A short film from Lebanon is being misrepresented to accuse Palestinians of staging injuries
CLAIM: A video shows a makeup artist applying dirt and fake blood to a young girl on a stretcher, proving that people in Gaza are faking injuries in the latest Israel-Hamas war.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video is behind-the-scenes footage from a short film made in Lebanon. The director of the film shared a post debunking the false claims around the clip.
THE FACTS: In recent weeks, social media users have repeatedly misrepresented videos to falsely accuse Palestinians of being “crisis actors” in the war, as part of a conspiracy theory dubbed “Pallywood.”
In the latest example, people are sharing a clip that begins with a child who appears to be wounded being treated on a stretcher as protesters wave Palestinian flags. As the video goes on, however, a makeup artist can be seen applying makeup to the girl to depict blood and wounds, and the child smiles at the camera.
The video was shared on multiple social media platforms including X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming it shows how Palestinians “fake injuries.”
“The Palestinians are fooling the international media and public opinion. DON’T FALL FOR IT,” reads one post on X, which garnered more than 10,000 likes. “Pallywood gets busted again.”
However, the video is actually behind-the-scenes footage of a short film. The director, Mahmoud Ramzi, first uploaded the actual film, “The Reality,” to his Instagram account on Oct. 28 The movie is clearly not intended to look like real footage of the conflict.
Ramzi confirmed to The Associated Press that the short film was shot in Lebanon and said it was to show the “pain that Gaza’s people endured.”
“It was not filmed to mislead people or to fabricate any truth, because what’s happening in gaza don’t need any form of fabrication, the videos are all over the media,” Ramzi wrote in an Instagram message.
The behind-the-scenes footage was posted to Instagram on Oct. 29 by an actor, Rami Jardali. “Backstage Reality,” reads a translated version of the caption on Instagram.
Ramzi shared a video on his Instagram story refuting the false claims. The video states the film is from Lebanon and shows “the suffering of the people in Gaza, but in an artistic way.”
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This article has been updated to include comments from the film’s director.
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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.