Russia-Ukraine war: Israeli TV channel shows Star Wars clip in news coverage
An investigation has been launched after Israel's Channel 13, as part of a report on the Russia-Ukraine war, included footage from a viral video featuring a downed TIE fighter and stormtroopers from the Star Wars movie franchise.
The clip was shown as part of a montage of videos from Ukraine showing the destruction resulting from the Russian invasion.
An editor at the company responsible for the incident has reportedly been suspended until the end of the investigation, although it remains unclear how Channel 13 acquired the video, originally published eight years ago.
The clip is part of a viral German video that was produced by Disney and Lucasfilm for a 24/7 Star Wars channel on Sky Deutschland.
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The dashcam footage shows stormtroopers in high-vis vests safeguarding their ship that has crash-landed on a German highway from motorists, created using CGI.
The original caption of the clip read “Warning: Unsecured crash on the A3. Please turn right and not overtake!”
The Russia-Ukraine war has been shrouded in misinformation since the start of the conflict.
Earlier this week, old footage of the Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was widely shared online under the false claim that she was a Ukrainian girl confronting a Russian soldier.
Other misleading footage linked to the crisis has come from the Middle East, where multiple videos and images from Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Palestine have all falsely been attributed to the Russian invasion.
Distrust of the media
Many online users reacted with exasperation at the use of the clip and the amount of misinformation that has appeared over the past few days, with some beginning to distrust the media.
“I thought I’ve seen it all but this is a whole new level of stupid,” wrote one Twitter user.
One person wrote “Why is this happening? Why is the media engaging in this?”
This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.
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