Decade-old Bahrain footage misrepresented as protest at Israeli embassy
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on October 23, 2023 at 17:46
- 3 min read
- By AFP USA, AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Natalie WADE
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"Video showing Molotov cocktails hurled at Israeli Embassy in Bahrain," says an October 19, 2023 post sharing the clip on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Similar posts circulated in multiple languages and on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram.
Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people -- mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials. The country says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said that upwards of 5,000 people have been killed, more than 2,000 of them children -- figures AFP has not been able to independently verify -- since Israel responded with a relentless bombing campaign.
Alarm has surged about the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with three convoys of aid trucks having cleared the Rafah crossing controlled by Egypt.
On October 20, demonstrations in support of Gaza were held across the Arab world. In Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords of 2020, around 1,000 people joined a march after Friday prayers shouting anti-Israel slogans -- but the video spreading on social media does not show this protest.
A reverse image search surfaced a version of the video posted December 30, 2012 on YouTube (archived here).
The Arabic caption says the footage depicts protesters attacking a police station on Sitra Island south of Manama in November 2012.
Using Google Maps, AFP geolocated the video shared in the posts to the Sitra police station.
AFP reported October 1, 2012 on arrests following an attack resembling the one in the footage. A United Press International article published November 5, 2012 also describes similar events.
"About 60 masked youths damaged property in several towns in Bahrain after the government banned rallies and public gatherings," the news agency reported. "Some of the youths tossed Molotov cocktails at the Sitra Police Station about 1 am Monday."
The report quotes one witness saying: "This is happening almost every day and we are getting used to it."
More of AFP's reporting on misinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict is available here.
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