The Conversation (0)
Becca Monaghan
Feb 28, 2022
Video shows burned military vehicles in city near Kyiv, Ukraine
Bucha City Council
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has fueled some serious misinformation, including realistic video gameplay, fake TikTok "footage," and old clips being repurposed as current affairs.
One clip, in particular, has been making the rounds on social media and has since been shared by media organisation FR News Now, with thousands of likes and retweets. They falsely captioned the viral video: "Go back to your country": brave little girl confronts invading Putin's Army #DefendUkraine #UkraineRussiaWar #Ukriane [sic]".
The video shows a young "Ukrainian" girl confronting a "Russian" soldier. But she is, in fact, Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian girl who heroically took on an Israeli soldier (in Arabic) in 2012.
Tamimi first garnered international recognition as an 11-year-old when she was filmed shaking her fist at a soldier demanding to know where her brother was. The image caught the attention of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, who invited Tamimi to visit Turkey.
Years later, Tamimi slapped an Israeli soldier in her village, which landed her eight months in Israeli prison, aged 16. She soon became an icon of Palestinian resistance to some.
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"With due respect"\nThe moment "civilized" you realize that "Blue eyed blonde hair" girl is a Muslim Palestinian girl confronting a occupying soldier, funded and armed by your country.\nYou can steal their land but not their courage.https://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— Talha ahmad (@Talha ahmad) 1646009795
Luckily, people were quick to shut down the news outlet's misleading clip – and Twitter added a notice that read: "Stay informed: This media is presented out of context."
"This was quickly exposed as a Palestinian girl & Israeli soldier," one Twitter user said. "The world is starved for truth."
I\u2019m no geography expert but that doesn\u2019t look like Ukraine to mehttps://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1645999043
One user highlighted how "awfully bold" it was to claim an iconic Palestinian resistance clip as today's affairs.
it is awfully bold to steal one of the most well known videos of Palestinian resistance from the last decade and claim it\u2019s from another continent entirelyhttps://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— tamari key fan account (@tamari key fan account) 1645997903
Another urged people to stop spreading false news.
stop this is literally a palestinian girl, named Ahed Tamimi, and an israeli soldier. this is footage from 2012. stop spreading misinformation for clout i beghttps://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— ruby (@ruby) 1646005017
One user satirically pointed out that the clip was captured in a desert, with a girl yelling in Arabic.
Brave Ukrainian girl yelling in Arabic at a Russian soldier dressed in an Israeli uniform in the middle of the well-known Ukrainian desert.https://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— Sudaca Empobrecido (@Sudaca Empobrecido) 1646004536
While another quizzed whether it was "tank top weather" in Ukraine.
Is it tank top weather in Ukraine in February?https://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— Cruadin (@Cruadin) 1646004505
Another tweeted: "This image/video is being shared by many people - it's of a younger Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian child who spent her life (like so many other Palestinian children) staring down Israeli occupying forces. But I guess Palestinian kids are only heroic when mistaken as European?"
Apparantly Ukraine is a Desert and they speak Arabichttps://twitter.com/frnews_ng/status/1497840712821329923\u00a0\u2026— B\u00aased Dr. Kill (Refollow Arc) (@B\u00aased Dr. Kill (Refollow Arc)) 1645997624
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