Videos from Germany and Italy show people waving flags on the streets, some with Christmas lights visible in the background.
The videos are not recent, have been taken out of context and do not show protests against Christmas.
PROTEST NOT HELD AT CHRISTMAS MARKET
“Thousands of Muslim immigrants have arrived to the Christmas festivity fair in Germany to protest against the tradition, that goes against their beliefs and Islam,” reads the text on a video with more than a million views posted to the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Nov. 20.
The 21-second clip, which was shared by Canadian accounts, shows a large group of people standing on a street waving flags and holding signs while the voice of an unseen person leads a call and response with the crowd.
THE FACTS
An image-reverse search for keyframes from the video led to several fact checks that traced the clip back to a protest held in Hamburg, Germany in October 2024.
An uncropped version of the video was shared in an article about the protest published Oct. 13, 2024 in the Italian publication Il Giornale.
The demonstration focused on opposition to Israel and the treatment of Uyghurs in China and took place in the “Kreuzweg/Steindamm” area of the city, according to reports from German media.
Google’s street view confirms the location as Kreuzweg street near the intersection with Steindamm in central Hamburg.
There was no mention of Christmas in the media reports, and the protest was held long before any Christmas...
Videos from Germany and Italy show people waving flags on the streets, some with Christmas lights visible in the background. The videos are not recent, have been taken out of context and do not sh...