Old footage of US band's show in Israel doctored to add pro-Palestinian song

The video showing a band performance was viewed more than 680,000 times after it was shared on Facebook here on November 14, 2023.

An audience member is seen waving an Israeli flag. Sticker text onscreen reads: "Avenged Sevenfold Prank Israel. See the Israelis embarrassing themselves."

Avenged Sevenfold is a heavy metal band from the United States (archived link). Sticker text at the bottom of the frame rebrands the band's frontman Matt Shadows as "Muhammad Shadows".

The video appears to show them singing a song with the lyrics: "We stand together with Palestine. We fight together for Aqso. We stand together with Palestine. We fight together for Gaza. La ila ha ilallah."

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Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on November 29, 2023

"Aqso" refers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, considered the third-most holy site in Islam and the most sacred place for Jews (archived link).

"La ila ha ilallah" is an Arabic phrase meaning "there is no god but Allah" and part of the Islamic declaration of faith (archived link).

Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages -- 137 of whom remain in Gaza, Israeli officials say.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 18,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

During a seven-day truce that expired on December 1, Gaza militants released 105 hostages including dozens of Israelis freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The same clip has been viewed more than seven million times after it was shared on TikTok here, here and here, and on SnackVideo here.

Social media users left comments indicating they believed the video was genuine.

"We stand together for palestine!!" wrote a Facebook user.

"Love Palestine," said another.

But the video has been doctored from old concert footage and the creator said it was made using artificial intelligence as a "parody".

Doctored video

Akeyword search on Googlefound the same video published on October 16, 2023 to YouTube with the title "Avenged Sevenfold supports Palestine! The concert-goers were disappointed (live Israel) prank! Parody part 1" (archived link).

"DON'T TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!! This video is just an edit made using AI (Artificial Intelligence), there is no intention to insult any party," the Indonesian-language caption reads.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the parody video (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the YouTube "parody" video (right)

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google and Yandex found a longer version of the video published on June 29, 2018 by a YouTube channel called Lily From the First Row, which posts footage of various bands' concerts held in Israel (archived link).

The video shows Avenged Sevenfold performing one of its most popular songs, "So Far Away". The song's lyrics do not mention "Palestine" or "Gaza", nor does it contain Arabic phrases (archived here).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the original YouTube video (right):

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Comparison between the doctored video (left) and the original video (right)

The YouTube caption indicates the video was from the band's live show in Israel on June 26, 2018.

Avanged Sevenfold had posted about the June 2018 concert on its official account on X, formerly Twitter, in February that year (archived link).

Additional Google keyword searches found the audio used in the false video is of a song called "Free Palestine" by Indonesian band Rashid Naqsyabandi (archived link).

The song was uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on November 15, 2023. The lyrics in the song and displayed in the caption match the ones heard in the doctored video.

AFP has debunked other false caims linking celebrities to the Israel-Hamas war, such as model Bella Hadid, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, as well as football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.