Credit: PTI Fact Check (Modified by Deccan Herald)
A video of several men pelting stones on a church-like structure was recently shared on social media, with users claiming that it showed a Muslim mob attacking a church in Beit Sahour, a town near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ on Christmas 2024.However, the PTI Fact Check Desk, in its investigation found that video dates back to October 2022 and is not related to the Christmas celebration that took place in 2024. The viral video was shared with a false claim.
Claim
A Facebook user shared on December 25, 2024, a post claiming that muslim men targeted the holy site of Bethlehem during Christmas.
The caption, originally in Hindi, translates to: “Attack of heretics on Bethlehem Church: Muslims targeted the holy site with stones and bullets during Christmas. Hundreds of Christians were injured.”
Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same.
Investigation
The Desk first ran the video through InVid Tool Search and found a few keyframes. On running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, the Desk came across several other social media posts, which carried the same video with similar claims.
Three such posts can be viewed here, here and here, and their archived versions can be found here, here and here, respectively.
On further scanning the search results, we came across an X (formerly Twitter) post by a user named Avi Kaner, shared on October 31, 2022. The caption of the post read: “Christians were attacked in Bethlehem by a Palestinian mob while they were rehearsing for Christmas in a church.”
Here is the link and below is a screenshot of the same:
The video posted on X in 2022 had a striking resemblance with the viral video. Below is a combining image highlighting the same:
Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and came across an article by All Arab News, on October 2022, whose headline read: “Church attacked by Muslims in Christian town near Bethlehem”
A section of the article mentioned: “It is very unfortunate and enraging to watch what happened last night in the attack on the Greek Orthodox Church of The Forefathers in Beit Sahour by a group of thugs, following a quarrel between some young men,” the report quoted Wadie Abunassar, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land, saying in a Facebook post.
Here is the link and below is the screenshot of the same.
Below is a combination image, comparing the visuals of the viral video to that of the photo featured in the news report.
Another report was published by The Jerusalem Post in October 2022, whose headline read: “Christian leaders condemn attack on church near Bethlehem”
Here is the link to the article.
Taking a cue from the report, the Desk located The Holy Forefathers Greek Orthodox Church on Google Maps. Here is the link to Google Street view of the church and below is a screenshot of the same:
The Desk noticed that this was the same location as seen in the viral video. Below is a combination image, highlighting the same:
Subsequently, the Desk concluded that while the attack took place on a church near Bethlehem, the video dated back to 2022, and was not recent.
CLAIM
A Muslim mob attacked a church near Bethlehem on Christmas in December 2024.
FACT
The viral video dates back to October 2022 when The Holy Forefathers Greek Orthodox Church in Beit Sahour was attacked by a mob.
CONCLUSION
Multiple social media users shared a video claiming that it showed a Muslim mob pelting stones on a church near Bethlehem on Christmas in December 2024. In its investigation, the Desk found that while the video actually showed a church near Bethlehem, the incident happened in October 2022. A video was shared on social media as recent with a false claim.
This story was originally published by PTI Fact Check, and republished by Deccan Herald as part of the Shakti Collective.