How 'Anti-Zionist' Garbage Works on Social Media

This story did get written up in print by some outlets. Several reports suggest there were 68 people in all while others said the number was closer to 40:

Security inspectors foiled an attempt to smuggle about 40 Palestinians into Israel inside a garbage truck in northern Samaria, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Crossing Points Authority said on Monday night.

The CPA said its personnel stopped the truck at the Shomron Crossing after it arrived from the east, and discovered the Palestinians hiding in the vehicle’s refuse compartment.

Nothing I've seen indicates the Palestinians in the truck were carrying any weapons. It looks like they were being smuggled into the country for work.

According to police, “A garbage truck driver transported dozens of Palestinian illegal entrants, who were placed inside the refuse compactor. The Palestinians were on their way to various cities inside the country, but a joint operation by officers from the Judea and Samaria District and Border Police operating around Jerusalem thwarted the driver’s plan, and he was arrested.”

Police emphasized that the driver does not have a license to operate this type of vehicle. He and the Palestinians were taken in for questioning. “This is a foul story of the devaluation of human life,” police said.

Again, I don't know all of the details but from what has been said publicly, this is probably similar to similar incidents in the US where a box truck will be opened and instead of commercial cargo the truck turns out to be packed with illegal immigrants being smuggled into the country for work.

But after the 10/7 attack, Israel clearly can't risk having trucks full of Palestinian men smuggled into the country. It may have been workers carrying backpacks this time, but the next time it could be armed Hamas members looking to kill as many civilians as possible.

The point is, there's a way to cover what happened here with some sympathy for the people on both sides. But the bottom line is that this was illegal and dangerous and Israel can't allow it for obvious reasons.

But what happened on X was something different. Instead of conveying the facts, the "anti-Zionist" crowd simply invented a whole new story to go along with the video. According to this guy, the IDF (not the police) were using the truck to transport Palestinians.

60 Palestinians were being transported by the Israel Defense Forces in a garbage truck; Israel is oppressing innocent Palestinians, and the world remains silent.#Pakistán #امن_کا_سفیر_پاکستان #IranWar‌ #Węgry pic.twitter.com/dQuubjBZai

— Rizvana Raza 🇮🇷 (@Rizvana_Raza) April 14, 2026

This version of reality has been viewed over half a million times according to X. And then it got a signal boost from this Game of Thrones actor who sent it to his 571k followers.

This is Zionism https://t.co/Mo7wfpyOAE

— liam cunningham (@liamcunningham1) April 14, 2026

This is Zionism? The this in this case didn't even happen, you absolute clown. But a bunch of his followers are clearly primed to believe anything as long as the word "Zionists" is present.

Israel and IDF literally try to think up more creative and deranged things and behaviour to do to the daily.

It’s all deliberate to attempt to humiliate and beat the Palestinians into submission.

— Paddy Ó Tuathalán (@paddytoland) April 14, 2026

Reminds me of the photos of the cattle cars that the German Nazis used to transport their prisoners...The fear on the prisoners' faces looks the same.

— Kate Emerson 🇵🇸 🔻 (@KateEmersonBri) April 14, 2026

But there were lots of people, more actually, who were trying to point out this was a lie.

Are you nuts? This is a video of Palestinians hiding in a garbage truck trying to infiltrate into Israel.

— Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי (@AviKaner) April 14, 2026

The fact that you would share this blatant lie so confidently shows how utterly deranged you are, warped by your hatred, and that you simply cannot be taken seriously. 🍉🤡🇵🇸🇮🇱 (The men were trying to sneak into Israel inside the garbage truck!)

— Liran Nathan (@LiranNathan) April 14, 2026

Idiots... they were trying to enter Israel ilegally... you probably know why...

— Matias Bergmann (@matiberg) April 14, 2026

And there are so many people responding this way that he has to know it's not true, right? Well, yes, he definitely knows. He just doesn't care.

Any thoughts on the genocide Paw?

— liam cunningham (@liamcunningham1) April 14, 2026

As long as he can keep claiming Israel is guilty of genocide, he's free to lie about them to his heart's content. That seems to be how this works now.

To commit genocide maybe. Oh, wait……
they were beaten to it. By who I wonder?
Any guesses?

— liam cunningham (@liamcunningham1) April 14, 2026

Credit to AG Hamilton whose comment first caught my attention to all of this. And I agree that this is just what a lot of the "anti-Zionism" online has become. 

This is actually a perfect example of anti-Zionism.

It’s a video of 60 Palestinians trying to sneak into Israel via a garbage truck. The poster changes the caption to make up a false story about the IDF and gets thousands of reposts.

Deranged lunatics like Liam are then… https://t.co/aOYxdrcubf

— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 14, 2026

Deranged lunatics like Liam are then convinced the lie is proof to support their derangement.

There's a phrase that describes this which I've mentioned before. It's called moral licensing. You convince yourself that your deeds are so noble and righteous overall (right side of history and all of that) that you've earned the right to do some immoral and unethical things on the side. So, even when you make up a lie about your enemies, you're still the good guy. 

That's what I see a lot on X (and other social media sites) these days from "anti-Zionists" like Tucker Carlson. (Remember his cruel detention at Israel's airport?) It's just a dumpster fire of lies and no one cares because it gets lots of clicks from likeminded people who also don't care about the truth.