This photo shows a Palestinian boy who survived a firebombing attack by Jewish extremists targeting his home
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 22, 2021 at 12:00
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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The image was posted on April 18, 2021, on Instagram here, where it has attracted more than 34,000 likes.
The image has an Indonesian-language text that translates to English as: “The boy on the left is 5 years old and has survived a terrorist attack that killed his family. This is the moment when he meets his best friend after an attack at a hospital. This photo deserves to be liked.”
The image alongside similar claims have been liked more than 200,000 times on Instagram posts, such as here, here, here and here; and on Facebook here, here and here.
The claim, however, is false.
A reverse image search on Yandex found the photo in the post was published by AFP here on March 22, 2016.
The photo’s caption says, “Five-year-old Ahmed Dawabsha (L), a Palestinian boy who survived a firebombing by Jewish extremists targeting his family home that killed his parents and brother, is welcomed by friends and relatives upon his return to his home-village of Duma after a visit to Spain to meet players from Real Madrid on March 22, 2016.”
Ahmed’s meeting with Real Madrid players was reported by AFP here.
An Israeli court sentenced a Jewish settler who killed Ahmed’s parents and his 18-month-old brother to three life terms, AFP reported in September 2020 here.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading post (L) and the original AFP photo (R):
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