Did an Israeli toy company make a Palestinian baby doll? No, that's not true: This baby doll was made as an art project by Instagram user @vlocke_negro. According to their Instagram post about the doll, they made this doll in support of Palestinians.
The claim appeared on Instagram (archived here) on January 9, 2024, with the caption, "Disgusting!!!!!" The on-screen text read:
Palestinian baby doll
Made in Israel...
This is sickening 🥺
Here is what the Instagram post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Jan 11 14:15:27 2024 UTC)
The video included in the post shows a baby doll with what appear to be bloody wounds, surrounded by toy soldiers, all behind a wall of plastic. The text at the top of the toy's packaging read, "INCLUYE BEBE PALESTINO" and "SOLDADOS DE ELITE" which translated from Spanish mean, respectively, "Includes Palestinian baby" and "elite soldiers," according to Google Translate. An Israeli flag can also be seen on the packaging. The Instagram user does not tell viewers where this doll was found or who made it.
A Google News search of "made in Israel AND Palestinian baby doll" (archived here) did not yield any relevant results in their index of thousands of credible news sites.
A Google search of the words, "Palestinian baby doll AND 'incluye bebe palestino'" (archived here) led us to this video of a TikTok (archived here) showing a sped-up version of someone going through an outdoor market. The person recording this video shows the baby doll seen in the Instagram post among other baby dolls. The caption of this TikTok is, "#incluye #bebe #palestino #macabre #doll #being #sold #in #mexico."
We then Google searched "'incluye bebe palestino' AND 'soldados de elite' AND Mexico" (archived here) and an Instagram post appeared. The user @vlocke_negro (archived here) posted a photo of them holding the packaged doll. The caption, in part (translated from Spanish to English using Google Translate), reads:
UPDATE UPDATE ... we managed to get your attention. Now the hard facts: more than 10,000 children are dead and thousands have been injured ... On January 5 we approached the street toy merchants within the framework of 'Three Kings Day' to whom we explained the purpose of this project, without hesitation they lent their stalls to take a shot and some photos ... This project was designed for the media and social networks ...
The user's bio, translated using Google Translate, reads "In CDMX, commissions and open collaborations," likely signifying that they are an artist. CDMX is shorthand for Mexico City, the capital of Mexico (archived here). The user appears to be the artist/creator of the doll. A second Instagram post (archived here) on vlocke_negro's account is a video of a hand cleaning the face and feet of the bloodied baby doll, wrapping the doll in a keffiyeh (archived here), and having the doll step on toy soldiers.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about the Hamas-Israel crisis are here.
