US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib reposted on Wednesday a doctored poll claiming that 47% of Israelis believe IDF soldiers have a right to rape Palestinians. It was tweeted by Noura Erakat, who later admitted on X that it was fake.
Erakat posted a doctored image of an N12 poll on Wednesday, stating, “When you tell a society they have a right to commit genocide, surely they believe they have a right to rape,” suggesting that 47% of Israelis believe that it is justified to rape a handcuffed terrorist.
In her post, which has since been deleted, Erakat shared an image with the poll’s title completely changed. Originally, N12’s poll illustrated the Israeli public’s stance regarding the claims that the Israeli government relies on terrorism supporters.
However, the doctored image which Erakat shared on X claims that 47% of the Israeli public “agree that a soldier is allowed to rape a Palestinian.”
Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib shared Erakat’s post, contributing to the spread of anti-Israel propaganda.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has retweeted the tweet on the left which contains a digitally altered image. That is NOT what the poll question was. The poll question was do you think the government has surrendered to terrorist supporters? The authentic poll, in the screenshot… pic.twitter.com/8QRLgvgHu8
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) August 8, 2024
However, shortly after Tlaib shared the post, American journalist Yasher (Alex) Ali posted on X, stating, “Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has retweeted the tweet on the left which contains a digitally altered image.”
He further noted that "the authentic poll... was from 2022.
Deleting the fake news
After deleting the original post, which Ali shared, highlighting in yellow what Congresswoman Tlaib reposted, Erakat deleted her original post and shared: “Rep Tlaib trusted me, and posting this [without] cross-checking was my mistake.”
Additionally, Ali messaged Erakat, stating, "That poll is fake. I don't expect some random loser to care, but I do expect a member of Congress not to retweet this dreck. You're a disgrace, Rep. Tlaib."
Rep Tlaib trusted me & posting this wo cross checking was my mistake. But surely u understand how one would take this poll to be true in light of video of gang rape of a Palestinian detainee & Knesset + public debate on whether such rape should be ok. THAT is the disgrace, Alex. https://t.co/H3tWWgnXQD
— Noura Erakat (@4noura) August 8, 2024
In response to the message Ali sent Erakat, she argued that “surely [you] understand how one would take this poll to be true in light of [a] video of gang rape of a Palestinian detainee & Knesset + public debate on whether such rape should be ok.”