What’s wrong with this pic? It’s a fake

Noam Sheizaf By Noam Sheizaf February 1, 2012 | Edit

I usually find the fact that Facebook is the #1 news source today exiting and hopeful, but there clearly is a down side to it: Even when an item is proven wrong, it could continue to circulate almost forever.

What's wrong with this pic? It's a fake
Fake pic of "IDF soldier" stepping on "Palestinian girl"

The above picture does NOT show an IDF soldier stepping on a Palestinian girl. These are not IDF uniforms, not IDF gloves, and the AK47 is not the IDF’s standard weapon (I am not even sure that this is a real gun). But even without these details, one could tell that there is something strange in this pic – more than anything, it’s the cool indifference of the entire scene.

I saw this picture for the first time a few months ago; at the time someone said it was taken from a Turkish TV show. In the last few days, it’s circulating again. And there is this tweet, claiming this picture was taken in Syria. Where will it pop up next?

 UPDATE: The mystery is solved in the comment by David (see below). It’s a staged act, according to David – from Bahrain. 

Noam Sheizaf

Noam Sheizaf is an independent journalist and editor. He was the founding executive director and editor-in-chief of +972 Magazine. Prior to joining +972, he worked for Tel Aviv’s Ha-ir local paper, Ynet, and the Maariv daily, where his last position was deputy editor of the weekend magazine. He is currently working on a number of documentary films.