Israeli woman “beats up” 3 guys

The video below shows an Israeli woman who is allegedly being harassed in a bar in Tel Aviv successfully defend herself against three men. At first sight, it seems like a scene taken from a movie, since the small 19-year old woman easily beats up three guys bigger than her.

As it turns out, it is not too far from an action movie. Even though the girl in the video is a Krav Manga (Israeli martial art) black belt, the video was staged.

The video had become viral and I saw it because several of my friends (all of them from Spanish-speaking countries) had shared it on Facebook. Many news sites in Latin America picked it up and described it as an example of a “hero” or “superwoman”.

When I saw it I was also tempted to share it, because it looked impressive, and because female harassment is a common problem in many Latin American countries. However, I first did an online search to learn more about the situation around this incident. I found that a few days after becoming viral the girl in the video acknowledged that it did not actually happen in a bar, but it was a stunt to raise awareness of the importance of personal defense. In the original Facebook post, she also tagged her trainer and provided a link to his site.

While the video was successful in being seen by thousands of viewers, and raising awareness on the importance of personal defense, I felt deceived and decided not to share it on my Facebook wall. The fact that it was staged diminished the impression I felt about it. However, it was a successful stunt, as the girl in the video -Gili Ganani- is now a minor celebrity and her trainer received a lot of free publicity. The video keeps being shared as if it was true, which suggests that few people take a few seconds to confirm its authenticity, or simply do not care about it. In either case, it is a valuable lesson about how people share social media content.