Video shows rally in Norway, not response to Columbia University protest | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Video shows pro-Palestinian rallies held in response to student suspensions at Columbia University

An April 28 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows several clips from large pro-Palestinian protests.

"This what happens when you suspend 15 students for supporting Palestine @ Colombia (sic) University," reads texts atop the video.

The post was liked more than 4,000 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. It shows pro-Palestinian demonstrations that were held in Norway before students at Columbia University set up a protest camp.

Video shows pro-Palestinian rallies held before Columbia protest

Pro-Palestinian activists protesting the Israel-Hamas war established an encampment at Columbia University on April 17. In an April 18 letter to the New York Police Department, the university's president, Minouche Shafik, said Columbia University students participating in the encampment were informed they had been suspended. More than 100 protesters were arrested the same day.

Tensions have escalated since then, with the university shutting down most of its campus April 30 after protesters seized an academic building.

But the video of pro-Palestinian rallies in the Instagram post was not taken after students set up the protest camp at Columbia University. A nearly identical version of the video was posted on Instagram on March 20 – nearly a month earlier – and included no references to Columbia University.

Fact check: Photo of 'rape is resistance' flyer predates pro-Palestinian camp at Columbia

The video shows pro-Palestinian protests in Norway. One clip was previously posted on Instagram on Nov. 4, 2023, the same day the U.S. Embassy in Norway issued an alert about a scheduled demonstration in Oslo. Another clip shows a demonstrator waving three Palestinian flags above a crowd of protesters. The same demonstrator is seen in a video that was posted on Instagram on March 16.

Both clips show the same public square in Oslo.

The Instagram user who shared the miscaptioned video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Oslo pro-Palestinian rally, not Columbia | Fact check

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