Does a video circulating on social media show pro-Gaza protesters in India waving the Italian flag? No, that's not true: The flag carried by protesters shown in the video is the Welfare Party Of India flag, not the Italian flag, nor Palestinian flag. The signage of the long vertical banner the protesters are carrying identifies the group as the Welfare Party Kerala, a sector of the national Welfare Party in India. Its flag has the same colors in the same order as Italy's, but the political party's banner often has writing emblazoned across it.
The claim appeared in a video published on X, formerly known as Twitter, on October 21, 2023 (archived here) which opened:
that's the Italian flag I'm fucking crying
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time of writing:
(Source: X.com screenshot taken on Mon Oct 23 20:48:11 2023 UTC)
Beginning at 9-seconds into the video, the large white banner at the front of the protest can be seen and it reads in red all capital letters, "WE INDIANS STAND WITH GAZA RESIST" and below that is green all capital letters that says, "WELFARE PARTY KERALA." While the protest was in support of the Palestinians, they did not mistakenly fly the flag of Italy:
(Source: X.com screenshot taken on Mon Oct 23 20:50:16 2023 UTC)
The Welfare Party flag can have a symbol and writing on the white portion of the flag, but that is not seen in the video posted on X. The flag can be seen on the Welfare Party of India website (archived here):
(Source: Welfare Party of India website screenshot taken on Mon Oct 23 20:56:22 2023 UTC)
The Welfare Party in Kerala is listed as one of the state units on the party's official website here (archived here).
This is what the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) looks like, according to Britannica. Note the top stripe is black and there is no black stripe in the flags displayed in the X.com post claiming protesters carried the Italian flag:
(Source: Britannica.com screenshot taken on Mon Oct 23 20:59:22 2023 UTC)
Other Lead Stories articles on claims pertaining to the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict are here.
