Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
With the last few days of the Holy month of Ramzan upon us, several social media users are sharing a video that shows a group of men clad in white clothes fighting with each other in front of what appears to be an Iftar spread- the meal consumed to break the day long fast. Captions accompanying the video ridiculed the fight, but gave no indication of when or where the video was recorded. Newschecker has found that the video is at least two years old.
The post was predominantly shared with captions in Hindi, with a few users sharing the video with English captions as well.
Fact check/Verification
To find out more about the video, we conducted a reverse image search and found an article in a Tunisian website Arabesque, published in 2019, which revealed that the incident took place outside the Mosque of Al-Ghamamah, one of the oldest mosques in Medina.
To find out more about the incident, we conducted a Google keyword search with the words ‘Al-Ghamamah mosque’ ‘Iftar spread’ and ‘Fight’ which brought us several media reports regarding the incident, all published in 2019. One of the reports on a UK based website Al Araby revealed that the fight could have taken place ‘over seating position’ before the food was served.
Another report on Rabat based Morocco World News also revealed the same details though it claimed that the exact reason for the fight was unknown.
In addition, Newschecker also came upon several tweets from 2019, all indicating that the incident took place 3 years ago.
Conclusion
The video showing men fighting outside Medina’s Al-Ghamamah mosque in front of an Iftar spread three years ago has been shared in recent context on social media.
Result: False context/ Missing context
Sources
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
