Hamas, after more than a week, appears to be increasingly isolated with limited international support. To counter this, they have resorted to creating fabricated and deceptive videos to garner sympathy and to rally support within the Muslim world. One such example is the viral video featuring the renowned footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, which appears to follow a similar pattern.
According to claims put forth by certain Islamist X sources, football star Cristiano Ronaldo is portrayed as expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Islamist Aisha wrote, “ Ronaldo Stands with Palestine Whole World stand with Palestine.”
Islamist Shabina Ali wrote, “ Ronaldo Stands with Palestine Whole World stand with Palestine Free Free Palestine”
In addition to these X users, several other individuals with affiliations to Islamist ideology, such as Minda Art, Zain Rajpoot, Tahir Bhatti, Hamxa Rajpoot Official, Israel and Palestine War, and Sanam Jamali, have also disseminated the same clip accompanied by identical assertions.
Also Read: Old Video of Israelis Chanting Slogans of ‘Deaths in Gaza’ Presented as Recent
Fact Check
Our fact-checking endeavor commenced with a reverse image search of a relevant keyframe. This investigation unveiled that the original video was indeed shared by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on a platform known as X, and subsequently on Twitter, back on December 23, 2016. The video featured Ronaldo delivering a monologue in support of Syrian children who had fallen victim during the height of the Syrian Civil War in 2016.
Cristiano Ronaldo wrote, “ A message of hope to the children affected by the conflict in Syria. “ A message of hope to the children affected by the conflict in Syria.”
We also came across the Washington Post story published on December 23, 2016. The story titled “Cristiano Ronaldo makes donation, tells Syrian children: ‘Don’t lose your hope’
Moreover, the post also shared the video of Ronaldo that was originally posted on the X handle of the footballer.
Therefore there is substantial evidence indicating that the recent video featuring renowned footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, which was circulated by Islamists, is fabricated. This video, which is seven years old and originally shows Ronaldo expressing support for Syrian children, appears to have been recently manipulated for the purpose of supporting Hamas.
| Claim | Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo showed solidarity with the Palestinian people |
| Claimed by | Islamist X handles |
| Fact Check | Fake |
