A video (here and here) is spreading on social media showing people celebrating and distributing sweets, with flags of Iran and Israel visible, along with boards that say “Thanks to Israel.” It is being claimed that Persians from Iran are celebrating the Israeli attack on Iran. Let’s find the truth behind this.
Claim: The viral video shows Persians celebrating the recent Israeli attack on Iran by distributing sweets and holding “Thank you, Israel” signs.
Fact: The video actually shows Iranian Canadians and members of the Jewish community celebrating in Toronto, Canada on 29 September 2024, after Israel eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It has no connection to the recent Israel-Iran conflict, and we could not independently verify whether the people in the video are Persians. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
To find the truth, we performed a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the same viral video in an X post uploaded on 29 September 2024, predating the recent Iran-Israel conflict. The caption read “Thank you Israel,” and stated that Iranians in Toronto held a street celebration and distributed sweets to mark Israel’s elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike. A few other X handles also uploaded the same video with similar context (here, here and here).
We also found the same video on an Instagram page posted on 29 September 2024 by the handle @jewishbreakingnews. The caption stated that in Toronto, Iranian Canadians and Jewish communities gathered to celebrate after Israel eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The post further mentioned that the street celebration included the distribution of sweets, with many attendees expressing gratitude, holding signs, and chanting “Thank you, Israel”, marking a rare moment of shared celebration. We also came across other Instagram handles that reported the same event on the same date (here and here).
Further research led us to a news report stating that after Hassan Nasrallah’s death in Israeli strikes, reactions among Muslims around the world were mixed — while some celebrated, many others condemned Israel’s actions (here and here). Specifically, we found a report from JewishBreakingNews dated 29 September 2024, which detailed celebrations in Toronto. The report included multiple visuals from the same event.
To sum up, an old and unrelated video of Iranian Canadians celebrating Hassan Nasrallah’s death in Toronto is shared as Persians celebrating the recent Israeli strike on Iran.
