Old video shows woman burning French flag in Morocco, not France

Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE / AFP Thailand
·4-min read

A video of a pro-Palestinian demonstrator burning a French flag in Morocco has been shared in posts that falsely claimed it showed an immigrant burning the flag in France in June 2024. The clip was filmed outside the French consulate in Tangiers in October 2023, as protesters condemned French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Israel after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

"#EveningNews (19/6/2024) Immigrants living in France came out to show support to Palestinians by burning the French flag," read the Thai-language caption to a video shared in a Facebook group with more than 315,000 members on June 19, 2024.

The video appears to show a woman participating in a pro-Palestinian rally setting fire to a piece of paper that has the French flag printed on it.

<span>Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on June 26, 2024</span>
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on June 26, 2024

The same video was shared alongside similar claims on X in Thai here and here, and in English here and here.

Comments on the posts suggest some users believed the video shows a rally in France.

"Pro-Hamas Muslim immigrants in France burn the French flag, calling for a Free Palestine. Can you understand their perspective?" wrote one user.

Another wrote: "Palestinian woman burns a French flag but why is she living in France then?"

The clip in fact shows part of a demonstration that occurred in Morocco in October 2023.

French consulate in Tangiers

A reverse image search using one of the video's keyframes led to corresponding footage published on YouTube by Tanja News TV, a Moroccan news outlet, on October 25, 2023 (archived link).

The video's Arabic-language title reads, "Burning the flag of France in front of its consulate in Tangiers".

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video used in the false Facebook post (left) and the YouTube video posted by Tanja News TV (right):

<span>Screenshot comparison between the video used in the false Facebook post (left) and the YouTube video posted by Tanja News TV (right)</span>
Screenshot comparison between the video used in the false Facebook post (left) and the YouTube video posted by Tanja News TV (right)

The clip falsely shared online corresponds to the first 21 seconds of the Tanja News TV footage. The Tanja News TV video also shows a group of people chanting and waving Palestinian flags, while they are hemmed in by police officers.

Keyword searches in Arabic led to  a report about the demonstration by Moroccan news outlet Achkayen (archived link).

Part of the report reads, "Yesterday evening, Tuesday, October 24, those in solidarity with Gaza raised strong slogans against French President Macron, denouncing his visit to Tel Aviv, in a protest in front of the French Consulate in Tangiers."

The article also said the protesters burned the French flag to denounce Macron, who visited Israel on the same day (archived link).

Macron had been the latest in a string of Western leaders to voice support for Israel's riposte to the Palestinian militant group Hamas after the October 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage in the unprecedented attack, 116 of whom remain captive in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel. The army says 42 of those are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,658 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Google Earth imagery also confirms the video was filmed in front of the French consulate in Tangiers

Below is a screenshot comparison between Tanja News TV's YouTube video (left) and the Google Earth imagery (right), with matching features highlighted by AFP:

<span>Screenshot comparison between Tanja News TV's YouTube video (left) and the Google Earth imagery (right)</span>
Screenshot comparison between Tanja News TV's YouTube video (left) and the Google Earth imagery (right)

An emblem visible in the foreground of the falsely shared clip also corresponds to that worn by Moroccan police officers.

A keyword search led to photos captured by AFP of the emblem here and here.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the police emblem visible in the falsely shared clip (left) and in an AFP photo (right), with the emblem highlighted by AFP:

<span>Screenshot comparison of the police emblem visible in the falsely shared clip (left) and in an AFP photo (right)</span>
Screenshot comparison of the police emblem visible in the falsely shared clip (left) and in an AFP photo (right)

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers a day in its relentless 'meat grinder' tactics against Ukraine: report

    Russian troops are being used in head-on assaults on Ukrainian positions.

  • The Houthis are getting smarter with their Red Sea attacks, and the ships sailing these waters are paying the price

    The Iran-backed rebels have seen a string of successful attacks this month, striking a number of commercial vessels and even sinking one of them.

  • Terrorist attacks are on the rise in Russia as Putin remains 'distracted' by war in Ukraine

    On Sunday evening, gunmen attacked two Orthodox churches and two synagogues in Russia's Dagestan region, killing around 20 people.

  • Israel's top Arab MP says his people 'hunted' over Gaza support

    In the office of one of Israel's most recognisable Arab politicians, framed pictures show him posing with famous figures like Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Between October 7 and March 27, Israeli police arrested 401 people, the majority Arabs, for speech-related offences it says were tantamount to "incitement to terrorism", its figures showed.

  • Protesters and police clash as Germany’s far-right AfD begin conference

    A congress for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which kicked off in the western city of Essen on Saturday has been met with thousands of protesters.

  • US proposes new language to revive stalled Israel-Hamas ceasefire efforts

    The United States has proposed new language to bridge gaps in discussions for a deal between Israel and Hamas, a senior US administration official said Friday.

  • Israeli forces push deeper into southern, northern Gaza

    STORY: Funerals such as this one are now all too common in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.And these victims, buried on Friday (June 28), were emergency workers, who were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit the headquarters of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Al-Nuseirat camp.These are the crews who run toward fire, digging through rubble, seeking survivors. The rescue service said its facility was struck just before midnight. It said the latest deaths raised the tally of staff killed by Israeli forces to 74 since the start of the war on October 7.Mohammed Al-Mugheir, the director of support at the Palestinian Civil Defence told Reuters his emergency teams faced severe shortages of critical supplies as a result of Israel’s military offensive, which has left the densely-populated coastal enclave in ruins.“The capabilities are almost non-existent, in light of the increased strikes and airstrikes. Missions which would require two hours, take up to four to six hours to complete as the rescue machinery (needed) do not exist due to lack of fuel to operate the machinery needed to break concrete and to pull martyrs and the wounded from under the rubble.”The loss of rescue workers is yet another compounding tragedy for Gaza residents. Israel launched a massive air and ground offensive into Gaza after Hamas militants rampaged through Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1200 and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies.Israel's retaliation has killed more than 37,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.The Israeli military released footage on Friday, purporting to show its tanks operating in Shejaia, in the northern Gaza Strip, while Palestinian officials said Israeli forces were also pressing in the south. Reuters was able to verify part of the video based on buildings, but was was not able to independently verify the date when the video was filmed.Residents and Hamas media said tanks advanced further west into Rafah, forcing thousands of displaced people there to leave their tent camps and head northward to nearby Khan Younis.The Israeli military did not immediately comment.Since May 7, tanks have advanced in several districts of Rafah, and forces remained in control of the entire border line with Egypt and the Rafah crossing, the only gateway for most of Gaza's 2.3 million people with the outside world.

  • Turkey's president expresses willingness to restore diplomatic ties with Syria

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that there is no obstacle preventing Turkey and Syria from restoring diplomatic ties that were cut off at the start of the Syrian civil war more than a decade ago. “There is no reason why (diplomatic ties) should not be established,” Erdogan told reporters. “In the same way that we kept our relations with Syria alive in the past — we had these meetings with Mr Assad that included family meetings — we cannot say that it will not happen again,” Erdogan said.

  • Police officer shot with arrow in suspected terror attack at Israeli embassy in Serbia

    A police officer at the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade was shot in the neck with a crossbow in an attack on Saturday in a suspected terror attack, CNN affiliate N1 reported.

  • Gazans living in 'unbearable' conditions: UNRWA

    Gazans are forced to live in bombed-out buildings or camp next to giant piles of trash, a United Nations spokeswoman said Friday, denouncing the "unbearable" conditions in the besieged territory.- Friends 'unrecognisable' - Wateridge said that before the war, sanitation units would clear all the trash from refugee camps to landfill sites.

  • UNESCO finds Islamic State group-era bombs in Mosul mosque walls, years after the defeat of IS

    The U.N. cultural agency has discovered five bombs hidden within the walls of the historic al-Nouri Mosque in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, a remnant of the Islamic State militant group’s rule over the area, UNESCO said in a statement Saturday. The mosque, famous for its 12th-century leaning minaret, was destroyed by IS in 2017 and has been a focal point of UNESCO’s restoration efforts since 2020. The U.N. agency said that five large-scale explosive devices, designed for significant destruction, were found inside the southern wall of the Prayer Hall on Tuesday.

  • Kenyan Army Facilitates Crowds Marching Through Nairobi Slum

    As Kenyan police faced widespread allegations of beating and killing anti-government protesters, the army received praise after it safely shepherded vehicles and crowds through Kangemi, a slum on Nairobi’s western outskirts, on Thursday, June 27.Footage from the scene shows troops and several army vehicles moving westward on Waiyaki Way in Kangemi, followed by crowds of people both in vehicles and on foot. Soldiers at the head of the procession are seen clearing debris off the road as they wave and give thumbs-up to locals observing from above.According to local reports, the highway had been effectively shut down earlier that day, as protesters tried to make their way toward central Nairobi and were pushed back by police. Some protesters hurled stones at vehicles arriving from Nairobi, prompting criticism from other protesters.The army cleared the highway, allowing vehicles and people traveling from Nairobi to return to Kangemi and neighboring areas, reports said. Credit: @dan_wabs via Storyful

  • Complaint submitted against police after event disrupted by protesters

    A woman has submitted a complaint against police following an event that was disrupted by counter protesters.

  • Israel and Hezbollah Lurch Closer to War

    (Bloomberg) -- North Israel is a series of ghost towns — abandoned houses and scorched forests from Hezbollah missiles. Parts of south Lebanon have been hit so hard by Israeli bombs that they’ve been reduced to rubble. Tens of thousands of residents have been driven from homes on both sides.Most Read from BloombergBiden’s Disastrous Debate Accelerates Doubts Over CandidacyDemocrats Question Replacing Biden: Here’s How It Could WorkBiden Struggles as He Spars With Trump on Economy: Debate Takeawa

  • Protesters in Jerusalem demand Netanyahu's resignation

    STORY: ::Jerusalem, Israel ::June 27, 2024::Anti-government protesters march towards Netanyahu's home, demanding his resignation::Protests against Netanyahu have become more frequent as the war with Hamas in Gaza rages on"We think that he (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) has to make a bigger effort to bring back the hostages. We want him down because he's a major, corrupted person. He lies and thieves the country and the people. He doesn't do the job. He wants the war endless. So we thinks he's a jerk and he has to go. And we are demonstrating against him."Such demonstrations have grown more frequent as the war against Hamas in Gaza rages on and fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon threatens to escalate, but they have not reached the fever pitch of a year ago when Netanyahu's government tried to overhaul Israel's justice system.Many in the crowd, which appeared to number in the thousands, also chanted their support for reaching a deal to free some 120 Israeli hostages being held by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.As the sun began to set, protesters blocked traffic and lit a large bonfire on the central Jerusalem street. But there were no reports of major scuffles and police did not use a water cannon to control the crowd, as they have during more rowdy demonstrations.The protest movement has yet to change the political landscape, and Netanyahu still controls a stable majority in parliament.

  • Palestinian Lives Were Invisible To Both Donald Trump And Joe Biden In The First Debate

    Amid historic suffering and an American-backed Israeli offensive, the rivals for the U.S. presidency cast Palestinians as an afterthought or as outright villainous.

  • German far-right party reelects its leaders after election gains while opponents protest

    The far-right Alternative for Germany reelected its leadership duo Saturday after the party made gains in the recent European election, while thousands of people protested against its convention and some demonstrators tried to block roads or clashed with police. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, took 15.9% of the vote to finish second in the European Parliament election on June 9, despite recent scandals and setbacks. At the regular two-day convention in the western city of Essen, co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla were elected unopposed to new two-year terms.

  • Pennsylvania Senate passes bill to bar universities and pension funds from divesting from Israel

    Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved legislation Thursday that would block state aid from going to any university that boycotts or divests from Israel, following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country that included demands for divestment. The measure, which passed by a vote of 41 to 7, also would bar the state treasurer and public pension systems from boycotting or divesting from Israel's government or commercial financial activity in that country. Supporters of the legislation said it was motivated by a desire to support an ally nation in its war with Hamas, to fight a rising tide of antisemitism in the United States and to alert state-subsidized universities that they must protect Jewish students from threats and bullying by anti-Israel protesters.

  • Are TikTokers and Facebook sleuths drowning out actual leads in the hunt for Jay Slater?

    Investigators say armchair sleuths spreading memes and misinformation are harming missing teenager’s family

  • Michael Schumacher's heartbreaking health situation: reclusive life and everything we know

    Formula One legend and former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, 55, has lived a reclusive life with his family away from the glare of the spotlight since his skiing accident in 2013…