Yes, This Is a Real Video of Israeli Children Singing ‘We Will Annihilate Everyone’ in Gaza


Is This a Real Video of Israeli Children Singing ‘We Will Annihilate Everyone’ in Gaza? The video was allegedly posted and deleted by Kan, an Israeli news channel.

On Nov. 19, 2023, The Electronic Intifada, an online publication that focuses on Palestinian perspectives, claimed that a video showing Israeli children singing about the “annihilation” of Gaza had been shared, then deleted, on Israeli public broadcaster Kan News’ online platforms.


Titled “Friendship Song,” the video in question featured a group of children reportedly singing in a re-recording of an old song originally written by Israeli poet Haim Gouri after the 1948 war that led to the creation of the state of Israel, but with amended lyrics referring to Gaza. David Sheen, an independent filmmaker and writer, translated these new lyrics for The Electronic Intifada into English from Hebrew. Per his translation, the children sang:

Autumn night falls over the beach of Gaza

Planes are bombing, destruction, destruction

Look the IDF is crossing the line

to annihilate the swastika-bearers

In another year there will be nothing there

And we will safely return to our homes

Within a year we will annihilate everyone

And then we will return to plow our fields

The above video is indeed real and was created by Israeli advocacy group The Civil Front, which frequently does public campaigns to support the Israeli armed forces. The children in the slickly-produced video wore black T-shirts with the same blue logo as that on The Civil Front’s YouTube page.

The video was also available on the group’s YouTube page and was published on Nov. 19, 2023:

After the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel, The Civil Front carried out a billboard campaign in Tel Aviv in order to show support for Israeli soldiers and police officers. Some of the billboards, according to The Jerusalem Post, used AI-generated images of Hamas and Hezbollah leadership showing them beaten and captured by Israeli soldiers.

While the video was not created by Kan News, it was shared on Kan News’ website with the new lyrics before being deleted. The archived link is available here. The same video was shared on Kan News’ X account, @kann_news, before being deleted, but the post remains archived here. While @kann_news has no check mark to signal its authenticity, its content is frequently reposted by the broadcaster’s main X account, @kann.

When we ran the lyrics in the archived link through Google Translate, we found the translation was very similar to the above lyrics shared by The Electronic Intifada:

Autumn night is falling on the Gaza coast

Planes are shelling, destruction, destruction

Here the IDF is crossing the line

To eliminate the swastika bearers

In another year there will be nothing there

And we will return safely to our home within a year

We will eliminate them all

And then return to plowing our fields

Middle East Eye reported that the new lyrics were co-written by Ofer Rosenbaum, the chairperson of The Civil Front, and Shulamit Stolero (according to the Jewish Press).

Jewish Press, a U.S.-based news organization that describes itself as an “advocate on behalf of the State of Israel,” also covered the removal of the video from Kan News’ platforms. The report claimed that the children in the video ranged from the ages of 6 to 12 years old and were singing an updated version of Gouri’s poem. The children were reportedly among those evacuated “from the Gaza envelope settlements.”

Jewish Press also published its own translation of the lyrics:

On the Gaza beach the autumn night is descending

Planes are bombing, ruin follows ruin

See the IDF crossing the borderline

To annihilate the Swastika carriers

In one more year

There won’t be anything left there

And we’ll return safely to our home

In one more year

We’ll eliminate them all and go back to plowing our fields

The above translations use both “annihilate” and “eliminate” to refer to the destruction of Gaza.

There is no publicly known reason for why Kan News deleted the video, but Electronic Intifada argued, “It is possible that someone there was concerned that it could make the channel complicit in genocide.” Electronic Intifada also noted that Israelis and other users criticized the post. Middle East Eye reported that the posts resulted in many online accusing the news agency of advocating genocide. We have reached out to the network and will update this post if we receive more information.

The Jewish Press was critical of Kan’s decision to remove the video, writing sarcastically that “someone at Kan 11 found the harsh sentiment pronounced by the six girls in the video unacceptable for viewing – by a nation which just watched more than a thousand of its people being raped, beaten, beheaded, and burned alive. So they took it down.”

On Nov. 16, 2023, U.N. experts and scholars warned that grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians point to a “genocide in the making.”

 

 

 

Is this an Authentic Photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger Next to Wilt Chamberlain & André the Giant


A photograph circulated on X, on Nov. 1, 2023 supposedly showing actor Arnold Schwarzenegger standing between former basketball player Wilt Chamberlain and former wrestler André the Giant (i.e. André René Roussimoff) and looking short in comparison. The photo was supposedly taken in 1983 on the set of “Conan the Destroyer,” an action-adventure film released a year later.

This was an authentic photograph of the three men. We found a copy of it on IMDb, as well as in Getty Images’ database of photojournalism. The photo was taken by photographer Rolf Konow on the set of #CommissionsEarned “Conan the Destroyer” in Mexico City, in 1983, according to Getty Images. A per that reason, we rated this claim “True.”

The photograph showed specifically the height differences between Schwarzenegger and the other two men. Schwarznegger is 6 feet 2 inches tall, according to his IMDb profile. Chamberlain, who died in 1999, was 7 feet 1 inch tall, according to IMDb. Meanwhile, Roussimoff, who died in 1993, was 7 feet 4 inches tall, according to his Los Angeles Times obituary.

In the 1984 film, Schwarzenegger played the titular hero, “Conan.” Chamberlain, who retired from professional basketball in 1973, played “Bombaata,” an antagonist, while Roussimoff had an uncredited role (his name did not appear in onscreen titles for the film since it was a small cameo) as a monster named “Dagoth.” According to IMDb, the plot centers on Schwarzenegger’s character leading “a ragtag group of adventurers on a quest for a princess.”

 

 

Comfortable Attitude At Old Age

#CommissionsEarned

I asked one of my friends who has crossed 60 & is heading to 70.

 

What sort of change he is feeling in him?

 

He sent me the following very interesting lines, which I would like to share with you all…..

 

      1. After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.
      2. I just realised that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.
      3. I now stopped bargaining with vegetables & fruits vendors. After all, a few Rupees more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.
      4. I pay the taxi driver without waiting for the change. The extra money might bring a smile on his face. After all he is toiling much harder for a living than me.
      5. I stopped telling the elderly that they’ve already narrated that story many times. After all, the story makes them walk down the memory lane & relive the past.
      6. I have learnt not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. After all, the onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.
      7. I give compliments freely & generously. After all it’s a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me.
      8. I have learnt not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. After all, personality speaks louder than appearances.
      9. I walk away from people who don’t value me. After all, they might not know my worth, but I do.
      10. I remain cool when someone plays dirty politics to outrun me in the   rat race. After all, I am not a rat & neither am I in any race.
      11. I am learning not to be embarrassed by my emotions. After all, it’s my emotions that make me human.
      12. I have learnt that its better to drop the ego than to break a relationship. After all, my ego will keep me aloof whereas with relationships I will never be alone*.
      13. I have learnt to live each day as if it’s the last. After all, it might be the last.
      14. I am doing what makes me happy. After all, I am responsible for my happiness, and I owe it to me.

#CommissionsEarned