Jewish

Did a menorah get deliberately knocked down on December 19, 2024, in Toronto, as a social media post implied? No, that's not true: Toronto police confirmed to Lead Stories that a car accident resulted in the menorah being knocked down that day. They said there were no other incidents that day involving menorahs. The claim appeared in a post (archived…

Does a video circulating on social media show Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu running to a bunker to take shelter from an Iranian missile attack? No, that's not true: The video was posted to Netanyahu's Twitter account in December 2021, when there were no Iranian missile strikes on Israel. It shows Netanyahu hurrying to a vote in the Israeli parliament,…

Did Mexico's President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum hold up a menorah while making a speech? No, that's not true: The photo of Sheinbaum on X that shows her doing this has been edited. In the original photo, which dates back to 2017, her fist is raised high in the air, but she does not hold a menorah and is not wearing large…

Did a Jewish family hire Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot former President Donald Trump? Or was Crooks trained to shoot by the CEO of BlackRock Security or by a rabbi? Has footage been leaked showing Crooks and the BlackRock CEO together carrying a gun? No, none of these claims are true: Using an AI-detection tool, Lead Stories found that the…

Does a video show a group of protesters with Palestinian flags shouting offensive sentiments about France, Jewish people and the police after the 2024 French legislative election? No, that's not true: The video predates the election. Additionally, what the people in the protest are yelling sounds like a pro-Palestinian slogan, not the death threats a social media post claims were…

Did actress Scarlett Johansson once say, "I am a Jew, and no amount of money in the world will tempt me to go against Israel?" No, that's not true: There is no record of Johansson ever having made this remark. A search on Google News shows no credible news reports of Johansson, who is Jewish, ever having said this. The…

Does an authentic photo of Claudia Sheinbaum, recently elected to be president of Mexico, bear an uncanny resemblance to the antisemitic "Happy Merchant" meme caricature? No, that's not true: The image was digitally manipulated to introduce some unflattering details that were not present in the original photo -- notably altering Sheinbaum's profile and changing the position of her neck. The…

Did Belgian public broadcaster VRT make an editorial decision to intentionally interrupt Eurovision song contest coverage to express its protest against Israel's actions in Gaza? No, that's not true: The message that appeared on the TV screens was posted by VRT unions, not VRT, a spokesperson for the TV channel confirmed to Lead Stories. One union openly wrote about that…

Is a photo showing a woman holding a pro-Palestine sign that reads "You don't get to choose who we rape" authentic? No, that's not true: the photo was digitally altered to change the original sign which read "You don't get to choose how we resist." While the woman in the picture is a real protester at a real pro-Palestine ceasefire…

Does a video show actor Robert De Niro yelling at anti-Israel protestors? No, that's not true: A spokesperson at Netflix told Lead Stories that this video was taken during the rehearsal of an upcoming series. Lead Stories found photographs on Getty Images of De Niro in the same clothing he was wearing in the claim. The caption to these photos…