The claim
It is claimed that a video shows a little Palestinian girl laughing while a bomb explodes in the background. It's part of a game so as not to scare them. The video was recorded by her Palestinian father.
Our conclusion
The video was recorded in Syria in 2020. It shows a Syrian father and his young daughter.
The internet is full of videos and images that we come across every day. Some of them touch us deeply, others make us think. But the stories behind the videos are not always as they are presented to us.
Recently, one such video went viral in which a little girl is laughing while explosions can be heard in the background. Supposedly it's a Palestinian girl who was raised by her father to laugh during bombings to overcome fear.
But what's really behind it?
The true origin of the video
The video was filmed three years ago in war-torn Syria. The protagonists are not a Palestinian father-daughter team, but the Syrian refugee Abdullah Mohammad and his daughter Salwa. Both were living with a friend in the city of Sarmada in Syria at the time after they had to leave their hometown of Saraqib.
In a translation of the video published by The Guardian newspaper, Abdullah asks his daughter Salwa whether the sound in the background was a bomb or a plane. She replies that it is a bomb and adds: “Yes, when it comes we will laugh”. And that's exactly what they both do when the explosion is heard.
In 2020, Abdullah explained to Sky News the reason for the unusual "game": it was to prevent Salwa's mental state from collapsing under the constant bombing.
Here is the original video that was published on YouTube in February 2020:
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A turning point for the girl's family
After the video went viral, the family received support from an unexpected source. A Turkish government official contacted them and organized their safe entry into Turkey. There they were initially accommodated in a refugee camp in the south of the country before moving in with relatives.
The danger of misinformation
It is not the first time that images or videos have been taken out of context and misused for current world events. The situation in Israel and Gaza is just one example of how misinformation is spread on social media. It is important to critically question such content and look for reliable sources for a fact check.
While this video may not necessarily cause harm, the background information is incorrect. Nevertheless, we hope that many fathers - regardless of location - can be as supportive to their children as Abdullah was to his Salwa.
Conclusion
Abdullah and Salwa's video is a touching testimony to the reality of life for many people in war zones.
However, it is not a current video of a Palestinian family, but comes from 2020 and was recorded in Syria.
It is important to question information critically and not be misled by misinformation. Because only with the truth can we truly understand what is happening in the world and how we can help.
Register:
For deeper understanding and to highlight the importance of fact checking in the digital world, we are offering a special online workshop on November 14, 2023. We warmly invite you to actively participate in this educational initiative. For more information and to register, please click here.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )