Amid the war between Hamas and Israel, social media users have spread numerous claims that Palestinians are faking injuries and deaths.
A recent Instagram post continued this trend with a video that shows a man clutching his chest and falling to the ground after confronting service members.
“Gaza: Where actors always have roles. The Palestinian Theater,” reads the text in a Dec. 13 Instagram reel with a grammatical error. “Grab you popcorn and enjoy the show!”
(Screenshot from Instagram)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
But it’s not “theater.” A reverse-image search of the video showed its real context: The man collapsed during a confrontation with Israeli service members on Oct. 11, 2015, in Hebron in the West Bank.
The older Palestinian man in the video, named Ziyad Abu Haleel according to news reports, was shouting at the service members in Arabic, saying, “How do you fire your weapon on kids?”
Violence escalated between Israeli troops and Palestinians beginning in October 2015, resulting in the deaths of 17 Israeli civilians in the West Bank and Israel and 120 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel by Nov. 27, 2015.
Extended video showed the service members talking back to the man; one service member raised his gun.
After extended yelling at the service members, Abu Haleel clutched his chest and fell to the ground. Journalists came to his aid, and an ambulance soon arrived.
Abu Haleel was later released from the hospital after suffering minor bruises from his fall.
We rate the claim that this was “Palestinian theater” False.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
- The video shows a 2015 incident in which an older Palestinian man collapsed while confronting Israeli service members in the West Bank.
Statement
Context
an Instagram postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Instagram post (archived), Dec. 13, 2023
Poynter, Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war often follows similar false narratives, Dec. 7, 2023
PolitiFact, Video doesn’t show Palestinian crisis actors. It’s from a 2017 film project, Oct. 24, 2023
PolitiFact, No, a woman mourning her deceased infant son is not holding a 'doll’, Dec. 11, 2023
ODN Dailymotion video, Elderly Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers, Oct. 11, 2015
ITN, Elderly Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers, Oct. 11, 2015
Channel 4 News X post, Oct. 12, 2015
HuffPost, Palestinian Student Sets Himself On Fire In Clashes With Israeli Soldiers In West Bank, Oct. 13, 2015
International Business Times, West Bank: Elderly Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers before collapsing, Oct. 11, 2015
The Standard, Elderly Palestinian man launches fearless verbal tirade against armed Israeli soldiers, Oct. 12, 2015
The Independent, 65-year-old Palestinian man confronts armed Israeli troops, Oct. 12, 2015
Human Rights Watch, Israel/Palestine Events of 2015, accessed Dec. 14, 2023
X post by Olga Robinson, Dec. 14, 2023
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