Israeli influencers mock Palestinian detainees being tortured with children’s music in new TikTok trend
TikTokers in Israel are reenacting a video appearing to show Israeli Defense Forces torturing detainees with the "Meni Mamtera" song.
The TikToks come in the wake of a viral video from Oct. 15 of Palestinians being detained, blindfolded, and forced to listen to the song.
@today_and_before שמו למחבלים 8 שעות רצוף את השיר של מני ממטרה. איזה שיר אתם הייתם שמים????? #מניממטרה #מלחמה #מחבלים #ישראל #היוםולפני #טודייאנדביפור ♬ original sound - היום ולפני - Today And Before
One TikTok video, posted six days ago, shows what appears to be an Israeli soldier dancing to the music while driving while detainees sat in the back blindfolded. It is unclear in that video if the captives are real Palestinians or Israelis in on the joke.
@99.000keviia #voiceeffects #???? #צהללללללל #פוריו ♬ צליל מקורי - מקליד/ה ... 78,026k
Neither video offers any context as to why the people were detained but were posted amid Israel's escalating war against Hamas and incursion into Gaza.
Palestinian writer Muhammed Shehada wrote on X Tuesday that the video had turned into a TikTok challenge and shared a news clip of an Israeli anchorman calling the song "Israel's secret weapon."
The song is the theme of Israeli children’s entertainer Meni Mamtera. In the initial Oct. 15 video, reports claimed that Palestinian detainees were forced to listen to the song, described as "Baby Shark-like," on loop for up to eight hours.
Now, several social media users have recreated the original video with their friends or family.
Yinon Magal, an Israeli journalist and politician, posted a reenactment with his children on X.
Others recreated the video on TikTok.
@yehuda_77 מחבל*ם נתפסו באופקים #מניממטרה ♬ צליל מקורי - yehuda????????
@galshabi5 #foryou #שירמרגש #מניממטרה ♬ צליל מקורי - Gal Shabi
The TikTok reenactments follow weeks of heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas in the wake of Hamas' terror attack on Oct. 7.
Since the war broke out, at least 8,306 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, according to Al Jazeera. More than 200 people were taken hostage by Hamas as well, the vast majority of whom still remain captured in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire with Hamas and has vowed to "resign them to the dustbin of history."
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