Does a nighttime video on social media showing a large group of people marching down a street depict a pro-Palestinian protest in France? No, that's not true: It shows soccer fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The video was shot on October 5, 2023, two days before the start of the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict.
The claim was implied in a post (archived here) on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that was published on October 29, 2023. The post included the video and a caption that read:
France🇫🇷 has BANNED pro-Palestinian protests.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
Although it's true that France has banned pro-Palestinian protests and that there have been such protests in France, the video does not depict a pro-Palestinian protest. It shows soccer fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and pre-dates the start of the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict.
The video was shot on October 5, 2023, two days before the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel. Specifically, the footage shows fans of Brazil's Palmeiras soccer team ahead of the players' semifinal match against Argentina's Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores, an annual tournament for South America's top soccer teams.
Planeta do Futebol, a social media account about Brazilian soccer, posted the footage on X on October 5, 2023, as can be seen below:
O caminho da torcida do Palmeiras ao Allianz Parque.
-- Planeta do Futebol 🌎 (@futebol_info) October 5, 2023
🎥 @marcelarafael pic.twitter.com/5K7mKaFMhE
The post credited the video to sports journalist Marcela Rafael.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict can be read here.
