Video from 2004 during Iraq War viral as Israeli forces capturing Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
17th May 2021 / 9:13 pm
A video of troops storming a mosque has been shared with the claim that the footage shows the Israeli military taking over the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
अल-अक्सा मस्जिद को खाली करा अपने कब्जे में ले लिया गया इजरायली सेना के द्वारा।
हमास के समर्पण तक जहां हमारी सेना पंहुचेगी, वही हमारी नई सीमा होगी – बेंजामिन नेतन्याहू
Posted by खुबचंद सरकार on Sunday, 16 May 2021
The Muslim place of worship is located “in the heart of Jerusalem’s walled Old City on the compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary – the most sensitive site in the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” according to Reuters. Although the mosque is under the jurisdiction of an Islamic waqf, Israel still commands access to the compound and security troops regularly patrol and conduct searches within the precinct.
Journalist Pushpendra Kulshrestha shared the video on his Facebook account, drawing over 3 lakh views and more than 26,000 likes before it was taken down.
It further gained views in the thousands from Facebook pages and accounts ।। यतो धर्म: ततो जय: ।।, राष्ट्रवाद, शिव नारायण and Avani A Dave.
The video is massively widespread on Facebook.
The same footage has been shared on Twitter with the Hindi text, “#अल_अक्सा_मस्जिद को खाली करवाकर इजराइल ने अपने कब्जे में लिया. #IndiaStandWithIsrael.”
Breaking:-#अल_अक्सा_मस्जिद को खाली करवाकर इजराइल ने अपने कब्जे में लिया💪#IndiaStandWithIsrael 🇮🇳🤝🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/ZJ3wUQigTe
— 📿 #३भ पद्मेश गुप्ता हिंदुस्थानी 📿 (@YOGI_Ji_GKP) May 17, 2021
Some users had shared the video with certain captions appearing towards the end. Below is a screenshot that reads ‘Task Force Viper & the 36th Commando Bn Captured 25 enemy’.
Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion (Bn) is one of several Iraqi Special Operations Units established post-Saddam Hussein’s fall.
The video’s reverse-image search takes one to an Arabic Youtube channel that says that the footage shows an attack on Golden Mosque or Al-Askari Shrine in Iraq’s Samarra in 2004.
Another verified YouTube channel FUNKER530 – Veteran Community & Combat Footage had uploaded a longer version of the same video. The viral portion begins at 1:44 minutes. “Historical US Special Forces Raid On Golden Mosque,” reads the video title. The footage was uploaded last year.
According to the YouTube channels, the footage was shot during the US-led invasion of Iraq. The Guardian’s Iraq war logs say that on October 1, 2004, the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion seized the Golden Mosque in Samarra, taking 25 detainees with weapons. The Golden Mosque is considered the third-holiest shrine for Shia Muslims.
An October 11, 2004 report in Fox News stated, “The Sovereign Government of Iraq decided to remove insurgent forces and restore the city of Samarra to its citizens and their legitimate government… Iraqi security forces operated independently when entering Samarra’s Golden Mosque…”
A comparison of the mosque visible in the video with images of the Golden Mosque in Samarra further confirms the location of the video.
17-year-old footage of Iraqi forces taking control of the Golden Mosque in Samarra during the Iraq War has been falsely shared as Israeli forces capturing Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Below is a video of the recent violence that erupted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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