Pallywood

Pallywood (a portmanteau of "Palestinian" and "Hollywood") refers to news events that are alleged to have been staged by Palestinian and other cameramen to portray Israel in an unfavorable light.

Media in the Gaza Strip

The world's large TV-broadcasters, CNN and ABC, and news agencies such as Reuters and Associated Press work almost exclusively with Palestinian cameramen when reporting from the Gaza Strip. Working as a cameraman for western media is considered to be one of the most lucrative jobs in the Palestinian areas. Some earn up to $250 U.S. per day. Some Palestinian families do not even earn as much in sixth months.

Origin of the term

File:Pallywood cover.jpg

Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources... a film by Richard Landes.

The term "Pallywood" was used by online debaters for several years before being popularized in 2005 by Professor Richard Landes of Boston University in his 18-minute documentary film, Pallywood, According to Palestinian Sources. The conservative Israeli news channel Arutz Sheva stated in 2006 that the term is becoming a "household word," along with "infotainment", to refer to media coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In Pallywood, Landes argues that Palestinian video journalists stage events in order to bias viewers against Israel and win the media war between the Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces, and to influence the broader perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Landes believes that this type of alleged media manipulation dates back to at least the war in Lebanon in 1982.

Usage of the term

The term has been used by bloggers, particularly during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict where assertions of media manipulation were made. Landes, who describes himself as left-of-center, acknowledges that "the blogs in support of seconddraft.org [are] primarily politically conservative." The neoconservative political commentator David Frum has described Landes' work as an exposé of political propaganda: "A U.S. Web site, SecondDraft.org, has compiled documentary footage to reveal a startling series of faked funerals, staged gun battles, and professional weeping grandmothers. They dub the Palestinian propaganda complex, "Pallywood," and ask hard questions about the readiness — eagerness — of much of the world media to be deceived."

Since Landes's film was released, the term has been used more widely by the rest of the media.

Alleged examples

Sabra and Shatila massacre

During the Lebanese Civil War in September 1982 a Lebanese Forces militia group carried out a massacre in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps. The camps were surrounded by Israeli Defence Forces throughout the incident. The massacre received much attention from the world media. Most reports focused on the Israelis and usually failed to mention the Lebanese militias.

Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount

On September 28, the Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon, with a Likud party delegation, and surrounded by hundreds of Israeli riot police, visited the mosque compound of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The compound is the holiest site in Judaism, and the third holiest site in Islam for the majority of Muslims. The stated purpose for Sharon's visit of the mosque compound was to check complaints by Israeli archeologists that Muslim religious authorities had vandalized archeological remains beneath the surface of the mount but his visit was condemned by the Palestinians as a provocation and an incursion, claiming that Sharon knew that the visit could trigger violence. The day after Sharon's visit demonstrations and riots erupted all over the West Bank and Gaza and the violence escalated into the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Muhammad al-Dura

Footage of Muhammad al-Dura reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire on September 30 2000 at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada was recorded by a local freelance cameraman working alone. Questions were raised about the authenticity of the tape, leading to controversy over whether he was killed by Palestinian gunfire or is not actually dead at all.

Other events

The Battle of Jenin in 2002; and the Israeli rocket attack on June 13, 2006 on a car carrying members of Islamic Jihad. have also been cited as examples of "Pallywood".

See also

• Adnan Hajj photographs controversy
• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Battle of Jenin
• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict photographs controversies
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Journalistic fraud
• Media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Muhammad al-Durrah
• Ouze Merham

Further reading

• "Second Draft.org", website of Richard Landes with films and analysis from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Landes, Richard. "Pallywood: According to Palestinian sources" (video).
• Landes, Richard. "Al-Durah: What happened? (video).
• "The Reuterization of War Journalism", The Conservative Voice, August 9, 2006.
• "And now it's 'Reutersgate'," Toronto Star, August 9, 2006.
• Template:De icon "Wie Palästinenser manchmal die Wahrheit verbiegen", Israelnetz, June 19, 2006.
• Cambanis, Thanassis. "Some Shunning the Palestinian Hard Stance," The Boston Globe, September 6, 2005.
• Gordon, Philip H. & Tasponar, Omer. "Why France shouldn't legislate Turkey's past," The New Republic, October 30, 2006.
• Kaplan, Lee. "Some PLO doctored photos: A visit to 'Pallywood'", Canada Free Press, May 28, 2006.
• Kaplan, Lee. "Pallywood revisited: A new fake atrocity by the PLO", Canada Free Press, June 24, 2006.
• Template:De icon Von Wussow, Philipp. "Israelische Bomben auf Kana: Massaker oder Hisbollywood?", Telepolis, August 3, 2006.