The fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza began on 10 May after weeks of rising Israeli-Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem that culminated in clashes at al-Aqsa, a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews. Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes. After the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held into a third day, while the mediators spoke to all sides about extending the period of calm after the worst outbreak of fighting in years, which saw at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, killed by Israeli bombing. Amid this frail situation a clip from a Pro-Palestinian protest in Doha, Qatar on May 15, 2021, showing protesters shouting slogans in Malayalam is being shared with the false claim that it is from Wayanad, Kerala.
One can clearly see in the video, that the protestors are raising slogans in Malayalam, which translate to: “We won’t forget nor forgive Israel for its atrocities. Israel used bombs and arms to kills Palestinians. We will make you accountable for all the bloodshed.” The claim was shared along with the video which mentions that “pro-Hamas jehadis” supporting Palestine protested in Kerala’s Wayanad district, which is the constituency of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The video was shared by Twitter user Rakesh Thiyyan and had garnered over 3,500 views at the time of writing this article.
After a thorough digging, a video was found, which was uploaded on 16th May on ‘GulfMalayaly’s handle and the caption along with it mentioned that people stood in solidarity with Palestine in Qatar. The viral visuals can be seen from 0:26 seconds. A working professional in Qatar, Joju Kurien, confirmed that the protest took place in Qatar’s Doha at the Qatar State Mosque on 15 May. Also, a longer version of the same clip (1 minute 43 seconds) was uploaded on Facebook on May 17, 2021, with the caption stating that it shows Keralite Muslims supporting Palestine and taking out a procession at the mosque in Qatar, which also contains the fragments from the viral video.
Furthermore, the media outlet ‘Qatar Living’, too, shared similar visuals on its Facebook account mentioning that several people from different nationalities had gathered in the Imam Muhammad bin Abdulwahhab Mosque or Qatar State Mosque to show support to Palestine. A news report by the Gulf Times, mentioned that Ismail Haniya, head of the political bureau of Hamas, also addressed the crowd in Doha on 15 May. Meanwhile, the BBC reported that, after bloodshed that lasted 11 days, a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip brokered by Egypt came into effect on 21 May. Both sides have since claimed victory. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP news agency that Palestinians had thrown stones at officers, and that “riot” suppressing measures had been taken in response.
But the ceasefire seemed to be holding on Friday night. Israel has temporarily opened a crossing into Gaza, allowing food, fuel and medicine into the territory. The country has also lifted emergency restrictions inside its own borders.
Thus, a video from Qatar was passed off with a false claim that people gathered in Kerala’s Wayanad to show support towards Palestine, the viral video is shared with the motive to confuse people.
