Hasbara Exposed: Propaganda Group Posts Photoshopped Video of Soldiers Dumping Man from Wheelchair

Tuesday February 16, 2016 04:37

A Facebook *hasbara (propaganda) group has posted, on their page, a video which has apparently been edited in order to convince viewers to believe that a disabled man's crutch is a firearm, as he is violently thrown from his wheelchair by an Israeli soldier.

The group, called "The Palestinian lie", posted the video below on February 15th, with the following subtext:

English below
במהלך פיזור הפגנה, שוטר מג"ב חשד באחד המחבלים שישב על כיסא גלגלים, השוטר הדף את המחבל אחורה, ותראו מה נפל מהבגד של המחבל... רובה מאולתר!!

During dealing with a riot one of the broder patrol officers suspected an arab terrorist on a wheelchair. The officer pushed the arab terrorist back and as he fell from the wheelchair what fell out of is clothing? An armed gun!

The video was posted on Facebook, in response to footage and accompanying news, which surfaced yesterday, February 14th:

Though the original footage is slightly murky, one can plainly see, upon replay, that the the two dark objects circled in the doctored footage are, in fact, falling in tandem and make up the top and bottom pieces of an axillary crutch.

*Israeli news outlet +972 defines "hasbara" as a form of propaganda aimed at an international audience, primarily, but not exclusively, in western countries. It is meant to influence the conversation in a way that positively portrays Israeli political moves and policies, including actions undertaken by Israel in the past. Hasbara efforts also often include a negative portrayal of the Arabs and especially of Palestinians.

Related story: 14-year-old Palestinian Girl Critically Injured in Hebron Shooting