A video of a little girl named Salwa Mohammad laughing along with her father to the sounds of bombing is going viral on social media, with the claim that a Palestinian father tells his little daughter to laugh to cope with the dread of continual bombardment in the region by Israel.
Yasar Shah (Archived link), a Samajwadi Party member, shared the video and captioned it in Hindi, “A Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh whenever she hears the blasts of an Israeli airstrike so she won’t get scared. This girl’s laughter brought me to tears.”
एक फ़िलिस्तीनी पिता अपनी बेटी से कहता है कि जब भी वह इज़रायली हवाई हमले के धमाके सुनें तो हँसे ताकि वह डरे नहीं।
— Yasar Shah (@yasarshah_SP) October 26, 2023
इस बच्ची की हंसी पर रोना आ गया। pic.twitter.com/3icLHGIwbe
Another user (Archived link) wrote, “A Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared.” The tweet has so far garnered 22k likes and 10k retweets.
🇵🇸🇮🇱 A Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared. pic.twitter.com/U6yY3TjyR5
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) October 26, 2023
The video has garnered a huge traction on the X platform and has been shared by many users, who are extending their virtual support to the Palestinians. (Archived links 1, 2, 3, and 4)
A Palestinian father encourages his daughter to laugh every time she hears an air strike to stop her from being scared 💙 pic.twitter.com/cXpQ4KCTRk
— The Saviour (@stairwayto3dom) October 26, 2023
A #Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared.#Gaza_Genocide #كتائب_القسام#Hamas #الحرب_العالمية_الثالثة#GazaUnderSiege #Alizasehar#AlizaSeharLeaked #Palestine#BabarAzampic.twitter.com/BPmNlmeNbq
— Zain Rajpoot (@zain_rajpoot39) October 26, 2023
A #Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared.#Gaza_Genocide #كتائب_القسام#Hamas #الحرب_العالمية_الثالثة#GazaUnderSiege #Alizasehar#AlizaSeharLeaked #Palestine#BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/f88Q9Xs7vl
— Saidu Ahmad Shika (@danmutanshika) October 26, 2023
🇵🇸🇮🇱 A Palestinian father tells his daughter to laugh every time she hears an Israeli airstrike so that she doesn’t get scared. pic.twitter.com/ivC8ZKslMM
— Ruheen Bi (@iamruheen) October 26, 2023
Also Read: Imam Reza Shrine’s Black Flag: A Symbol of Mourning, Not a Call for War
Fact Check
After extracting the keyframes from the video, we performed a reverse image search and came across many reports. After reviewing those reports, we discovered that the assertion was false and misleading. The girl in the video is from Syria, and the video is nearly three years old.
The footage is from the Syrian civil war, according to a DNA report released on February 19, 2020. The Syrian region of Idlib was exposed to a persistent period of airstrikes in February 2020. At the time, a video received a lot of attention on social media. In this video, a Syrian father encourages his daughter to laugh whenever they hear explosions as a coping method for the fear and pain caused by the continuing violence. The video was shot in Sarmada, a tiny hamlet near the Syrian-Turkish border where the family had found refugee.
Furthermore, we also ran a keyword search for “Syrian girl laughs on the sounds of explosion.” According to the report by the CBS news, the three-year-old girl in the video, is called Salwa Mohammad. Abdullah Mohammad, desperate to help his daughter overcome her terror of the bombing attacks, turned it into a game, showing her recordings of other children gleefully lighting off fireworks and teaching her that loud noises can be humorous.
The video went viral on social media, touching the hearts of millions and prompting the Turkish government to help the family in fleeing across the border. On February 25, the family crossed into Turkey and was brought to a refugee camp in Reyhanli.
| Claim | A video showing a little girl laughing on sounds of explosion to cope with the fear is from Palestine |
| Claimed by | Social media users |
| Fact Check | False |
