struggle: Unarmed and Participatory. Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-00882-2. Archived from the original on 2023-05-13. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
4. Schleifer, Ron; Snapper, Jessica (2015-01-01). Advocating Propaganda – Viewpoints from Israel: Social Media, Public Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Military Psychology, and Religious Persuasion Perspectives. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781782841609. Archived from the original on 2017-01-28.
5. ^ "'Pallywood propaganda': Pro-Israeli accounts online accuse Palestinians of staging their suffering". France 24. 2023-11-21. Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
6. 'Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire Archived 2011-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, by Calev Ben-David, The Jerusalem Post, October 12, 2007:

   But pro-Israel media-watchdog advocates have gone further, arguing that the footage is a prime example of what has been dubbed "Pallywood" - media manipulation, distortion and outright fraud by the Palestinians (and other Arabs, such as the Reuters photographer caught faking photos during the Second Lebanon War), designed to win the public relations war against Israel.

7. "No, these images show real dead Palestinian babies, not dolls". The Observers - France 24. 2024-03-15. Archived from the original on 2024-05-05. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
8. ^ "Israel-Hamas war misinformation is everywhere. Here are the facts". AP News. 2 November 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
9. Lionis Chrisoula,Laughter in Occupied Palestine: Comedy and Identity in Art and Film, I.B.Tauris, 2016 p.89.
10. Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard Stance Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine" The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005
11. ^ "Media are Hamas's main strategic weapons, says visiting US historian". JPost. August 28, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015.
12. Carvajal, Doreen. "The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame", International Herald Tribune, Monday, February 7, 2005.
13. ^ Ramirez, Nikki McCann (2023-11-03). "No, Palestinians Are Not Faking the Devastation in Gaza". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
14. 'Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire Archived 2011-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, by Calev Ben-David, The Jerusalem Post, October 12, 2007:
    : But pro-Israel media-watchdog advocates have gone further, arguing that the footage is a prime example of what has been dubbed "Pallywood" - media manipulation, distortion and outright fraud by the Palestinians (and other Arabs, such as the Reuters photographer caught faking photos during the Second Lebanon War), designed to win the public relations war against Israel.
15. ^ Leibovitz, Ruthie Blum (26 March 2008). "One on One: Framing the debate". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
16. James Fallows (31 July 2014). "On David Frum, The New York Times, and the Non-Faked 'Fake' Gaza Photos". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017.
17. David Frum (30 July 2014). "An Apology: On Images From Gaza". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016.
18. Jordan Kutzik, Pallywood' Killing Was Exactly What It Looked Like Archived 2018-01-03 at the Wayback Machine The Forward 13 November 2014
19. Derfner, Larry (2014-11-13). "Day of catastrophe for 'Pallywood' conspiracy theorists". +972 Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
20. "Forensic Architecture". forensic-architecture.org. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
21. Berko, Anat and Erez, Edna, "Martyrs of murderers? Victims or victimizers? The voices of would-be Palestinian female suicide bombers", in Cindy D. Ness (ed), Female Terrorism and Militancy: Agency, Utility, and Organization, p. 164. Routledge, 2008. ISBN 0-415-77347-4
22. Michael Doxtater, "How the Mohawks look at history", Globe and Mail, 11 July 1991, A17; "Mail bombs spark public warning", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 20 July 1995, A3; Geoff Baker, "Who's behind mail-bomb plot?", Toronto Star, 30 July 1995, A2; "Tamils protest paper's story", Toronto Star, 13 February 2000, p. 1; Rob Faulkner, "Institute offers anti-terrorism tip sheet", Hamilton Spectator, 10 August 2005, A6.
23. Lies, Damned Lies and Footage, The Mackenzie Institute, Newsletter July, 06. Archived August 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
24. Doak, Sam (October 27, 2023). ""Pallywood:" How denial of civilian harm in Gaza has proliferated". Logically. Archived from the original on 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
25. Petersen, Kate S. "Movie footage used to falsely claim Palestinians staged injuries | Fact check". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
26. "Israeli Diplomat Busted Spreading Blatant Disinfo About Palestinians". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
27. Robinson, Olga; Sardarizadeh, Shayan (2023-12-22). "False claims of staged deaths surge in Israel-Gaza war". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
28. Lionis Chrisoula,Laughter in Occupied Palestine: Comedy and Identity in Art and Film, I.B.Tauris, 2016 p.89.
29. Derfner, Larry (15 November 2014). "'Pallywood': A particularly ugly ethnic slur". +972 Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018. I've been writing for years against the "Pallywood" theory – the right-wing notion that videos showing Palestinians getting killed by Israelis are really elaborate fakes meant to blacken Israel's name. Yet it's only this morning I realized that the term "Pallywood," which was coined by Boston University Prof. Richard Landes, is an ethnic slur, and a particularly ugly one.
30. Moore, Rowan (2018-02-25). "Forensic Architecture: detail behind the devilry". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
31. Cook, Jonathan (5 March 2018). "Israeli army's lies can no longer salvage its image". Mondoweiss. OCLC 1413751648. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018. In the early 2000s, at the dawn of the social media revolution, Israelis used to dismiss filmed evidence of brutality by their soldiers as fakery. It was what they called "Pallywood" – a conflation of Palestinian and Hollywood. In truth, however, it was the Israeli military, not the Palestinians, that needed to manufacture a more convenient version of reality. ... It emerged that a government minister, Michael Oren, had even set up a secret committee to try to prove that Ahed and her family were really paid actors, not Palestinians, there to "make Israel look bad". The Pallywood delusion had gone into overdrive.

• 2000 neologisms
• Anti-Palestinian sentiment
• Conspiracy theories in Israel
• Criticism of journalism
• Media coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Reactions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Mass media in the State of Palestine
• News media manipulation
• Propaganda in Israel
• Military and warfare conspiracy theories
• Phrases related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict