Old video of a protest in Istanbul shared as new one after Rafah attack on the 26th of May

Turkish media did not report a single protest in front of the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul following the Rafah airstrike on the 26th of May. The Demiroren News Agency reported on the 27th of May that an anti-Israeli group chanted slogans outside the US Consulate in the Southern Turkish city of Adana 

We are fact-checking a post on Facebook sharing a video of an alleged attack on the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul the day after the attack on Rafah by the Israeli Army. 

“Turkey: protesters set on fire the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul. Erdogan is losing control over Constantinople?” specifies the post.

Our fact-check showed that the video in question was from pro-Palestinian protesters in Istanbul from October 2023, sharing the footage as a new video from the 27th of May following the Israeli attacks on Gaza last month. 

The video was shared two days after the Israeli airstrike on the 26th of May that caused a fire in the tent camp in Rafah thereby killing at least 45 civilians. Israel informed that the target of the attack was two high-profile operatives of Hamas, not civilians. 

Nevertheless, the footage dates back to October 2023. 

One of the earliest posts is from the 17th of October 2023 by Kendine Muhabir, whose account on the social network X is described as a citizen journalist. The Turkish language article attached to the footage says the following: 

“The crowd gathered to protest. Israel set the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on fire!” reports the Reuters.

The same building with the square windows and the high-rise building behind it can be seen in a photograph published by Reuters on the 17th of October 2023 alongside the description: 

“Fireworks explode as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather near the Israeli Consulate during a protest, after hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other.”

Similar protests sparked by the Al-Ahli hospital blast took place in at least a dozen Turkish cities that night. 

Turkish media have not reported on any protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul since the 26th of May airstrike on Rafah. The Demiroren News Agency reported on the 27th of May that an anti-Israeli group chanted slogans outside the US Consulate in the Southern Turkish city of Adana. 

The conclusion from all of the above-noted is that the video attached in the fact-checked post shows pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Istanbul from October 2023 – not from May 2024. Hence, the assessment is that the post is incorrect. 

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