Old video from Turkey viral as French police stop Muslim public prayers after teacher's killing - Alt News
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29th October 2020 / 1:36 pm / Last updated: 29th October 2020
Recent comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron on Islam, after a middle school teacher was killed for showing cartoons of the Prophet, has led to a backlash from several Islamic countries. In this context, two videos have been shared with text, “Streets are for the cars, not for praying” on Twitter and Facebook. Users can be seen lauding police response against protesting Muslims.
Twitter user @dharmicverangna posted this video and wrote, “French police used water canon to clear the streets of Yüksekova! Streets are for cars, not for praying. #CharlieHebdo #hypocriteErdogan #MacronApologizeToMuslims”. Close to 1.5 lakh people have viewed this video. (archived link)
French police used water canon to clear the streets of Yüksekova!
Streets are for cars, not for praying.#CharlieHebdo #hypocriteErdogan #MacronApologizeToMuslims pic.twitter.com/5BICMaKGd6
— Vaidehi 🇮🇳 🕉️ (@dharmicverangna) October 28, 2020
Similarly, Twitter user @YamrajFromHell also posted the viral video. It has gained close to 50,000 views (archived link). This account is followed by Office of RK Singh. Singh is a BJP member and the current Minister of Power and Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
After performing a reverse image search on Yandex, Alt News found a tweet by @KurtlerKimdir (translates to History of Kurdish) carrying similar visuals.
Burası Filistin. Saldıranlarda İsrail polisi. Konu Kürd olunca kulaklar sağır oluyor!
Devletsiz Kürdün Filistin sevdası… pic.twitter.com/YsR3kltKOa
— Kürtler Kimdir? (@KurtlerKimdir) December 8, 2017
This tweet includes four images, one of them is identical to the scenes depicted in the viral clip.
Turkish news website Yüksekova Haber Portalı uploaded the viral video on YouTube in 2012. Its description in Turkish states, “The events that took place during the ‘civil Friday prayers’ in Yüksekova district of Hakkari put those who prayed in a difficult situation.”
A 2012 report by Turkish newspaper Haberturk reported that the police intervened a group of students who blocked highway traffic in Yüksekova.to draw attention to hunger strikes in prisons. Gas bombs were shot in Old Prison Junction where Friday civil prayers were performed. This report includes multiple screenshots from the viral video.
“About 70 Kurdish prisoners started an indefinite hunger strike in prisons across the country on September 12. In the following weeks, more than 600 prisoners have joined them. Their demands include increased cultural and political rights for the Kurdish community, the country’s largest ethnic minority that now makes up between 15 to 20 million people in Turkey,” reported Al Jazeera.
Twitter user @dharmicverangna who had shared the clip with the false claim later said that the incident is from Turkey and he was only “joking”.
Twitter user @kailashvasi361 posted this video and wrote, “Now wherever #Muslims pray on the streets of #Paris… It’s met with equally loud singing of National Anthem by French Citizens Well done French people Streets are for the cars, not for praying #CharlieHebdo”. This has been viewed over 500 times.
Now wherever #Muslims pray on the streets of #Paris… It’s met with equally loud singing of National Anthem by French Citizens
Well done French people👌👌
Streets are for the cars, not for praying#CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/ZHScsAxxus
— @डॉ_दत्त_महेश्वर🇮🇳🔱🕉️ (@kailashvasi361) October 28, 2020
Several Facebook users have posted the same video with text, “Now wherever #Muslims pray on the streets of #Paris… It’s met with equally loud singing of National Anthem by French Citizens Well done French people.”
This video was debunked by Alt News when it was shared with the claim “French citizens protesting against Muslims occupying sidewalks & road space for Namaz by singing the French national anthem loudly.” We found that the video is from 2017 when Muslims in the French city of Clichy prayed in public after a local mosque was shut down. In response, politicians sang the country’s national anthem.
France strictly implements separation of church and state. The country has often placed bans on public praying, leaving its minority Muslim community, highest in Western Europe, stranded. Shutting down of local mosques in the past as well has led to protests.
Therefore, old two videos were shared with the false claim that Muslim worshippers in France were met with protests after the Paris beheading. While one of the videos was shot three years ago in France, the second clip was from Turkey and unrelated to public prayers. Students were protesting to demand rights for Kurdish community.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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