Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
A gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday killing at least seven people, and wounding three others. Soon after, condolences and tributes for the deceased started to pour in on social media platforms, along with unsolicited images claiming to show the shooting incident. One such image showing what appears to be dead bodies wrapped in white clothes placed inside a tent, with people overlooking the same is doing the rounds online. Those who shared the photograph alleged that it showed the victims of the recent Jerusalem attack. Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Several Twitter users shared the picture linking it to the Jerusalem shooting incident.
Archived versions of such tweets can be seen here and here,
The image is also going viral on Facebook, seen here and here.
Fact Check
A Yandex reverse image search on the viral photograph led us to a tweet by @RassdNewsN, dated April 30, 2021. The post carried a set of four images, including the viral photograph, and elaborated a mishap during a Jewish “Flame” festival in Galilee that killed several Israelis.
The search also yielded a report by website Lb.ua, dated April 30, 2021, titled (translated from Russian), ‘Dozens die in stampede at 100,000 festival in Israel.’ Displaying the viral photograph, the report stated, “At least 44 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede at the Lag B’Omer Jewish festival on Mount Meron in northern Israel involving 100,000 people…According to police sources, the panic and stampede was caused by some of the festival participants slipping on the steps, causing a chain reaction.” The archived version of the report can be seen here.
An article by French-language Infos-Israel website, dated April 30, 2021, also carried the viral photograph while reporting on the mishap that took several lives during festivities at Mount Meron.
Additionally, multiple Arabic language websites featured the viral photograph in their reports on the April 2021 mishap during a Jewish festival in Israel’s Meron area. Such reports can be seen here and here.
The 2021 Mount Meron Tragedy
A stampede occurred during the celebrations of Lag BaOmer, a Jewish festival, at Mount Meron in northern Israel in April 2021. The mishap resulted in the death of at least 44 people, and over a hundred others were injured. Reportedly, “the stampede erupted around 1 a.m. as people began to leave and thronged a narrow, tunnel-like passage. According to witnesses, people began to fall on a slippery ramp, causing others to trip and sparking panic.”
Multiple news outlets reported on this stampede at Mount Meron during festivities. Such reports can be seen here, here and here.
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that a two-year-old photograph from the stampede in Israel’s Mount Meron during a Jewish festival is being falsely linked to the recent shooting attack in Jerusalem.
Result: False
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback, or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
