There Is A List

2023viral videodead

There Is A List is a meme originating from a November 2023 video where an Israeli military spokesperson pointed at a calendar in a Gaza hospital tunnel, claiming it showed Hamas hostage-guarding shifts. Arabic speakers quickly debunked the claim, noting the text simply listed days of the week, sparking widespread parodies.

Overview

There Is A List refers to a moment from a November 2023 video released by the Israeli Defense Forces showing Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari walking through what was described as a Hamas tunnel beneath a Gaza hospital. During the video, Hagari pointed at a calendar on the wall and declared "There is a list," claiming it documented shifts for Hamas terrorists guarding hostages1. The phrase and the video quickly became a meme after Arabic speakers pointed out the calendar simply displayed the days of the week in Arabic, not any names or shift schedules2.

The meme format typically involves showing the original footage of Hagari pointing at the calendar while overlaying humorous captions or music that mock the claim. Parodies range from adding sitcom theme songs to the clip to creating fake "lists" that comically misinterpret mundane items as evidence. The rapid debunking and the perceived absurdity of the original claim made There Is A List a notable example of propaganda being quickly countered through internet humor3.

How It Spread

The meme spread rapidly across TikTok starting November 14th, 2023. TikToker @abu.ayoub.simply posted an edit featuring a parody of the Happy Days theme song over the Hagari footage, which gained over 1.1 million views in one week3. On the same day, TikToker @iamaseyat posted a debunking video that reached over 5 million views3.

By November 17th, the format had inspired numerous variations. TikTokers @ka12000 and @b_imen each posted parody videos that gained over 1.4 million and 1.3 million views respectively within four days3. The trend also crossed over to X, where user @CensoredMen posted a parody on November 19th that earned over 22,000 likes in two days3.

The meme's spread was fueled by the combination of the video's serious military presentation and the almost immediate community debunking. The format allowed creators to mock what many perceived as poorly constructed propaganda, with the phrase "There is a list" becoming shorthand for pointing at mundane objects and claiming they held sinister significance.

How to Use This Meme

The There Is A List format typically involves taking the original Hagari footage or creating similar setups where someone points at an everyday object and dramatically declares it to be evidence of something. Common variations include overlaying comedic music like sitcom themes, adding fake subtitles that reinterpret mundane items as suspicious, or recreating the scene with obvious non-evidence like grocery lists or children's drawings. The humor comes from contrasting the serious military presentation with the absurdity of the actual content.

Frequently Asked Questions