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Pallywood

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Not to be confused withPollywood.
For the economic industry, seeCinema of Palestine.
Pallywood
Origin/etymologyPortmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood"
MeaningDerogatory label used to describe supposed media manipulation by Palestinians
ContextUsed in discussions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Coined byRichard Landes

Pallywood,aportmanteauof "Palestine"and"Hollywood",is a derogatory label used to describe supposedmedia manipulation,distortion or fraud to win the public relations war withIsrael.[1][2][3][4]The term came into currency following thekilling of Muhammad al-Durrahin 2000 during theSecond Intifada,involving a challenge to the veracity of photographic evidence.[5]Israeli pundits have used the term to dismiss videos showing Israeli violence or Palestinian suffering.[2]During theIsrael–Hamas war,it has been used to dismiss Palestinian suffering,[6][1]and is regarded by some news sources as aconspiracy theory.[1][6][7]

Origination

The term was coined and publicized in part byRichard Landes,as a result of a 2005 online documentary video he produced calledPallywood: According to Palestinian Sources,alleging specific instances of media manipulation.[8][9]JournalistRuthie Blumdescribes "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-Israelpropagandaby disguising it as news. "Landes himself describes Pallywood as" a term I coined... to describe staged material disguised as news. "

InPallywood: According to Palestinian Sources,[10]Landes focuses in particular on the widely publicizedkilling of Muhammad al-Durrah,a 12-year-old Palestinian boy killed by gunfire (widely reported to have been Israeli gunfire) in theGaza Stripon September 30, 2000 at the beginning of theSecond Intifada.His death was filmed by a Palestinian freelance cameraman and aired on theFrance 2television 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.[9]Landes and pro-Israel advocates argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[5]

Besides the killing of al-Durrah, Landes cites theGaza beach blastandHamas's alleged exploitation of electricity shortages during the2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict,as incidents of Pallywood.[11]

Subsequent usage

David Frumalleged that pictures, taking during the2014 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 byReuters,The New York Times,andAssociated Press,had been targeted for criticism by a pro-Israeli blogger.[12]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.[13]

After thedeath of two Palestinian teenagers in Beitunia,Michael Orenand Israeli official spokesmen argued the video from a security camera was fake or 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.[14]

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 theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago,said that "the phenomenon of manufacturing documentation about the conflict has been referred to as" Pallywood "(Palestinian Authority Hollywood)."[15][non-primary source needed]TheMackenzie Institute,a conservative Canadian defense and securitythink tank,[16]has argued that given "a long history of posing for the cameras... the cynical 'Pallywood' nickname from once-deceived journalists for [Palestinian Authority] news services becomes understandable."[17][non-primary source needed]

Israel-Hamas War

During theIsrael–Hamas war,conspiracy theories involvingonline influencersmocking victims and claiming that Palestinians are using "crisis actors"went viral on social media, often citing the" Pallywood "term.[1][18]Israel's officialTwitteraccount accused Gazans of placing live people in body bags before deleting the Tweet, whileAIPACpromoted similar content.[1]Many of the most viral videos used to "prove" that crisis actors exist have been disproven.[1]The term often results inanti-Muslim hate speechand was especially popular after Israel announced plans to increase aerial bombardment of Gaza.[1]

In November 2023, Israeli diplomatOfir Gendelmancirculated a clip from a Lebanese short film, claiming that it was proof that Palestinians were faking videos and calling it an example of "Pallywood".[19][20]

Criticism

Ruthie Blumsays thatRichard Landes's claims, which are considered quite severe, have led to him being labeled as a right-wing conspiracy theorist in certain circles.[11]Critics argue that Landes's language, which seemingly favors Israel, displays characteristics commonly associated with conspiracy theories.[7]

In 2014, Larry Derfner described Pallywood in+972 Magazineas "a particularly ugly ethnic slur".[21]In 2018,Eyal Weizman,whose work withForensic Architecturehas 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. "[22]In an article published byMondoweiss,Jonathan Cookargued that "Pallywood" was a convenient excuse used by Israelis to dismiss filmed evidence of brutality by their soldiers.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^abcdefgRamirez, Nikki McCann (2023-11-03)."No, Palestinians Are Not Faking the Devastation in Gaza".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon 2024-03-29.Retrieved2024-05-18.
  2. ^abCarpenter, M.J. (2018).Palestinian Popular Struggle: Unarmed and Participatory.Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-1-351-00882-2.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-05-13.Retrieved2023-04-27.
  3. ^Ben-David, Calev (10 October 2007)."Between the Lines: Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire".Jerusalem Post.Archivedfrom the original on 12 February 2015.Retrieved31 March2015.
  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.ISBN9781782841609.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-01-28.
  5. ^ab'Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfireArchived2011-01-16 at theWayback 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.
  6. ^ab"Israel-Hamas war misinformation is everywhere. Here are the facts".AP News.2 November 2023.Retrieved24 April2024.
  7. ^abLionis Chrisoula,Laughter in Occupied Palestine: Comedy and Identity in Art and Film,I.B.Tauris, 2016 p.89.
  8. ^Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard StanceArchived2011-05-23 at theWayback Machine"The Boston Globe,September 6, 2005
  9. ^ab"Media are Hamas's main strategic weapons, says visiting US historian".JPost. August 28, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on September 6, 2015.
  10. ^Carvajal, Doreen."The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame",International Herald Tribune,Monday, February 7, 2005.
  11. ^abLeibovitz, Ruthie Blum (26 March 2008)."One on One: Framing the debate".Jerusalem Post.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2021.Retrieved11 June2019.
  12. ^James Fallows (31 July 2014)."On David Frum, The New York Times, and the Non-Faked 'Fake' Gaza Photos".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on 13 March 2017.
  13. ^David Frum (30 July 2014)."An Apology: On Images From Gaza".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on 1 June 2016.
  14. ^Jordan Kutzik,Pallywood' Killing Was Exactly What It Looked LikeArchived2018-01-03 at theWayback MachineThe Forward13 November 2014
  15. ^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.ISBN0-415-77347-4
  16. ^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.
  17. ^Lies, Damned Lies and Footage,TheMackenzie Institute,Newsletter July, 06.ArchivedAugust 12, 2007, at theWayback Machine
  18. ^Doak, Sam (October 27, 2023).""Pallywood:" How denial of civilian harm in Gaza has proliferated ".Logically.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-10-29.Retrieved2023-10-29.
  19. ^"Israeli Diplomat Busted Spreading Blatant Disinfo About Palestinians".The Daily Beast.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-11-10.Retrieved2023-11-10.
  20. ^Robinson, Olga; Sardarizadeh, Shayan (2023-12-22)."False claims of staged deaths surge in Israel-Gaza war".BBC News.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-01-06.Retrieved2024-01-09.
  21. ^Derfner, Larry (15 November 2014)."'Pallywood': A particularly ugly ethnic slur ".+972 Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on 19 May 2018.Retrieved19 May2018.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 UniversityProf. Richard Landes,is an ethnic slur, and a particularly ugly one.
  22. ^Moore, Rowan (2018-02-25)."Forensic Architecture: detail behind the devilry".The Observer.ISSN0029-7712.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-10-30.Retrieved2023-10-30.
  23. ^"Israeli army's lies can no longer salvage its image".Mondoweiss. 5 March 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 7 March 2018.Retrieved6 March2018.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.
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