| Origin/etymology | Portmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood" |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Derogatory label used to describe supposed media manipulation by Palestinians |
| Context | Used in discussions related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
| Coined by | Richard Landes |
Pallywood (aportmanteau of "Palestine" and "Hollywood") is adisinformation campaign used to falsely accuse Palestinians for faking suffering andcivilian deaths during their conflict withIsrael.[1][2][3] The term came into currency following thekilling of Muhammad al-Durrah in 2000 during theSecond Intifada, involving a challenge to the veracity of photographic evidence.[4] Israeli pundits have used the term to dismiss videos showing Israeli violence ordenial of Palestinian suffering.[2] During theGaza war, it has been used to dismiss Palestinian suffering such as claiming dead Palestinian babies as fake dolls,[5][6][7] and has been described by some authors as aconspiracy theory.[7][6][8] The term has been used as a propaganda and disinformation tool by Israeli government officials.[1]
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.[9][10] JournalistRuthie 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-Israelpropaganda by 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,[11] 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 Strip on September 30, 2000 at the beginning of theSecond Intifada.[7] His death was filmed by a Palestinian freelance cameraman and aired on theFrance 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.[10] Landes and pro-Israel advocates argue that the Israeli government is insufficiently robust in countering Palestinian accounts of events in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[12]
Besides the killing of al-Durrah, Landes cites theGaza beach blast andHamas's alleged exploitation of electricity shortages during the2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict, as incidents of Pallywood.[13]
David Frum alleged 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.[14] 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.[15]
After thedeath of two Palestinian teenagers in Beitunia,Michael Oren and an Israeli army spokesman argued the video from a security camera was manipulated and the teenagers had only pretended to be hit, a Pallywood view contradicted by both the videos themselves[opinion] and the official investigation which discovered misconduct by a Border Police officer, who was put on trial for his actions.[16][17][18]
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)."[19][non-primary source needed] TheMackenzie Institute, a conservative Canadian defense and securitythink tank,[20] 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."[21][non-primary source needed]
During theIsrael–Hamas war, conspiracy theories involvingonline influencers mocking victims and claiming that Palestinians are using "crisis actors" went viral on social media, often citing the "Pallywood" term.[7][22] Israel's officialTwitter account accused Gazans of placing live people in body bags before deleting the Tweet, whileAIPAC promoted similar content.[7] Many of the most viral videos used to "prove" that crisis actors exist have been disproven.[7][23] The term often results inanti-Muslim hate speech and was especially popular after Israel announced plans to increase aerial bombardment of Gaza.[7]
In November 2023, Israeli diplomatOfir Gendelman circulated a clip from a Lebanese short film, claiming that it was proof that Palestinians were faking videos and calling it an example of "Pallywood".[24][25]
Ruthie Blum says thatRichard Landes's claims, which are considered quite severe, have led to him being labeled as a right-wing conspiracy theorist in certain circles.[13] Critics argue that Landes's language, which seemingly favors Israel, displays characteristics commonly associated with conspiracy theories.[26]
In 2014, Larry Derfner described Pallywood in+972 Magazine as "a particularly ugly ethnic slur".[27] In 2018,Eyal Weizman, whose work withForensic 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."[28] In an article published byMondoweiss,Jonathan Cook argued that "Pallywood" was a convenient excuse used by Israelis to dismiss filmed evidence of brutality by their soldiers.[29]
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.
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.
