Some Israel-haters have posted video, alleging it is of “Zionist Israelis Jews ripping, tearing their clothes to make it look like they’ve been attacked” but getting caught on camera.
If you go to the video, you will see it is flagged as “false information.”
Per Reuters Fact Check:
Footage showing three people wearing torn shirts has been falsely linked to the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas, and is falsely said to show Israelis who later pretended they were attacked by Palestinians. However, the video is several years old and shows people conducting a traditional Jewish custom known as tearing kriah.
The video has been viewed by thousands of social media users and begins with a man tearing the shirt of a woman, before tearing his own. The camera pans to show a child who is also wearing a torn shirt. An adult male standing nearby then asks the person filming to stop because they are outside Temple Mount (here , here , here and here).
“Fiction features heavily in the world of Zionist Israel,” wrote one Facebook user on May 15 in an accompanying caption. “’Israelis in Jerusalem are tearing their clothes so as to make it look like they are the victims of an attack by Palestinians’ LOL, They can be an actresses and actors now.”
Other Facebook users have made similar comments.
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However, the video circulating on social media is at least three years old (here and here), while claims that the subjects pretended they were attacked appears to be a false assumption made upon an initial misunderstanding of the video’s context.
No Reuters, this is not my first rodeo. Those disseminating the lie – or at least those who were first to do so – knew exactly what they were doing. They had no proof the video was as they claimed, yet were more than willing to advance that narrative.
Hat tip: Michal
