Labour MP Grahame Morris apologises over fake Israel attack video
The former shadow secretary of state apologises for the "honest mistake", but has not removed the video from his Twitter account.
Tuesday 23 April 2019 10:19, UK
A Labour MP has come under fire for posting a video he claimed showed Israeli soldiers attacking Palestinian children "for fun", but which appears to have actually been filmed in Guatemala.
Grahame Morris apologised after the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) accused him of spreading "lies".
He shared the video from a prominent pro-Jeremy Corbyn account on Twitter showing a man dressed in camouflage beating a young boy up against a wall.
"Marvellous, absolutely marvellous the Israeli Army, the best financed, best trained, best equipped army in the world caught on camera beating up Palestinian children for the fun of it. May God forgive them," the ex-shadow secretary of state wrote.
He was challenged by the IDF, who said: "The only marvellous thing here are your lies."
"These are not IDF soldiers, apologies would be in order," it added.
Al Jazeera reported the viral video is from 2015, and showed a Guatemalan soldier beating a young boy for running away.
Mr Morris apologised for the "honest mistake" but added: "There are lots of verifiable documented examples of the IDF abusing Palestinian child prisoners I have seen for myself in court in the West Bank.
"But am harvesting and documenting a few more of my trolls yet thanks."
He has not deleted the original post, sent to his 29,000 followers.
The post was originally sent by Rachael Swindon - a popular Twitter account that brags about being blocked by around 80 Conservative MPs.
It deleted the video after people pointed out it did not show IDF soldiers, and said: "Some people have noticed I've been highlighting quite a few videos of the disturbing treatment of the people of Palestine recently.
"More so than normal. When you watch the videos you can see why a big mouth like me can't keep quiet about it."