A controversial new trend on TikTok has sparked outrage as Israeli content creators mock the ongoing conflict in Gaza. In the viral videos, young creators pose as members of a fictional humanitarian organisation, calling family and friends to solicit donations for Palestinian children. The callers then film the often heated reactions, which typically involve angry shouting and swearing, before revealing that it’s all part of a prank.
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New TikTok trend mocks Palestinian children via Israelis
In a video shared by Israeli social media influencer Yakir Bar Zohar, he can be seen asking passersby to make donations for children in Gaza. When a man agrees to donate to the “hungry children” of Gaza on his request, the influencer is shocked and asks the stranger if he is sure he wants to donate “to the children who are going to be terrorists”. Similar videos have been spotted circulating on TikTok which were created by youngsters or teenagers.
However, some were posted by the soldiers. In one video, with text “We pranked my father (an extreme right-winger), that we donate money for children in Gaza” a soldier was spotted asking her father to donate for the children of Gaza as “they should also be taken care of.” Her father responds with: “Let them go to hell and everyone who contributes to them.” After he unleashes a torrent of curses at the ‘representative,’ she reveals her true identity and bursts into laughter.
Last week, in a separate video, In one of the viral videos, a young woman called her mother, asking her to donate to “innocent children in Gaza.” The mother replied, “Innocent Gazan children? There’s no such thing”. She went ahead to wish the children in Gaza “death in agony, death in bad agony, in stoning, that they will burn in hell all the people there,” as reported by MiddleEastEye.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has taken an unimaginable toll on children, with devastating consequences for their safety and well-being. Reports reveal that at least 14,500 children have lost their lives, while thousands more have been injured.
In addition, approximately 17,000 children have been left unaccompanied or separated from their parents, and nearly one million have been forced to flee their homes. By October 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza estimated that over 35,000 children had tragically lost one or both of their parents.
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Several netizens react in favour of the prank
While some did not find the videos a funny prank, many on the internet supported the trend and agreed that “there are no innocents [in Gaza], from young to old”. A user wrote, “This should be the opinion of every sane citizen in the country and in the entire world,” and received 1,000 likes on the comment. A second user wrote, “I love this trend, I’m dying,” and another said, “Offensive, racist, humiliating – I am loving it.”
The reshares of such videos on other social media platforms were denounced as “hateful” and “dehumanising.”
