An old protest video from Egypt has resurfaced with a false claim that the footage shows how Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera staged fatalities amid the recent Israel-Palestine conflict.
The widely shared video depicts multiple bodies are covered with shrouds and lying on the ground. In one part of the video, one of the bodies appears to move beneath the shroud. At another moment, an individual lifts one of the shrouds, revealing a man who laughs before his face is covered again.
However, BOOM found that the video is unrelated to the ongoing conflict between Isarel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The footage displays scenes from a protest held at Al-Azhar University in Egypt in 2013.
Israeli government declared a 'state of war' against Palestinian militant group Hamas after it claimed that Hamas took lives of more than 1400 people by a surprise attack on the country on October 7 this year. In the recent developments, Isarel has dismissed the calls for cease-fire and expanded its ground attack after blacking out mostly all communications in the Gaza Strip. The attack has resulted in the loss of over 7000 Palestinian lives, reported Associated Press citing the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The video is being shared with a caption saying, "This video has been made by AL-Jazeera. Videography is being done of some dead bodies which are not even dead. You are making videos of living people by showing them dead. You guys should get slapped every morning and evening."
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Several right-wing users also posted the video on X (formerly Twitter) with Hindi captions making a similar false claim.
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Fact Check
BOOM had previously debunked the same video when it went viral with a similar false claim in 2021. We then found that the video depicts visuals from a protest that occurred at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, in 2013.
After conducting a reverse image search on a keyframe from the viral video, we noticed that Al-Badil Newspaper, an Egyptian news outlet, had posted an extended version of the same video on October 28, 2013. The video was uploaded with an Arabic caption that translates to, "A representation of dead bodies inside Al-Azhar University".
The Arabic description with the video mentions that numerous Muslim Brotherhood students from Al-Azhar University organised a large-scale demonstration in front of the college's administrative building.
The report also states that a number of Brotherhood demonstrators at Al-Azhar University attempted to breach the university's administrative building, while others tried to gain access to the university's comprehensive clinic. Simultaneously, some students lit candles and set off fireworks in the air.
Taking a cue, we ran a search for other news reports about the protest and found several visuals of protest in Al-Azhar University took place at that time.
The Wall Street Journal also uploaded one such visual of the protest on October 31, 2013, on its official YouTube channel.
A report by Egypt-based news outlet Ahram Online from October 26, 2013, states, "Groups of students have been protesting what they call a "military coup" that toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. They reject the country's interim leadership and call for Morsi's reinstatement."
The article also highlights that the Egypt's military ousted Mohamed Morsi from his position on July 3, 2013, in the wake of a nationwide protest against his leadership. According to the report, the removal of Morsi was a pivotal component of a roadmap supported by several political factions, which included Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church. Following this event, Morsi's supporters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, became engaged in protests demanding his reinstatement.