Pallywood

Pallywood, a portmanteau of "Palestinian" and "Hollywood", is a coinage that has been used to describe media manipulation, distortion or fraud by the Palestinians and other Arabs designed to win the public relations war against Israel.[1] The incidents of the Muhammad al-Durrah tapes and the 2006 Lebanon War photographs controversies (dubbed "Hizbollywood" or "Hezbollywood")[2] are notable events which have been cited as examples.[3]

The term has been coined and publicized in part by Richard Landes, as a result of an online documentary video he produced called Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources, alleging specific instances of media manipulation.[4][5]

Richard Landes' video

Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources... an online documentary by Richard Landes.[6]

In 2005, Richard Landes produced an 18-minute online documentary video called Pallywood: According to Palestinian Sources.[7] Landes and pro-Israel advocates argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[3]

In his video, Landes shows Arab-Israeli conflict-related footage that was taken mostly by freelance Palestinian video journalists. He argues that systematic media manipulation (which he dubs "Pallywood") dates back to at least the 1982 Lebanon War, and argues that broadcasters are too uncritical of the veracity of Palestinian freelance footage.[8]

He focuses in particular on the case of Muhammad al-Durrah, a 12-year-old Palestinian who was widely reported to have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip on September 30, 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada. The shooting was filmed by a Palestinian freelance cameraman and aired on the France 2 television channel with narration by the veteran French-Israeli journalist Charles Enderlin, who was not present at the incident. It made worldwide headlines and the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces was heavily criticized internationally, severely damaging Israel's public standing on the world stage.[3]

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.[5][9] An investigation by Israel after the shooting found that the boy was killed but did not determine whether he was shot by the IDF or Palestinians. Landes based his argument on an incident earlier in the day that he alleges shows that "Palestinian cameramen, especially when there are no Westerners around, engage in the systematic staging of action scenes."[7]

Journalist Ruthie Blum, writing in the Jerusalem Post, describes "Pallywood" as a term coined by Richard 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." Besides al-Durrah, Landes cites the Gaza beach blast and Hamas's alleged exploitation of electricity shortages during the 2007–2008 Israel-Gaza conflict, as incidents of Pallywood. According to Blum, Landes's "pretty harsh claims" have earned him a "reputation in certain circles as a right-wing conspiracy theorist."[10]

Other uses of the term

Dr. Anat Berko, a research fellow with the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, and Dr. Edna Erez, head of the criminal justice department of the University of Illinois at Chicago, say that "the phenomenon of manufacturing documentation about the conflict has been referred to as "Pallywood" (Palestinian Authority Hollywood)."[11]

Similar allegations have been made by other media analysts, particularly after cases of media manipulation (dubbed "Hizbollywood")[2] were uncovered during the 2006 Lebanon War.[4][12][13][14][15] The Mackenzie Institute, a Canadian defense and security think 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]

The term has been applied beyond the Muhammad al-Durrah case in a number of publications,[18][19] and by conservative commentators such as David Frum,[20] Michelle Malkin[21] and Melanie Phillips.[22] Canadian columnist Paul Schneidereit has written, "[...] we've seen cases where the bodies of Palestinian martyrs carried on stretchers are inadvertently dropped, then, of their own volition, climb back on again. We’ve seen reports of massacres, as in Jenin in 2002, that turned out, after independent investigation, to have been greatly exaggerated. Needless to say, such episodes don’t instil an abiding trust in subsequent Palestinian claims, at least until they’re verified."[23]

Claims for 'Pallywood' found to be false

After the death of two Palestinian teenagers in Beitunia, some argued the video from a security camera was fake and the teenagers pretend to be hit. Later, the videos were proved to be real and an investigation discovered misconduct by a Border Police officer, who was put on trial for his actions.[24]

Neoconservative writer David Frum alleged that pictures, taking during the 2014 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 by Reuters, the New York Times, and Associated Press, had been targeted for criticism by a pro-Israeli blogger.[25][26] 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.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ben-David, Calev (10 October 2007). "Between the Lines: Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 'Im Zweifel für den Zweifel,' Der Tagesspiegel 2006-08-09]
  3. 1 2 3 'Caught in the Mohammad al-Dura crossfire, 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.
  4. 1 2 Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning The Palestinian Hard Stance" The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005
  5. 1 2 "Media are Hamas's main strategic weapons, says visiting US historian". JPost. August 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ Landes, Richard. Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources (Windows Media Video), SecondDraft.org. (youtube mirror)
  7. 1 2 Carvajal, Doreen. "The mysteries and passions of an iconic video frame", International Herald Tribune, Monday, February 7, 2005.
  8. ↑ Landes, Richard. "Pallywood: History", SecondDraft.org.
  9. ↑ "Al-Durah: What happened?", SecondDraft.org
  10. ↑ One on One: Framing the debate | Jerusalem Post Ruthie Blum Leibowitz, "One on One: Framing the Debate" The Jerusalem Post (27 March 2008) Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ 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. ISBN 0-415-77347-4
  12. ↑ Zerbisias, Antonia."And Now It's Reutersgate". (archived) Toronto Star, 9 August 2006. Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ Gelernter, David. "When pictures lie", Jewish World Review, 2003.
  14. ↑ Photo of Palestinian Boy Kindles Debate in France, The New York Times, 7 February 2005.
  15. ↑ Frum, David. From Gaza, tragedy and propaganda. National Post, 17 June 2006. Archived July 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  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, The Mackenzie Institute, Newsletter July, 06. Archived August 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ FrontPage Magazine at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  19. ↑ "The Fog of Peace". American Thinker. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  20. ↑ "FrontPage Magazine". Frontpagemag.com. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  21. ↑ Malkin, Michelle (2006-12-05). "Questioning a NY Times reporter; challenging CBS News & ASNE". Michelle Malkin. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  22. ↑ Official homepage melaniephillips.com
  23. ↑ Canadian journalist Paul Schneidereit writing in the Halifax, Nova Scotia, The Chronicle Herald, 27 November 2007 http://www.upjf.org/actualiees-upjf/article-13447-145-7-al-dura-shooting-pallycood-production-paul-schneidereit.html
  24. ↑ "'Pallywood' Killing Was Exactly What It Looked Like". Forward. November 13, 2014.
  25. ↑ Ali Gharib (30 July 2014). "David Frum's Sources".
  26. ↑ James Fallows (31 July 2014). "On David Frum, The New York Times, and the Non-Faked 'Fake' Gaza Photos". The Atlantic.
  27. ↑ David Frum (30 July 2014). "An Apology: On Images From Gaza". The Atlantic.

Further reading

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