Old story about the Gaza film industry misrepresented as proof Palestinian war victims are ‘crisis actors’
Wounded Palestinians sit in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli Hospital following an explosion there, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The Associated Press on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, reported on social media posts falsely claiming that a video clip shows crisis actors being used to portray Palestinian victims of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
CLAIM: A video shows crisis actors being used to portray Palestinian victims of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The widely shared clip is taken from a 2017 news report on the film industry in Hamas-controlled Gaza. That story features a makeup artist discussing some of the challenges for Palestinian women hoping to break into the local film industry.
THE FACTS: Social media users are claiming to have incontrovertible video evidence that the Palestinian victims of the latest clash between the two bitter enemies are merely pretending to be hurt.
Many are sharing a video showing a woman in a hijab dabbing fake blood and other makeup on the arms and legs of other people to make it appear they’ve been severely wounded in an attack.
“Hollywood? No it’s Pallywood and crisis actors are working overtime to fool the world,” wrote one Instagram user who shared the video in a post that’s been liked more than 47,000 times as of Wednesday. “Don’t fall for it or fall for it. The choice is yours!”
“No!! It’s not Halloween It’s hamas!!” wrote another Instagram user who shared the clip. “Getting ready for the next scam to share with the world.”
But the footage doesn’t prove the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza is staged: it’s from a 6-year-old story by TRT World, a Turkish public broadcast channel, spotlighting the Palestinian territory’s film industry.
“There are not many film productions in the Gaza Strip. But that didn’t stop makeup artist Mariam Salah from following her dream,” reads the caption on the roughly 2-minute segment. “She taught herself to make fake blood for Palestinian films breaking into a business traditionally run by men.”
The video narrator explains Salah is among the Palestinians who worked on the set of a project by Médecins du Monde, an international humanitarian group also known as Doctors of the World.
The film was meant to raise awareness of the dangers faced by Gaza residents during frequent bombardments by Israel, according to the news report.
Misleading versions of the footage also omit parts where Salah and other film workers are interviewed on camera, making it clear it’s a news segment and not secretly obtained footage.
They also leave out clips where it’s clear the action takes place on a film set, including scenes where a number of people wear white vests with the emblem of Médecins du Monde and a large white sign affixed to a temporary canopy that reads, “Simulation.”
The Istanbul-based broadcast station and the Paris-based humanitarian group didn’t respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time footage from the news segment has been repurposed to spread misinformation.
In 2018, social media users shared similar clips from the TRT World story in posts falsely claiming they showed battles between Israel and Hamas that year.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
