Israel-Hamas war: Social media scrambles to scrub spoof videos mocking Palestinians

Trigger warning: Some readers may find details of this report disturbing. Discretion is advised

Israeli citizens are making fun of Palestinian tragedies on the social media platform TikTok and netizens are not happy.

As the Israel-Hamas war enters its 21st day, the internet is appalled as videos of a new TikTok trend are going viral. In these videos, people, allegedly Israeli citizens, can be seen mocking Palestinians.

This comes as the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministryreleased a list of names of almost 7,000 Gazans it said had been killed in Israeli strikes.

A mockery of tragedy

In these videos, people can be seen mocking different aspects of Palestinian suffering. Due to the sensitive nature of the videos, we have not attached them here, but they can easily be accessed on all social media platforms.

An alarming aspect of these videos is the small childrenwho can be seen taking part in the taunting.

Donning keffiyeh — a traditional headdress worn in many Middle Eastern nations, including Gaza, these people can be seen wearing makeup to appear injured and sprinkling talcum powder to make it seem like they're covered in dust or debris. In some videos, people carry dolls swaddled in cloth — a mockery of reports of the mothers who have lost their babies to the Israeli strikes.

One such video poking fun at Palestinian mothers by an Israeli influencer identified by The Express Tribune as Eve Cohen sparked controversy earlier this week. Cohen in the video allegedly claimed that mothers are faking the deaths of their children.

In others, they flaunt water, or light candles in the dark — jeering at Palestinians who have gone without water and power for days.

A wave of outrage

The videos by Cohen and others have predictably sparked widespread outrage. Netizens are calling out people in the videos for their apparent lack of sensitivity towards the Palestinian plight.

On X, one user questioned, "Is Palestinian genocide the new source of Israeli comedy or something?"

Another said that the videos were an "example of the anti-Palestinian racist conspiracy theory of 'pallywood,' where some Zionists argue that Palestinians manipulate media through 'faking suffering' - unsurprisingly, it's also very similar to anti-Semitic tropes too. Very telling about Israel supporters."

One user labelled the videos 'revolting' and cautioned, "Karma never fails, by the way!"

Expressing alarm at these videos that also feature small children, one user wrote: "Wtf??? There kids are learning how to be racist from a very young age!!!!!!!!!"

Others quoted the Bible and posted: "Galatians 6:7 (KJV) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos, and videos.

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