The “Palywood” campaign employs an advertisement for the “Jawwal” company during Ramadan in the context of casting doubt on the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli and Western accounts supportive of Israel shared a video clip showing a child amidst destruction. These accounts commented, “A complete team for filming and editing is working in Gaza, and they are the ones behind the videos you see… See how they work on filming videos amidst the rubble and tents,” alleging that Gaza is a large stage and that Gazans have been professional actors for decades.

The circulation of the video comes within the context of the “Palywood” campaign, which casts doubt on the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, especially since the events of last October, accusing Palestinians of fabricating their suffering.

The Palestinian observatory “Tahaqaq” investigated the truth behind the circulated video and accompanying claims by searching through public sources. It found that the circulated scene was actually a behind-the-scenes shot from an advertisement for the Palestinian telecommunications company “Jawwal.” The purpose was to highlight the events in Gaza, but it was employed in a misleading context.

The full advertisement was posted on the official page of the “Jawwal” company and the account of the Palestinian director Omar Ramal on March 10.

To clarify details about the advertisement, the “Tahaqaq” team contacted the director, Omar Ramal, who explained that he directed the advertisement for the “Jawwal” company, and the circulated scene was part of the artistic work highlighting the suffering of Gazans during the Israeli war.

Ramal emphasized that the advertisement was not filmed in Gaza, as claimed, but in Jordan due to the difficulty of filming in Gaza and Palestine in general because of the current conditions.

He stressed that the advertisement and its scenes were entirely shot and constructed to reflect the human reality in Gaza, aiming to employ art to cement the Palestinian people’s suffering.

Ramal also noted that this wasn’t the first time Palestinian content had been targeted, citing previous instances where Israeli and pro-Israel accounts had misused Palestinian artistic productions in misleading contexts as part of the “Pallywood” campaign.