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Does This Video Show Muslims Offering Prayers On Roads Being Dragged Away? No, Viral Video Shows French Environmental Activists
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 25 Dec 2022 10:21 AM GMT
Editor : Bharat Nayak |
As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
We found that the viral video shows a group of environmental activists from the French activist group ‘Last Renovation’ protesting by sitting on roads. They were forcefully dragged away by irate drivers upset over the delays caused due to the obstructions by the activists.
A viral video showing people in reflective vests being dragged away by several persons amidst several parked cars is being circulated with the claim that it shows people dragging away Muslims who were offering prayers in the middle of a road in France.
Claim:
The video shows several people sitting on the road while surrounded by cars. They are seen being forcefully dragged away by a couple of irate people. The stalled vehicles start moving after the road clears.
Author Madhu Purnima Kishwar, who has circulated pieces of misinformation multiple times in the past, tweeted the video claiming, "France. People are getting down from their cars& clearing roads occupied by the Namazis. Govts in all democracies are cowardly coz they're held hostage by vote banks. Citizen action alone can save us from the lethal spread of MuzzBees." She later deleted the tweet. Below you can see the screenshot of her tweet.
The video has been tweeted several Twitter users.
The video is being circulated with a similar claim across Facebook.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact-Check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. Video shows a group of environmental activists protesting by sitting on roads.
We used InVid's Keyframe Analysis Tool to isolate the keyframes of the viral video. Conducting a reverse image search on the keyframes led us to a tweet by Hananya Naftali, an Israeli social media influencer.
The tweet uploaded on December 3, 2022, is captioned, "HOW-TO: French drivers show how to safely remove climate activists from major roadways." The video uploaded by Naftali in the tweet is the same as the viral video.
Taking a cue from the tweet, we conducted a keyword search with the terms, which threw up an article by Ground Report published on December 2, 2022. The article is titled "Video of climate protestors dragged off the road by people in France."
The Ground Report states that the video shows a protest by the Last Renovation environmental movement. Climate activists blocked roads in Paris, leading to heavy traffic jams during rush hour, which turned into a confrontation with motorists. The motorists were compelled to get out of their vehicles to clear the road for themselves, the report notes.
We also came across a Daily Express report published on December 2, 2022. The report is titled, 'Parisians take matter into own hands as they forcefully remove disruptive climate activist'.
The Express report reads, "Parisian drivers brutally dragged climate activists off the road on the Levallois bridge in Levallois-Perret, Paris." The Daily Express report notes that the protesters stopped traffic completely leading to the irritation of the drivers. A driver who was dragging the protestors out of the way was joined by other commuters who took the matter into their own hands.
The Express report notes that the climate activists are members of the French activist group 'Dernière Rénovation' (Last Renovation). The activist group calls on Emmanuel Macron's government to take action on the "soaring energy bills" due to Vladimir Putin's energy war on Europe.
The report quotes the activist organisation as saying, "Civil resistance is our only chance to move a government for which private interests precede the general interest."
In the report, a tweet by French writer Nathan Chaize was attached. In the tweet published on November 25, 2022, a similar incident can be seen where irate drivers are seen dragging off protestors sitting on the roads.
While tagging the Twitter page of Last Renovation, Chaize writes, "Last Renovation carries out its second action in Lyon in front of the Fourviere tunnel. After some tension, the situation was quickly calmed down by the agents responsible for the security of the tunnel."
We came across other media reports which note the several disruptions carried out by the environmental activists group in the past.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral video shows a group of environmental activists from the French activist group 'Last Renovation' protesting by sitting on roads. They were forcefully dragged away by irate drivers upset over the delays caused due to the obstructions by the activists. The 'Last Renovation' group demanded action by the French government on climate change issues and has caused similar disruptions in the past. Thus, we can conclude that the viral claim is false.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343
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