A pro-Hamas rally was held in Paris on December 21, in which activists shouted pro-Hamas and anti-Israel slogans. Demonstrators took to the streets of Paris in a show of solidarity with the people of Gaza and with Palestine Action hunger strikers imprisoned in the UK.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which the police is seen lathi-charging protesting people.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that police in France were beating anti-Israel protestors.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Police in Paris beat Hamas supporters. They are fed up with them.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. We found that the viral video is old and shows labour day protest in France.
A Google reverse image search led us to the same video shared by an X account on May 1, with a caption that, when translated into English, reads, “The repression. The police are beating protesters very violently and arresting them.” The caption suggested that the visual is from International Workers' Day.
Using the information, we searched with relevant keywords and found that a video of the incident was also shared by Times Now on May 1.
The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Protest to mark May Day in Paris with French labour unions calling to demonstrate against the far right, for peace, freedom and social justice.”
We compared the viral video with the video shared by Times Now and found them to be the same. We can see the same building in the background and the same tree.
We also saw that the Palestinian flag was raised in the rally.
We further found a report by France 24, published on May 1.
According to the report, many labourers marched for Labour Day, demanding better pay and workers’ rights. Major rallies took place in Paris and other cities, with union leaders calling for action. Some demonstrations saw clashes with policee and journalists reported tensions during the marches.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
