An old photograph of female Israeli artistic swimmers making a human formation spelling out "Bring Them Home Now" is being shared with a misleading claim that shows a protest by the Israeli contingent at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics.
BOOM found that the photograph is from November 2023, when a group of artistic swimmers at Israel's Wingate Institute created the formation to call for the return of the hostages to Israel.
The slogan 'Bring Them Home Now' gained prominence after Israelis worldwide used it as a campaign slogan asking for the release of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7, 2023, attack.
The photo is being shared after the first Olympic Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal wore an embroidered shirt depicting children being bombed in Palestine at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024, to highlight Israeli bombarding on the region. Following this, certain sections of the Israeli media reported on the approval of the shirt by the International Olympic Committee and added that the "committee denied a request by Israeli athletes to wear yellow ribbons advocating for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza."
Yellow ribbons have long been a global symbol for return of troops and gained significance recently as Israelis ran a campaign using yellow ribbons demanding the release of those held hostage by Hamas.
The viral picture was shared on X by a user with the text, "Israel Olympic Team was not allowed to wear the Yellow Pins with slogan "Bring Them Home Now" so their swimming team went ahead and formed this in the pool during training. Some statement this is really. Olympic Games Paris 2024."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The Free Press Journal also featured old footage of the Israeli swimmers' protest in a recent news report.
Click here to view the report and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM first ran a reverse image search on the photograph and found a November 19, 2023 story published by Tel Aviv-based news outlet Israel Hayom with the same picture.
The news report in Hebrew gave the photo courtesy to Adam Spiegel at the Wingate Institute in Israel and detailed that the athletes formed the "Bring Them Home Now!" message in the national pool.
We also found that the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted the same photo on their official Facebook page at that time, with a caption that reads, "A beautiful tribute by Israel’s national artistic swimming team in tribute to the 240 hostages being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. We will not stop until each and every one of them are brought home. Yoav Borowitz".
Click here to view the post.
Photographer Adam Spiegel also documented the swimmers arranging themselves in a Star of David formation, representing the flag of Israel.
Click here to view the post.
On November 19, 2023, the Israel artistic swimming team also posted the same picture on their Instagram profile.
Click here to view the post.
According to a report by Ynetnews on May 21, 2024, the same Israeli artistic swimming team heading to the Olympics created a similar gesture for the second time for the same issue.
