A video from a pro-Palestine rally in Pakistan, where protesters placed fake body bags to represent the number of victims, is viral claiming it shows a scene from Gaza.
BOOM found that the footage is from a November 2023 protest in Karachi, Pakistan against Israel's airstrikes. We were able to verify that the video is representative of the situation in Gaza and that the protesters placed tied up body bags to show the number of children killed in Gaza.
The 1 minute 21 seconds video shows a group of people gathered around a massive Palestinian flag on the ground with the words, "Save Gaza" written. On the flag are tied up objects, covered in a white cloth, resembling the way corpses are tied in certain cultures.
A Facebook user posted the video with a caption, "Birds of Jannah From Gaza".
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM extracted multiple keyframes from the video and ran a reverse image search with a related keyword search which led us to an X post from 2023 featuring similar visuals.
The post on X identified the location as Karachi, Pakistan.
The post, written in Urdu translates to, "Thousands of Pakistanis renew their pledge to the martyrs along with more than 5,000 innocent martyred children of Gaza ‼ Thousands of boys and girls from various schools and madrassas in Karachi participated and renewed their commitment to the Palestinian martyrs. 📌 Location: Nishtar Park Karachi"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
A further search led us to pictures published by the news wire agency, Associated Press on November 19, 2023. The caption detailed that they were photos from a protest held against Israel and in support of Palestine in Karachi, Pakistan.
We also found coverage of the protest by Pakistani news outlet Dawn News where they aired visuals matching the viral video. Dawn News reported that protest in Karachi's Nishtar park was especially for children who had lost their lives is Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
The protest visuals in Karachi appear in the news report between 6:18 and 6:29 minutes.
The Associated Press on November 19, 2023, reported on the protest as, "Tens of thousands of supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party rallied in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday against Israel’s bombing of Palestinians in Gaza and what it said is the world’s failure to protect Gazans. Amid anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans the emotionally charged crowd also called for jihad, or holy war."
