‘Dangerous Misinformation’: AIPAC Slams AOC and Omar Over Photo of Dead Children and ‘Anti-Israel Narrative’
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Members of “The Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were called out by AIPAC and many others on Saturday after Omar retweeted a photo of dead children that was not from the Israel-Hamas war or even from Gaza at all, but instead taken after a 2013 chemical weapons attack in Syria.
The media and politicians have repeatedly appealed to the public to be careful about videos and photos that purport to be from the conflict in Israel this week, as a slew of disinformation and misleading posts have been shared online. That is partly due to error, partly to malicious trolling, and also in large part due to deliberate misinformation campaigns that are now part and parcel of attacks by terrorist groups like Hamas.
One such appeal for caution was posted by Ocasio-Cortez this week.
“The level of misinformation in all directions at this moment is incredibly high, especially on this platform,” AOC posted on X (formerly TWitter). “If you see a claim, photo, or video that triggers a strong emotional reaction, take a moment to pause and check for veracity/confirmation from multiple sources.”
However, AOC’s fellow ultra-progressive “Squad” member may not have read the admonishment or taken it under advisement, other users pointed out Saturday, because the Minnesota Democrat retweeted a claim about the deaths of children in Gaza under the alarming headline “CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE.”
[GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING]
The disturbing and graphic photo included with the horrific description was not, however, from the current conflict, nor even of children in Israel or Gaza at all. As a community note that was added to the tweet made clear with evidence, the photo is actually of the aftermath of a sarin gas attack in 2013 in Syria and featured in contemporary articles from sites such as National Geographic and UPI.
Many X users captured screenshots showing Omar’s retweet before she eventually un-retweeted it.
https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1713277633830543413
One of the accounts name-checking AOC and criticizing Omar was @AIPAC, from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
AIPAC retweeted AOC’s warning about disinformation and included a screenshot of Omar’s reweet.
“You mean like this, @AOC?” the organization tweeted. “@IlhanMN is spreading dangerous misinformation, blaming Israel for killing kids who were killed by Assad in Syria 10 years ago.”
“Once again, the Squad doesn’t let the facts get in the way of their anti-Israel narrative,” the message said.
AIPAC also called out other similar propaganda on Saturday, retweeting two posts showing that Palestinian or Hamas-linked accounts, including official ones, are using the photo of a Jewish child killed by a Hamas rocket and claiming he was a Palestinian child killed by an Israeli rocket.
Omar has not remarked on why she retweeted or un-retweeted the inflammatory post. She did post related content throughout the day, including accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” for ordering evacuations of civilians in areas of Gaza where the IDF will soon begin “significant military operations.”
“It’s really important that people in Gaza know we’ve been very, very generous with the time,” IDF Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus said to CNN. “We have given ample warning, more than 25 hours… I cannot stress more than enough to say now is the time for Gazans to leave. Take your belongings, go south. Preserve your life, and do not fall into the trap that Hamas is setting up for you.”
