Study: Anti-Palestinian Disinformation Contributes to Rise in Racist Discourse

Anti-Palestinian Disinformation Persists Despite Fragile Ceasefire

Despite a tenuous ceasefire that has already experienced multiple violations, anti-Palestinian disinformation, propaganda, and racism continue to flourish online, according to experts monitoring the situation.

“Anti-Palestinian disinformation and propaganda is used as a weapon to justify crimes that are being committed,” says Jalal Abukhater, policy manager at 7amleh, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement.

Since Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli military operations have reportedly resulted in at least 68,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, according to the enclave’s Health Authority. A UN commission of inquiry and the International Association of Genocide Scholars have characterized Israel’s actions as genocide.

Experts note that anti-Palestinian sentiment has deep historical roots. “This has its origins in colonial and Orientalist discourse,” explains Asmaa El Idrissi, a lawyer and lecturer at Bochum University of Applied Sciences. “If you look at literature from 100 years ago, you will find exactly the same stereotypes that are now resurfacing against Palestinians: Arabs or Muslims as irrational and backward.”

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Arabs and Muslims faced increasing portrayal as dangerous and sympathetic to terrorism, shaping both public perception and policy decisions.

A critical historical context for understanding anti-Palestinian sentiment is the denial of the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic, which refers to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 800,000 Palestinians were driven from their homeland, and at least 15,000 were killed during this period.

“The denial of the Nakba serves as a core narrative for delegitimizing any demand for equal rights and a free life,” El Idrissi notes.

One of the most persistent false narratives in recent years is the conflation of all Palestinians with Hamas. This was highlighted in a poll conducted by the Accord Center in August 2025, which found that 62% of Israeli respondents agreed with the statement that “there are no innocent people in Gaza.”

While Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, Germany, and other countries, experts emphasize that equating all Palestinians with Hamas is used to justify collective punishment, which violates international law.

“What we are dealing with here is collective punishment, which is essentially untenable under international law,” El Idrissi said. One consequence is that civilian deaths in Gaza are often downplayed in media coverage.

Abukhater provides an example: “When a car or a tent in Gaza gets bombed or targeted, someone would say that maybe there was a Hamas person in that vehicle where five children have been killed. And that would be enough for them to say: Let’s move on to the next story.”

Anti-Palestinian bias is further fueled by racist media coverage. Palestinian researcher Hanan Sahmoud has highlighted how European media often “depicted Palestinians as savages.” This dehumanizing perspective is frequently adopted by the wider public in a self-reinforcing cycle.

Two days after the October 7, 2023 attacks, Yoav Gallant, then Israel’s defense minister, said, “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

“All of this leads to what is known as an empathy gap, which in turn leads to a justification for unequal treatment,” explains El Idrissi.

The cycle has been further fueled by disinformation regarding the famine in Gaza in 2025. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed there was no famine in the territory, suggesting children only appeared malnourished due to pre-existing illnesses rather than his government blocking humanitarian aid.

In Germany, many media outlets frame Palestinians and people showing solidarity with Palestinians as dangerous, violent, antisemitic, and antidemocratic. “It’s a very racist assumption to say anyone who stands for Palestinian rights is ‘pro terrorist,'” Abukhater notes.

These assumptions are reflected in police responses to pro-Palestinian protesters. “We are alarmed by the persistent pattern of police violence and apparent suppression of Palestine solidarity activism by Germany,” UN experts stated in an October 16 press release.

Media bias is another fundamental issue, with many outlets relying primarily on statements from Israeli military and government sources without appropriate fact-checking or critical analysis. A study of nearly 4,853 headlines in German media between October 2023 and January 2025 showed that many leading outlets rely primarily or exclusively on official Israeli sources for their Middle East reporting.

Social media platforms also amplify anti-Palestinian content. “We know that right-wing extremist content or extremist content is pushed by the algorithm,” El Idrissi says. An investigation by DW Fact check revealed that Israel had spent at least €42 million ($49 million) on anti-Palestinian propaganda ads.

To combat anti-Palestinian propaganda and racism, Abukhater emphasizes the need to give Palestinians room to tell their own stories. “Palestinians are often spoken about, and Palestinians don’t speak for themselves across many media outlets.”

“There should be more discussion on anti-Palestinian racism, recognizing it as a concept, looking at the semantics and how it’s used generally to dehumanize, to accuse all Palestinians,” he concludes.