Clip shows rally against far-right party in Germany, not pro-Palestinian protest on US college campus

An old video showing a massive crowd demonstrating against a far-right party in Germany has resurfaced in Chinese social media posts viewed hundreds of thousands of times that falsely claimed it showed pro-Palestinian protests on a US college campus. The video was in fact filmed in Hamburg in January 2024 and is unrelated to rallies over the soaring death toll from Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

"US University Demonstration: pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University was majestic!" read the simplified Chinese caption to a video posted on Weibo on April 30, 2024.

The video, which was viewed more than 156,000 times, shows various aerial shots of a massive crowd as a German-language song plays in the background.

The same clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Weibo, where it was viewed more than 109,000 times.

The posts were shared days before police cleared the campus of New York’s Columbia University – the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests across US colleges -- and evicted a building occupied by student protesters.

Protests against the Gaza war, with its high civilian death toll among Palestinian civilians, have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate speech.

The Gaza war started when Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left around 1,170 people dead, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 34,500 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

But the video was not filmed at Columbia University and is unrelated to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at college campuses.

Rally in Germany

A reverse image search using keyframes from the video and subsequent keyword searches on Google led to similar footage posted on the YouTube channel of documentary and digital content creator red. media on January 20, 2024 (archived link).

Its caption says the video shows tens of thousands of people protesting against the far-right AfD party in Hamburg.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the false posts (left) and corresponding footage posted on YouTube by red. media (right):

AFP reported there were protests across Germany after it was revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens" at a meeting with extremists.

News of the gathering sent shockwaves across the country at a time when the AfD was soaring in opinion polls, months ahead of major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support is strongest.

Around 50,000 people attended the demonstration in Hamburg, according to police, with German media reporting that it had to be called off due to overcrowding.

Videos of the rally were published by AFP, German public radio and television broadcasters Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and Deutsche Welle (DW), showing the demonstration from other angles (archived links here and here).

Al-Jazeera reported that a group of pro-Palestinian protestors attempted to join the anti-AfD event, but said they were discriminated against and pushed around (archived link).

Google Maps imagery shows the rally took place on the Jungfernstieg promenade (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of footage used in the false posts (left) and the same location as seen on Google Maps (right):

Footage from the same demonstration has previously been misrepresented as showing a pro-Palestinian rally. 

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war here.