Pallywood

{{short description|Disinformation alleging Palestinian manipulation of media}} {{distinguish|Pollywood (disambiguation){{!}}Pollywood}} {{for|the economic industry|Cinema of Palestine}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox phrase | title = Pallywood | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | origin = Portmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood" | meaning = Derogatory label used to describe supposed media manipulation by Palestinians | original_form = | context = Used in discussions related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict | coined_by = Richard Landes }}

'''Pallywood''' (a portmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood") is a derogatory, anti-Palestinian term used to falsely accuse Palestinians of staging scenes of suffering and civilian death in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.{{refn|Multiple sources:<ref name="Doak-2023"/><ref name="Associated Press-2023" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Schleifer |first1=Ron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dITcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165 |title=Advocating Propaganda – Viewpoints from Israel: Social Media, Public Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Military Psychology, and Religious Persuasion Perspectives |last2=Snapper |first2=Jessica |date=2015-01-01 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=9781782841609 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128143900/https://books.google.com/books?id=dITcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165 |archive-date=2017-01-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=M.J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLJ5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT225 |title=Palestinian Popular Struggle: Unarmed and Participatory |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-351-00882-2 |series=Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict |access-date=2023-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513080915/https://books.google.com/books?id=NLJ5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT225 |archive-date=2023-05-13 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hameleers |first=Michael |date=2025-04-01 |title=The visual nature of information warfare: the construction of partisan claims on truth and evidence in the context of wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine |journal=Journal of Communication |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=90–100 |doi=10.1093/joc/jqae045 |issn=0021-9916 |doi-access=free|hdl=11245.1/428d2494-134c-4b94-bbdf-574bc407b986 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Jones-2025" /><ref name="Callaghan-2023" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bullens |first=Lara |date=2023-11-21 |title='Pallywood propaganda': Pro-Israeli accounts online accuse Palestinians of staging their suffering |url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231121-pallywood-propaganda-pro-israeli-accounts-online-accuse-palestinians-of-staging-their-suffering |access-date=2024-09-05 |work=France 24 |language=en |quote=Aside from dehumanising and diluting Palestinian suffering, the spread of disinformation like Pallywood has tangible consequences, not only on the lives of those who fall victim to it, but also on larger efforts for peace.}}</ref>}} It has been described as a conspiracy theory and a prominent element of Israeli disinformation in the conflict.{{refn|Sources describing Pallywood as a conspiracy theory: <ref name="Derfner-2014" /><ref name="Lionis-2022" /><ref name="Ramirez-2023" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=LaMagdeleine |first=Izz Scott |date=2023-11-10 |title=Does This Video Show a Film Crew Staging Footage in Gaza? |url=https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/film-crew-footage-gaza/ |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=Snopes |language=en |quote=Some of the comments we found referred to the video as an example of "Pallywood," a conspiracy theory that Logically reported is used to dismiss various forms of media showing civilian harm in Gaza and the West Bank.}}</ref><ref name="Associated Press-2023" /><ref name="Koltai-2023" /><ref name="Ismail-2025" /><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Rebecca L.|last1=Stein|title="The Boy Who Wasn't Really Killed": Israeli State Violence in the Age of the Smartphone Witness|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/boy-who-wasnt-really-killed-israeli-state-violence-in-the-age-of-the-smartphone-witness/38BBCCE837F4A8608C25CBA728CCC6E5|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|date=September 1, 2021|issn=0020-7438|pages=620–638|volume=53|issue=4|doi=10.1017/S0020743821000453|url-access=subscription}}</ref>}} '''Gazawood''', a variant of the term,<ref name="Litoussi-2025">{{Cite web |last=Litoussi |first=Nora |date=2025-08-06 |title=No, these videos of restaurants do not disprove famine in Gaza |url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20250806-videos-restaurants-gaza-famine-gazawood |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref> refers to similar footage originating in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Berkane-2025" /><ref name="Reporters Without Borders-2025">{{Cite web|title="Gazawood": The deadly accusations against Gaza's journalists|url=https://rsf.org/en/gazawood-deadly-accusations-against-gaza-s-journalists|website=Reporters Without Borders|date=2025-09-15|access-date=2026-01-30|language=en|archive-date=29 December 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251229163901/https://rsf.org/en/gazawood-deadly-accusations-against-gaza-s-journalists|url-status=live}}</ref>

The term gained prominence following the 2000 killing of Muhammad al-Durrah during the Second Intifada, after some pro-Israel commentators alleged that the incident had been a media hoax.<ref name="Ben-David-2007">{{Cite web |last=Ben-David |first=Calev |date=12 October 2007 |title=Between the Lines: Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire |url=https://www.jpost.com/Features/Article.aspx?id=78082 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116182747/http://www.jpost.com/Features/Article.aspx?id=78082 |archive-date=16 January 2011 |website=The Jerusalem Post |quote=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.}}</ref> Israeli pundits have used the term to dismiss videos showing Israeli violence or deny Palestinian suffering, particularly during the Gaza war and the Gaza genocide.{{refn|<ref name="Doak-2023"/><ref name="Associated Press-2023">{{cite news |date=2 November 2023 |title=Israel-Hamas war misinformation is everywhere. Here are the facts |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-fact-check-e829d1dddcc2dad0f5f99cf62ef353ad |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103212300/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-fact-check-e829d1dddcc2dad0f5f99cf62ef353ad |archive-date=3 November 2023 |access-date=24 April 2024 |work=Associated Press |language=en |quote=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."}}</ref><ref name="Ramirez-2023"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-03-15 |title=No, these images show real dead Palestinian babies, not dolls |url=https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240315-no-these-images-show-real-dead-palestinian-babies-not-dolls |access-date=2024-08-27 |work=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Berkane-2025" /><ref name="Ismail-2025"/>}}

== Origin ==

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.<ref>Cambanis, Thanassis. "[https://archive.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/06/some_shunning_the_palestinian_hard_stance/ Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard Stance] " ''The Boston Globe'', 6 September 2005.</ref><ref name="Weinthal-2015">{{cite news |last=Weinthal |first=Benjamin |date=28 August 2015 |title=Media are Hamas's main strategic weapons, says visiting US historian |url=https://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Media-are-Hamass-main-strategic-weapons-says-visiting-US-historian-372579 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906032911/http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Media-are-Hamass-main-strategic-weapons-says-visiting-US-historian-372579 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> 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'',<ref>Carvajal, Doreen. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051028114344/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/07/video07_ed3_.php "The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame"], ''International Herald Tribune'', Monday, 7 February 2005.</ref> 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 30 September 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada.<ref name="Ramirez-2023">{{Cite magazine |last=Ramirez |first=Nikki McCann |date=2023-11-03 |title=No, Palestinians Are Not Faking the Devastation in Gaza |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/what-is-pallywood-palestinians-falsely-accused-faking-devastation-1234869765/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329160451/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/what-is-pallywood-palestinians-falsely-accused-faking-devastation-1234869765/ |archive-date=2024-03-29 |access-date=2024-05-18 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Weinthal-2015" /> Landes and pro-Israel advocates argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.<ref name="Ben-David-2007"/> Besides the killing of al-Durrah, Landes cites the 2006 Gaza beach explosion and Hamas's alleged exploitation of electricity shortages during the 2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict as incidents of Pallywood.<ref name="Leibovitz-2008">{{cite news |last=Leibovitz |first=Ruthie Blum |date=26 March 2008 |title=One on One: Framing the debate |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/Features/One-on-One-Framing-the-debate |access-date=11 June 2019 |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306151659/https://www.jpost.com/Features/One-on-One-Framing-the-debate |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Subsequent usage ==

=== 2012–2025 === During the 2012 Gaza War, HonestReporting, a pro-Israel media monitoring organization, accused BBC News of broadcasting footage of an injured Palestinian man who was later shown walking around, calling it a case of Pallywood. A BBC spokesperson said in response, "The footage shown by BBC News was edited from a longer sequence provided by the Reuters news agency in which the man in question is shown being lifted from the ground. He is then given attention at the roadside, before appearing later having recovered. Steps have been taken to ensure any re-broadcast reflects the full sequence so that is absolutely clear to our audience."<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 16, 2012|title='PALLYWOOD': Israel accuses enemies of fake casualties|url=https://www.news.com.au/world/pallywood-israel-accuses-enemies-of-fake-casualties/news-story/184ddfd9b80607903dace91a5b29c23f|website=News.com.au}}</ref> In 2015, HonestReporting published an article titled "On This Day: The Emergence of Al-Durrah and Pallywood",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plosker|first=Simon|date=2015-09-30|title=On This Day: Al-Dura and the Advent of Pallywood|url=https://honestreporting.com/on-this-day-al-dura-and-the-advent-of-pallywood/|access-date=2026-03-19|website=HonestReporting|language=en-US}}</ref> in which it cast doubt on the killing of Muhammad al-Durrah in 2000, during the Second Intifada.<ref name="Misbar-2025b">{{Cite web |date=21 November 2025 |title=Exploiting an Ai-Generated Image To Recycle the "Pallywood" Narrative and Deny the Murder of Muhammad Al-Durrah |url=https://www.misbar.com/amp/en/editorial/2025/11/21/exploiting-ai-generated-image-recycle-%E2%80%9Cpallywood%E2%80%9D-narrative-and-deny-murder-muhammad-al-durrah |website=Misbar }}</ref>

David Frum alleged that pictures taken during the 2014 Gaza War that showed two brothers, weeping and wearing 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.<ref name="Fallows-2014">{{cite news |author=Fallows |first=James |date=31 July 2014 |title=On David Frum, The New York Times, and the Non-Faked 'Fake' Gaza Photos |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/on-david-frum-the-new-york-times-and-the-non-faked-fake-gaza-photos/375429/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313202836/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/on-david-frum-the-new-york-times-and-the-non-faked-fake-gaza-photos/375429/ |archive-date=13 March 2017 |work=The Atlantic |publisher=}}</ref> Frum backtracked from his accusation, and apologized to ''New York Times'' photographer Sergey Ponomarev, after extensive debunking by Michael Shaw, but justified his "skepticism", describing other "Pallywood" claims.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2014/07/an-apology-on-the-images-emerging-from-gaza/375324/|title=An Apology: On Images From Gaza|date=30 July 2014|author=David Frum|publisher=The Atlantic|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601023749/http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2014/07/an-apology-on-the-images-emerging-from-gaza/375324/|archive-date=1 June 2016}}</ref> Frum was criticized by ''Washington Post'' media writer Erik Wemple,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/07/30/the-difficulty-with-david-frums-apology-for-bogus-photo-fakery-allegations/|title=The difficulty with David Frum's apology for bogus photo-fakery allegations|last=Wemple|first=Erik|date=30 July 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=4 May 2016|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225025815/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/07/30/the-difficulty-with-david-frums-apology-for-bogus-photo-fakery-allegations/|url-status=live}}</ref> and also by fellow correspondent for ''The Atlantic'', James Fallows, who called Frum's tweets "a major journalistic error".<ref name="Fallows-2014" />

In 2014, after the death of two Palestinian teenagers in Beitunia, Michael Oren and an Israeli army spokesman argued that the video from a security camera was manipulated and the teenagers had only pretended to be hit. The official investigation discovered misconduct by a Border Police officer, who was put on trial for his actions.<ref name="Derfner-2014">{{Cite web |last=Derfner |first=Larry |date=2014-11-13 |title=Day of catastrophe for 'Pallywood' conspiracy theorists |url=https://www.972mag.com/nakba-day-indeed-for-pallywood-conspiracy-freaks/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720174516/https://www.972mag.com/nakba-day-indeed-for-pallywood-conspiracy-freaks/ |archive-date=2024-07-20 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US |quote=These and countless other right-wingers have popularized the idea that whenever a video shows Israelis battering or killing Arabs without cause, the video is a fake, either staged or doctored. They come up with all sorts of seeming 'discrepancies' to make their case, just like conspiracy freaks do to 'prove' that the CIA killed Kennedy, or that Israel was behind 9/11, or that no one ever walked on the moon.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Killing of Nadeem Nawara and Mohammed Abu Daber |url=https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/the-killing-of-nadeem-nawara-and-mohammed-abu-daher/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Forensic Architecture}}</ref>

During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Yair Netanyahu claimed a 2013 video from Egypt was an example of Pallywood and showed Palestinians faking their casualties.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/2021-05-20/ty-article/.premium/calling-out-pallywood-netanyahus-son-spreads-fake-video-online/0000017f-f52c-ddde-abff-fd6d38120000|title=Calling Out 'Pallywood,' Netanyahu's Son Spreads Fake Video Online|last=Brill|first=Yair|date=20 May 2021|work=Haaretz|archive-date=2022-09-02|access-date=2025-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902003214/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/2021-05-20/ty-article/.premium/calling-out-pallywood-netanyahus-son-spreads-fake-video-online/0000017f-f52c-ddde-abff-fd6d38120000|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2023 BBC Verify analysis found that usage of the term increased during previous flare-ups in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, such as the 2014 Gaza War, the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests and the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.<ref name="Robinson-2023">{{Cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Olga |last2=Sardarizadeh |first2=Shayan |date=2023-12-22 |title=False claims of staged deaths surge in Israel-Gaza war |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67760523 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106210146/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67760523 |archive-date=2024-01-06 |access-date=2024-01-09 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> After the 2024 documentary film ''No Other Land'', which depicts life under the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, won the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, Israeli news outlets ''Ynet'' and ''Israel National News'' published articles characterizing the film as "Pallywood propaganda".<ref name="Ismail-2025">{{Cite news |last=Ismail |first=Aymann |date=30 May 2025 |title=Welcome to Pallywood |url=https://slate.com/technology/2025/05/israel-gaza-war-news-palestine-pallywood.html |access-date=1 June 2025 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339 |quote=This conspiracy has been around for years, but mentions of Pallywood spiked dramatically after Oct. 7, 2023, far surpassing previous peaks for the term during past Israeli military offensives in Gaza and the West Bank.}}</ref>

=== Gaza war and genocide === {{See also|Misinformation in the Gaza war|Gaza genocide denial|Israeli public diplomacy in the Gaza war}}

Analyses conducted by BBC Verify and Logically Facts found that usage of the Pallywood term had increased on social media platforms following the October 7 attacks,<ref name="Doak-2023" /><ref name="Robinson-2023" /> with BBC Verify finding a peak of 220,000 uses on Twitter in November 2023.<ref name="Robinson-2023" /> Logically Facts also found that most usages of the term came from the United States, followed by India and Israel.<ref name="Doak-2023" /> During the Gaza 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.<ref name="Ramirez-2023" /><ref name="Doak-2023">{{Cite web |last=Doak |first=Sam |date=27 October 2023 |title="Pallywood:" How denial of civilian harm in Gaza has proliferated |url=https://www.logicallyfacts.com/en/analysis/pallywood-how-denial-of-civilian-harm-has-proliferated |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Logically |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029004536/https://www.logicallyfacts.com/en/analysis/pallywood-how-denial-of-civilian-harm-has-proliferated |url-status=dead}}</ref> Israel's official Twitter account accused Gazans of placing live people in body bags before deleting the Tweet, while AIPAC promoted similar content.<ref name="Ramirez-2023" /> Many of the viral videos used to "prove" that crisis actors exist have been disproven.<ref name="Ramirez-2023" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Petersen |first=Kate S. |date=14 November 2023 |title=Movie footage used to falsely claim Palestinians staged injuries {{!}} Fact check |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/11/14/video-not-proof-of-fake-palestinian-injuries-fact-check/71568997007/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}</ref> The term often results in anti-Muslim hate speech and was especially popular after Israel announced plans to increase its aerial bombardment of Gaza.<ref name="Ramirez-2023" /> A video showing a Palestinian child killed during an October 11 Israeli airstrike on Zeitoun was falsely claimed to be staged using a doll. The claim was promoted by official Israeli government social media accounts, including the X accounts of Israel's embassies in France and Austria, as well as pro-Israel and anti-Hamas accounts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Spring |first=Marianna |date=2023-10-25 |title=Omer and Omar: How two 4-year-olds were killed and social media denied it |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67206277 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025235108/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67206277 |archive-date=2023-10-25 |access-date=2023-10-26 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Doak-2023" />

In November 2023, Saleh al-Jafarawi, a Palestinian blogger and singer who lived in Gaza, was falsely accused by several pro-Israeli figures, including the country's official Twitter account, of being a "crisis actor".<ref name="Gallo-2023">{{cite web |last=Gallo |first=Nathan |date=1 November 2023 |title=No, this video doesn't show a Palestinian pretending to be injured in the Israel-Hamas war |url=https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231101-no-this-video-doesn-t-show-someone-pretending-to-be-injured-in-the-war-between-israel-and-hamas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121182553/https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231101-no-this-video-doesn-t-show-someone-pretending-to-be-injured-in-the-war-between-israel-and-hamas |archive-date=21 November 2023 |access-date=24 November 2023 |work=France 24}}</ref><ref name="Callaghan-2023">{{Cite news |last=Callaghan |first=Louise |date=5 November 2023 |title=Both sides in Israel-Gaza conflict are waging a disinformation war |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/article/both-sides-israel-gaza-hamas-waging-parallel-disinformation-war-mzt85zzkz |access-date=28 February 2024 |work=The Sunday Times |language=en |issn=0140-0460 |quote=Indian accounts have been the driving force behind "Pallywood", a poisonous narrative that uses videos from old films and protests to falsely claim that Palestinians are faking their deaths.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Graus |first=Marta Campabadal |date=30 November 2023 |title=Evidence lacking for 'crisis actor' claims about Palestinian in Gaza TV footage |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/nov/30/newsmax/a-video-shows-a-palestinian-influencer-not-a-crisi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212013320/https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/nov/30/newsmax/a-video-shows-a-palestinian-influencer-not-a-crisi/ |archive-date=2023-12-12 |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=PolitiFact |language=en-US}}</ref> The false accusation claimed that al-Jafarawi pretended to be injured and hospitalised in a video while a social media post the next day showed him in good health. However, the included video actually depicted a Palestinian teenager wounded in a raid on Tulkarm in July 2023, who was falsely presented as al-Jafarawi.<ref name="Gallo-2023" /> In the same month, Israeli diplomat Ofir Gendelman circulated a clip from a Lebanese short film, claiming that it was proof that Palestinians were faking their suffering and calling it an example of "Pallywood". Gendelman subsequently deleted the post after it was fact-checked.<ref name="Robinson-2023" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=18 November 2023 |title=Film set clip falsely claimed to show staged scenarios in Gaza |url=https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.343W9UX |agency=Agence France-Presse |archive-date=10 November 2025 |access-date=3 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251110102046/https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.343W9UX |url-status=live }}</ref> In early December 2023, ''The Jerusalem Post'' published an article falsely claiming that a dead 5-month-old Palestinian baby from Gaza was a doll. ''The Jerusalem Post'' later retracted the report with a statement on X, saying, "The article in question did not meet our editorial standards and was thus removed".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rommen |first=Rebecca |date=3 December 2023 |title=False claims dead Palestinian baby was 'a doll' go viral on social media in the Israel-Hamas disinformation war |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/false-claims-dead-palestinian-baby-doll-viral-jerusalem-post-retracts-2023-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203235442/https://www.businessinsider.com/false-claims-dead-palestinian-baby-doll-viral-jerusalem-post-retracts-2023-12 |archive-date=3 December 2023 |access-date=3 December 2023 |website=Business Insider}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Summers |first=William |date=13 December 2023 |title=Images show Gazan baby, not a doll |url=https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/images-show-gazan-baby-not-a-doll/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216231921/https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/images-show-gazan-baby-not-a-doll/ |archive-date=2023-12-16 |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=Australian Associated Press |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Robinson-2023" /> The false claim was also promoted by others such as Israel's official Twitter account, Ben Shapiro, Hen Mazzig, Yoseph Haddad and StopAntisemitism.<ref name="Ismail-2025" />

Israel's 2024 Rafah offensive led to a resurgence of Pallywood claims.<ref name="Simpson-Wise-2024">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/rafah-offensive-sparks-fresh-wave-of-pallywood-claims/|title=Rafah offensive sparks fresh wave of 'Pallywood' claims|date=23 May 2024|last=Simpson-Wise|first=Blair|agency=Australian Associated Press|access-date=16 May 2025|archive-date=16 May 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250516131739/https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/rafah-offensive-sparks-fresh-wave-of-pallywood-claims/|url-status=live}}</ref> Online posts misrepresented behind-the-scenes footage from the Palestinian drama series ''Bleeding Dirt'' as showing "crisis actors" in Rafah.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 May 2024 |title=Video of 'Rafah actors' actually from Palestinian TV drama series |url=https://fullfact.org/news/rafah-videos-actors-false-claim/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602015200/https://fullfact.org/news/rafah-videos-actors-false-claim/ |archive-date=2 June 2025 |access-date=2 June 2025 |website=Full Fact |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sellers |first=Christine |date=16 May 2024 |title=Fact Check: Video Shows Behind The Scenes Of Teledrama, Is Not Related To Rafah Offensive |url=https://checkyourfact.com/2024/05/16/fact-check-video-scenes-teledrama-rafah-offensive/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=Check Your Fact |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602015200/https://checkyourfact.com/2024/05/16/fact-check-video-scenes-teledrama-rafah-offensive/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Simpson-Wise-2024" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghaedi |first=Monir |date=2024-05-31 |title=Fact check: Misinformation on Rafah offensive |url=https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-misleading-visuals-of-rafah-offensive-circulate-on-social-media/a-69217380 |access-date=2025-07-31 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=en}}</ref> In 2025, Marc Owen Jones wrote in ''Third World Quarterly'', "As Israel's killing of thousands of Palestinian children and babies became harder to hide, high-profile Israeli accounts and media outlets claimed that Palestinians were fabricating casualty numbers and staging the killing of babies. The so-called 'Pallywood' narrative – a derogatory term suggesting that Palestinians stage scenes of suffering for propaganda purposes – has been a recurring theme in disinformation campaigns against Gaza." Jones also characterized US president Joe Biden saying in October 2023 that he had "no confidence in the number [of deaths] that the Palestinians are using" as reinforcing the Pallywood narrative.<ref name="Jones-2025">{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Marc Owen |date=2025 |title=Evidencing alethocide: Israel's war on truth in Gaza |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2025.2462791 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=0 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1080/01436597.2025.2462791 |issn=0143-6597 |quote=The so-called 'Pallywood' narrative – a derogatory term suggesting that Palestinians stage scenes of suffering for propaganda purposes – has been a recurring theme in disinformation campaigns against Gaza. |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In August 2025, German newspapers ''Bild'' and ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' published articles questioning the authenticity of photos from the Gaza Strip, with ''Bild'' accusing Anas Zayed Fteiha, a photojournalist working for Turkey's Anadolu Agency, of staging his photos of the Gaza Strip famine. The articles were cited by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as evidence of Pallywood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/german-newspapers-accuse-global-news-outlets-of-using-staged-photos-from-gaza/|title=German newspapers accuse global news outlets of using staged photos from Gaza|date=6 August 2025|website=The Times of Israel|last=Freiberg|first=Nava|access-date=12 August 2025|archive-date=4 January 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104123336/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/german-newspapers-accuse-global-news-outlets-of-using-staged-photos-from-gaza/|url-status=live}}</ref> Fteiha denied the accusations and accused ''Bild'' of repeated breaches of journalistic ethics. He stated, "The photo they published to distort me is entirely real. It was taken during the filming of a documentary documenting the famine in Gaza, as children were scrambling for food or water. Everything in it was real, not staged or directed."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-photographer-denies-staging-images-of-hunger-or-affiliating-with-hamas/|title=Gaza photographer denies staging images of hunger or affiliating with Hamas|date=8 August 2025|website=The Times of Israel|last1=Sales|first1=Ben|last2=Freiberg|first2=Nava|access-date=12 August 2025|archive-date=15 August 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250815104631/https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-photographer-denies-staging-images-of-hunger-or-affiliating-with-hamas/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2611144/amp|title='I don't create suffering, I document it:' Gaza photographer hits back at Bild over accusation of staging scenes|date=8 August 2025|work=Arab News|archive-date=12 September 2025|access-date=12 August 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250912215755/https://www.arabnews.com/node/2611144/amp|url-status=live}}</ref> The claims made in the ''Bild'' report were debunked by the Israeli fact-checking organization FakeReporter and the French newspaper ''Libération''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/cette-photo-dune-distribution-daide-a-gaza-est-elle-une-mise-en-scene-comme-laffirme-le-journal-allemand-bild-20250808_RASMZARKBRHNTERI3BSNVDC52E/|title=Cette photo d'une distribution d'aide à Gaza est-elle une mise en scène, comme l'affirme le journal allemand «Bild» ?|date=8 August 2025|access-date=30 January 2026|work=Libération|trans-title=Is this photo of an aid distribution in Gaza a staging, as the German newspaper "Bild" says?}}</ref><ref name="Reporters Without Borders-2025" />

Also in August 2025, sociologist Ron Dudai analysed the widespread denial among Israelis of Israeli atrocities in the Gaza war as being a part of the longstanding Pallywood strategy, noting that while in earlier iterations it consisted of elaborate work to create conspiracy theories to deny atrocities as in the case of Muhammad Al-Durrah, in the Gaza War era, "the intricate conspiracy theories of the past have given way to a cruder form of denialism that scholars call conspiracism — the reflexive dismissal of any evidence that contradicts one's interests as fabricated. Documentation is simply dismissed with a single word: 'Fake'."<ref name="Dudai-2025">{{Cite web |last=Dudai |first=Ron |date=2025-08-22 |title=How Israelis turned atrocity denial into an art |url=https://www.972mag.com/israelis-atrocity-denial-gaza/ |access-date=2025-09-08 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=4 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250904140355/https://www.972mag.com/israelis-atrocity-denial-gaza/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He notes the examples of the denialism about mass starvation and what he terms the ongoing Gaza genocide, stating:

{{Blockquote |text=Israel's ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza may be the most thoroughly documented atrocity in recent history, measured both by the sheer volume of evidence and the speed of its circulation. Smartphones and social media — which were still a world away during the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda — allow events to be captured instantly, from countless angles, and shared globally in real time, with traditional media still playing a not-insignificant supporting role.

And yet, faced with an unending flood of photos and videos of dead civilians, starving children, and entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble, much of the Israeli public — and a significant portion of Israel's supporters abroad — responds in one of two ways: either it is all fake, or else the Gazans deserved it. Often, paradoxically, it is both at once: "There are no dead children in Gaza, and it's good that we killed them."<ref name="Dudai-2025"/>}}

==== Gazawood account ==== An Israeli Twitter account named Gazawood was created in November 2023.<ref name="Berkane-2025">{{Cite web |last=Berkane |first=Louise |date=2025-04-11 |title=Gazawood: Israeli NGO links account to large-scale disinformation |url=https://forbiddenstories.org/gazawood-israeli-ngo-links-account-disinformation/ |access-date=2025-07-31 |website=Forbidden Stories |language=en-GB |archive-date=31 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731213620/https://forbiddenstories.org/gazawood-israeli-ngo-links-account-disinformation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The account attempts to discredit Palestinians by claiming that they are exaggerating or faking their casualties,<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 August 2024 |title=GAZAWOOD: Ongoing Israeli Campaigns To Challenge the Credibility of Scenes Depicting Palestinian Deaths |url=https://www.misbar.com/en/editorial/2024/08/13/gazawood-ongoing-israeli-campaigns-to-challenge-the-credibility-of-scenes-depicting-palestinian-deaths |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250218003950/https://www.misbar.com/en/editorial/2024/08/13/gazawood-ongoing-israeli-campaigns-to-challenge-the-credibility-of-scenes-depicting-palestinian-deaths |archive-date=2025-02-18 |access-date=2025-07-31 |work=Misbar |language=en-EN}}</ref><ref name="Berkane-2025" /> and uses out-of-context videos of cafés and restaurants to insinuate that the Gaza Strip famine is a hoax.<ref name="Litoussi-2025" /> FakeReporter researcher and OSINT specialist Ghassan Mattar stated, "Only around 5.75% of its content is actual debunking or fact-checking. The other content is just finding the most ridiculous information inside the video to claim it's fake, which is not how fact-checking works."<ref name="Berkane-2025" /> Reporters Without Borders reported that the Gazawood term has been used as a pretext to discredit the credibility of Palestinian journalists reporting from the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Reporters Without Borders-2025" />

An investigation of the Gazawood account by Forbidden Stories, ''The Seventh Eye'' and Radio France Internationale found that it is run by Idan Knochen, an ultra-Orthodox Jew and fantasy novel author from Jerusalem. Richard Landes and Yossi Kuperwasser, former Director General of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, were also identified as being associated with the Gazawood account.<ref name="Berkane-2025" /> FakeReporter's investigation of the account found that it is being fed content by a Telegram group with 30 members, some of whom have close ties to Israeli far-right figures.<ref name="Litoussi-2025" />

== Analysis ==

Ruthie Blum wrote in 2008 that Richard Landes's claims, which she calls "pretty harsh", have led to him being labeled as a right-wing conspiracy theorist in certain circles.<ref name="Leibovitz-2008"/> Chrisoula Lionis writes that Landes's language related to Pallywood "has all the hallmarks of conspiracy theory", but that the term nonetheless "does tap into a genre of Palestinian victim reportage", which T. J. Demos calls "clichéd and thus all too easily dismissed ... intended both to expose the truth of the traumatic suffering that has resulted from Israel's political and military policies and to elicit the audience's emotional sympathy as a way of mobilizing support for Palestinians".<ref name="Lionis-2022">{{Cite book |last=Lionis |first=Chrisoula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQtGEAAAQBAJ |title=Laughter in Occupied Palestine: Comedy and Identity in Art and Film |date=2022-02-24 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-7556-4625-8 |pages=89 |language=en |archive-date=21 November 2025 |access-date=2 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121181607/https://books.google.com/books?id=lQtGEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Demos |first=T. J. |date=2009 |title=The Right to Opacity: On the Otolith Group's Nervus Rerum |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40368565 |journal=October |volume=129 |pages=113–128 |doi=10.1162/octo.2009.129.1.113 |jstor=40368565 |issn=0162-2870 |archive-date=29 June 2025 |access-date=29 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250629110542/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40368565 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2014, Larry Derfner described Pallywood in ''+972 Magazine'' as "a particularly ugly ethnic slur".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://972mag.com/a-particularly-ugly-ethnic-slur-pallywood/98824/|title='Pallywood': A particularly ugly ethnic slur|magazine=+972 Magazine|first=Larry|last=Derfner|date=15 November 2014|access-date=19 May 2018|quote=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.|archive-date=19 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519032408/https://972mag.com/a-particularly-ugly-ethnic-slur-pallywood/98824/|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Rowan |date=2018-02-25 |title=Forensic Architecture: detail behind the devilry |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/feb/25/forensic-architects-eyal-weizman |access-date=2023-10-30 |issn=0029-7712 |archive-date=2023-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030103753/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/feb/25/forensic-architects-eyal-weizman |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news| last=Cook | first=Jonathan | url=http://mondoweiss.net/2018/03/israeli-longer-salvage/|title=Israeli army's lies can no longer salvage its image|work=Mondoweiss|date=5 March 2018|oclc=1413751648 | quote=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.|access-date=6 March 2018|archive-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307215253/http://mondoweiss.net/2018/03/israeli-longer-salvage/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2023, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, Director of Journalism at the University of Essex, said that "cynical actors" misrepresenting footage from the Syrian civil war as being from the Gaza war "are handing a gift to the Hasbara crowd. The fact that they are posting this out-of-context footage is being used to suggest that all the footage online, including footage of real atrocities in Gaza, is somehow dubious."<ref name="Koltai-2023">{{Cite web |last=Koltai |first=Kolina |date=2023-12-08 |title=Images of Syrian Civil War Take on a Second Life in Gaza Conflict |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/12/08/images-of-syrian-civil-war-take-on-a-second-life-in-gaza-conflict/ |access-date=2025-11-26 |website=Bellingcat |language=en-GB |quote=Indeed, there is the precedent of the decades-old 'Pallywood' conspiracy theory which alleges that Palestinians regularly stage images of civilian suffering. |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211164751/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/12/08/images-of-syrian-civil-war-take-on-a-second-life-in-gaza-conflict/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2024, French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu compared Pallywood claims of staged deaths to "the lies spread by the Kremlin when Russia struck a maternity hospital in March 2022 in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Filiu |first=Jean-Pierre |date=2024-07-01 |title=Anatomy of an Israeli disinformation campaign |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/07/01/anatomy-of-an-israeli-disinformation-campaign_6676349_4.html |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=Le Monde |language=en}}</ref> Marc Owen Jones wrote that Pallywood "served to cast doubt on any evidence of Israeli attacks on civilians, framing such reports as manipulations or fabrications. By discrediting Palestinian voices and visual evidence, this narrative undermines the legitimacy of Palestinian grievances and attempts to shield Israeli actions from international scrutiny."<ref name="Jones-2025" /> In 2025, journalist Laila Al-Arian said that Pallywood was no more credible than the crisis actor conspiracy theories used to dismiss mass shootings in the United States, and said, "If you paint Palestinians as irrational, obsessed with martyrdom, you shift the conversation away from settler colonialism, land theft, ethnic cleansing."<ref name="Ismail-2025" />

== References ==

Category:2000 neologisms Category:Anti-Palestinian sentiment Category:Conspiracy theories in Israel

Category:Death conspiracy theories

Category:Ethnic and religious slurs Category:Criticism of journalism Category:Denialism Category:Genocide denial Category:Mass media in Palestine Category:Media bias Category:Media coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Category:Military and warfare conspiracy theories Category:News media manipulation Category:Phrases related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Category:Propaganda in Israel Category:Reactions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Category:Second Intifada

Pallywood

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