A video showing a mob pelting stones and vandalizing police vehicles is being circulated with the claim that it depicts Muslims vandalizing public property in Sweden, purportedly due to an Israeli singer’s participation in Eurovision (here, here & here). This article fact-checks the assertion made in the post.
Claim: Video showing Muslims vandalizing public properties in Sweden in protest over the participation of an Israeli singer in Eurovision.
Fact: These visuals depict confrontation between anti-Israel protesters and Swedish police outside a tennis match in 2009. Nonetheless, there are reports of pro-Palestine demonstrations occurring in Malmö, Sweden, opposing Israel’s participation in this year’s Eurovision. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The Eurovision Song Contest, commonly referred to as Eurovision, is an international song competition held annually by the European Broadcasting Union. According to the schedule, the semi-final and final events were planned for May 2024 in Malmo, Sweden. Reports indicate that pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the streets of Malmö, Sweden, protesting Israel’s participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest amidst Israel’s conflict in Gaza (here & here).
However, the visuals in the viral video are not connected to these protests and are much older. A reverse image search of the screenshots from the viral video led us to 2009 news reports that featured the same visuals (here & here). According to these reports, the visuals depict clashes between anti-Israel protesters and Swedish police outside a tennis match in 2009.
According to reports, the protesters allegedly tried to breach the stadium where the host country was competing in a Davis Cup tennis match against Israel. Their aim was to disrupt the match, which supposedly took place without spectators in Malmo due to security worries (here & here). Left-wing activists also participated in the pro-Palestinian protest, launching stones, fireworks, and paint bombs at police vehicles. From all these, it is evident that the viral footage is not linked to any recent incident and is unrelated to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
To sum up, old 2009 visuals depicting anti-Israel protests in Sweden are falsely shared as recent ones associated with the Eurovision event.
