Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was criticized over the weekend for sharing an image of dead children that was falsely attributed to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE” read the original post by self-described investigative journalist Sulaiman Ahmed.
“614 Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli IOF forces,” the post added, alongside the image of the dead children.
That particular image, however, is years old and depicts children who died from chemical weapon poisoning in Syria. The image was used in a 2013 story from National Geographic titled “How Syria’s Chemical Weapons Could Be Disposed Of.”
The post was retweeted by Omar, though she eventually undid the retweet.
Kareem Rifai, a Syrian activist who flagged the post as false, wrote in a separate post: “It would be really nice if Ilhan Omar would apologize for promoting the viral misuse of images of gassed children in Eastern Ghouta instead of just stealthily undoing her retweet. Especially considering she’s never posted about Assad’s crimes in Ghouta in her life.”
Omar was called out for the retweet by numerous users on X.
“Nothing to see here just Ilhan Omar, a Member of Congress, retweeting fake pics from Gaza,” wrote Israeli-American activist Emily Schrader.
Another characterized the congresswoman as “a disgusting and despicable liar” for initially sharing the image.
“If I was a Syrian I would be offended,” posted someone else.
One pro-Palestine user indicated that sharing misinformation undermines what is actually happening in Gaza.
“11 Palestinians currently being killed an hour but this is the best you clowns can muster up. Incredible,” they wrote.
According to the non-governmental organization Defense for Children International, as of Saturday, 724 Palestinian children have been killed since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7.
According to Save the Children, the number of Israeli children that have been killed is unconfirmed, but noted reports of children being kidnapped and taken hostage by Hamas.
Misinformation and misleading use of old images have been a widespread problem since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
The New York Times reported that misinformation around the conflict included the sharing of a video game depicted to be a Hamas attack, a video clip of a woman being burned to death that was taken in Central America in 2015, and a clip of a paragliding accident that occurred in South Korea in June.
The user that wrote the post originally retweeted by Omar consistently attributed old images and videos to the current conflict.
“You could make a wallpaper out of all the Community Notes @ShaykhSulaiman has gotten while ‘reporting’ on the conflict in Gaza,” wrote Ashley St. Clair on Sunday.
Many of the Community Notes state that the media in the posts were originally broadcast years prior.
Ahmed argued on Monday that “Zionist use community notes as a means to steer away from debate. Rather than debate they hide behind community notes.”
