An image of a man with medical devices and monitors attached to his face is being claimed as proof that Palestinians are using actors to fake civilian casualties in Gaza.
This is false. The image is not of a patient in a Gaza hospital, it is a screenshot from a 2018 Malaysian TV movie.
The image (archived here) shows a man who appears to be hospitalised with various medical apparatus attached to his head.
The post is being linked to the war in Gaza and has been shared here and here with the hashtag “Pallywood”.
Pallywood (sometimes written Palywood, Paliwood or Palliwood) is a portmanteau of the words ‘Palestine’ and ‘Hollywood’ that is meant to suggest Palestinian ‘crisis actors‘ are pretending to be injured or dead for the cameras.
In this post, the caption says: “#pallywood, the fake Palestinian movie industry at play.”
Another post‘s caption says: “FACT: ‘Pallywood’ is a term used to talk about the idea that Palestinians are manipulating the media, distorting information, or using fraud to gain an advantage in the public relations battle with Israel.”
A reverse image search reveals the origins of the image are more than 7500km away in Southeast Asia.
The image appeared in an article on Brilio.net, an Indonesian pop-culture website, in June 2019.
The article titled: “10 Scenes of Sick People in Soap Operas We Will Never Stop Thinking About” featured the same image alongside several other hospital scenes from other shows.
Earlier in June 2019, the image was also posted to a subreddit community of healthcare workers with the caption “How stupid soap opera can be?”.
It can be traced back further to a scene from the Malaysian 2018 TV movie Laksa Di Ambang Wati.
Filmmaker Al Jafree Md Yusop told Reuters the movie was an “absurdist satire about Malaysian rural life and corrupt politics” and “nothing to do with the unfortunate conflict in Gaza”.
AAP FactCheck has debunked several claims about Palestinians supposedly faking injuries for the media here, here, and here.
The Verdict
The claim an image of a man in a Gaza hospital is proof that Palestinians are using actors to exaggerate civilian casualties is false.
The image is a screenshot from a scene in a 2018 Malaysian TV comedy.
False – The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All information, text and images included on the AAP Websites is for personal use only and may not be re-written, copied, re-sold or re-distributed, framed, linked, shared onto social media or otherwise used whether for compensation of any kind or not, unless you have the prior written permission of AAP. For more information, please refer to our standard terms and conditions.
