Top Tweet on Gaza Proven False
March 12, 2012 11:17 by GuestPostThis article is republished courtesy of the IDF Blog.
Two photos tweeted in the past 24 hours, both allegedly depicting the results of Israeli air strikes in Gaza in recent days, have been proven false.
1. The photo first tweeted by Khulood Badawi (@KhuloodBadawi) and later by Diana Alzeer (@ManaraRam), allegedly depicting a Palestinian girl killed by an Israeli air strike yesterday, was proven to have originated in 2006 and to have had nothing at all to do with Israeli action. This photo is now the top tweet for #Gaza, with over 300 retweets. It is completely false.
Badawi first tweeted the picture at noon on March 10, claiming it was linked to last night’s air strikes. Alzeer tweeted it on March 11, claiming the same.
HONESTREPORTING UPDATE: Khulood Badawi is exposed as an employee of the United Nations. Read the full story here - EXPOSED: UN Media Official Responsible for False Photo Tweet
Both were refuted by tweeter Avi Mayer (@avimayer), who found that the photo dated back to 2009 at least.
Further research revealed that the photo was taken in 2006 by Reuters, and that the girl, initially thought to have been killed in an Israeli air strike, was injured in a car accident. When confronted with this information, Alzeer stated that the photo was taken last night and forwarded to the press that day.
In fact, the photo was taken by Reuters on August 9, 2006. It was originally released with an incorrect caption, and then corrected a day later:
A Palestinian man carries the body of three year-old Raja Abu Shaban, in Gaza August 9, 2006. The three-year-old girl who had been reported killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Wednesday actually died of an accident, Palestinian medical workers said on Thursday. Workers at Gaza’s Shifa hospital said on August 10, 2006 that the initial mistake over the cause of death appeared to have arisen because the girl’s corpse was brought in at the same time as the bodies of the gunmen. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES)
Alzeer later published an apology and withdrew her claims. Badawi has yet to respond.
The original tweets, however, have already been picked up by hundreds of others and continue to circulate around the web, despite having been thoroughly disproved.









Tony
11:45 am
Mar 12, 2012
Yet again These Liars and Antisemites who prone biased reportings and Lies are caught in their own net. Well done For demasking these Perpertrators of Hate.,, Even here in France on the Television, they are insisting on the “Damages” done in Gaza,, They are insisting on the “Suffering” of the Palestinians in Gaza,, and on the “Continued air strikes on the poor Gazaouis”;;;
NOTHING on the terror Inflicted on the Israeli Population.No Images of the Israeli Children crying and screaming while they run for couver,,In the News They also Mention Turkey and China Demanding That Israel STOP the Attack on the Innocent Population of Gaza.and yet NOTHING about the Jihad Islamic ,who are responsable ,along with the Hamas,for this Outragous and Brutal Terror war they are waging. It is yet Once again Israel attacking the “Poor Palestinians.”
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Shadowmerlin
3:11 pm
Mar 12, 2012
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Heather Roque
2:00 pm
Mar 12, 2012
More of the same here in South Africa. Both ENews and SABC news have reported on Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. No mention of the reasons why it has become necessary for Israel to take such actions to defend herself from a barrage of missile attacks on Israeli’s southern towns and cities putting the lives of over 1 million Israeli’s at risk and on hold. The doubles standards of China are preposterous. One week they veto a UN resolution against Syria, who’s government is murdering its own citizens, and a couple of weeks later it condemns Israel who is defending her citizens! As for Turkey, their comments are illegitimate considering Mr Erdogan’s very public feelings on Israel and its people.
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Gary Katz
7:26 pm
Mar 12, 2012
Good points! I’d add that Erdogan recently referred to “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The master of hyperbole and lies – he should run for president of Hamas.
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jeb stuart
6:58 pm
Mar 12, 2012
Photos of Muslim victims can be printed and reprinted any time.
I don’t remember seeing any of the brutal slayings of American troops and otheres after the koran burnings a totally savage and malevolent repsonse. Even the photos from 9-11 went cold for awhile, but Obama has stepped up the notion that injustice is the act of Americans that must be apologized for disproportionate to the crimes committed against Americans, unless you believe people should be murdered because a Koran used to pass messages between terrorists was accidentally burned. The soldier who killed Afghanistani’s should be tried and properly sentenced, not lynched. These photos intent to inflame mob violence would never have been printed in the first place if it had been non-Muslim victims of Islamist violence.
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phili
7:02 pm
Mar 12, 2012
I’ve sent info on ‘tweet’ about the little Arab girl to my MP, Oliver Letwin. (He has asked to see me twice following emails, letters I’ve sent him about Israel. He appeared to listen when I saw him. He tells me he is atheist Jewish).
Many Blessings and Shalom -
Phili.
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simon
7:02 pm
Mar 12, 2012
I wish I understood twitter enough to combat the lies – I would love to see an Honest Reporting column on using the social media to combat the lies – ie – getting on to her twitter feed and calling her bluff etc -
SW
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Ps Dee Hammond
7:24 pm
Mar 12, 2012
For once they are caught out on blatant lies!!!!
Thank God this is exposed!!!!
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David
7:28 pm
Mar 12, 2012
It is worth my re-stating , that while we are seeing the most horrific phone video footage of terror in the streets of Syria and before that Egypt or Libya we have yet to see the same from the disputed territories. When we do, it is proven false and or staged. The things that have been claimed to have happened on the streets of Gaza and elsewhere on a daily bases are never captured on a phone. Palestinians have phones, and they are much better organized then any of the new uprisings in the Arab world. Even Iranians captured government shooting of protesters. Where are the shots of Israeli tanks firing indiscriminately into homes, or Israeli solders lining up children and shooting them as has been claimed? They never happened and don’t exist. It is an important point to suggest for media to pick up.
As technology improves, look for more faked video footage from Gaza and disputed territories, no just purposely mis identified. Some of this terrible Syrian footage will seep into the stuff claiming to come out of Israel. There is a generation who is finding their information about issues on the net, on Youtube IE: the Kony video. That film may have been “over simplified” as the director admits, but imagine a director who completely re-writes history finding this new generation. It might prove more dangerous then an Nuclear weapon.
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Barbara Stone
7:47 pm
Mar 12, 2012
Well done Honest Reporting for ‘outing’ yet another infamous libel against Israel. And quite rightly, your call to the UN to sack this unscrupulous disseminator of lies under the fig leaf of its auspicies, should be answered positively by her employers (as CNN was forced to do with a senior correspondent who failed to disguise her bias in a tweet).
It would be helpful, too, if Reuters – who purport to be an ‘honest’ news organisation (despite historical evidence to the contrary, since they rely so unquestioningly on Palestinian/Hezbollah-linked stringers!) issued its own rebuttal of attempts to plagarise its work/copyright.
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Margaret Sadoc
8:27 pm
Mar 12, 2012
Congratulations to the Honest Reporting team for exposing the lies. Wonder what they’ll think of next to smear Israel as aggressors and occupiers of the land which rightfully belongs to them? The haters of Israel have no regard for their own innocent children and as in the past they have been used as human shields and willingly sacrificed so that their agenda could be met.
It is written in the Bible: Genesis 12: 1-4 , the promise the Lord God Almighty made with Abrahm, a part of that verse clearly says, ‘I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you’…. May all those seek the truth take comfort in the fact that blessings are assured for those who ‘bless’ His people. Blessing or Curse – you can choose.
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Bill Kelly
8:31 pm
Mar 12, 2012
This is not a new tactic. They seem to have much less regard for honesty than they should. At least HR is doing their best to keep track of these lies. The press wants us see what the Palestinians are suffering from this conflict, although sometimes with false evidence. But they don’t pay much attention to what the Hamas (and others like them) are doing to Israeli citizens. In the US, we rely on HR,and others in Israel to let us know what is going on, and to give a more balanced view of the news.
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Sylvie Schapira
8:57 pm
Mar 12, 2012
I came back yesterday from Jerusalem; I was in Sderot one day before the rocket attacks. I saw the bomb shelters, saw the videos of children shaking with shock and terror, saw the grad and quassam rockets on shelves in the Police Station compound, and heard about the young children who stammer when they learn to speak, because of the ongoing terror. The world does not want to know about Jewish suffering. They are baying for Jewish blood. And Jews must stand up to the bullies who lie, distort the truth (like the photo of the little Arab child who died in an accident in 2006),
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phili weberman
10:11 pm
Mar 12, 2012
gee. the un and the palestinians spreading false malicious stories about israel. we are supposed to be surprised because….??? what else is new?
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Catherine Ashton: The Poster Child for Palestinian Terrorists
10:17 pm
Mar 12, 2012
[...] be honest about this propaganda. When Palestinians post 3-year old photos and promote Israel’s Iron Dome as firing rockets at Gaza when it’s intercepting rockets, this is propaganda. When the Arab [...]
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Dani
10:27 pm
Mar 12, 2012
Even Diana’s apology is misleading “killed” in 2006 does not clarify the facts – she was not a casualty of Israeli military action!
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EXPOSED: UN Media Official Responsible for False Photo Tweet | The Conservative Papers
1:27 am
Mar 13, 2012
[...] Top Tweet on Gaza Proven False for the full story on how this photo was [...]
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b.kline
2:25 am
Mar 13, 2012
With arabs holding the whole world hostage and acting like cuckoos wanting to take over every nest in every country in this world, all they will achieve is self-destruction, consuming themselves in their own hatred and lies, tripping over their distorted fabrications, as truth to them acts like garlic on vampires!
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EXPOSED: Israel-hating UN Media Official sends out false Gaza photo tweets
2:32 am
Mar 13, 2012
[...] From: HONEST REPORTING [...]
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Honest Harry
3:09 am
Mar 13, 2012
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MH8169
6:05 am
Mar 13, 2012
Honest Harry, you name must be a hyperbole…do you know what this means? My sense is you do not…your hate filled response is all I need to know who you really are…Your friends are more concerned with death and not living…Your friends teach children to hate, to die , to be shahids. You want peace, then teach your children the value of living…You are so concerned about Israel, and what of the atrocities in Syria…the killing of innocents do not get your scrutiny…
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jacko
7:56 am
Mar 13, 2012
Arabs are congenitally unable to tell the truth. When they tell a lie and they know it is a lie they then believe it themselves. They will always tell you what they think you wan to to hear and as the west wants to hear bad things about Israel and the jews they tell even more whoppers with that earnest face of theirs
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Abdel
8:21 am
Mar 13, 2012
This photo is true guys!
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