An old video of an art performance viral as Yazidi women being sold in Iraq and Syria

The video shows an art performance in Iraq, not a real incident. It dates back to March 2023

A video showing some girls wearing burqa are standing in a line and a person is lifting the hijab of those women one by one and looking at them is going viral on social media. It is being claimed that Islamic State sold women in the markets of Iraq and Syria. They kidnapped women and children and made them slaves.

The caption of the post states, “This is how lSlS sold Yezidi women and girls in slavery markets in Iraq and Syria! 7000 Yezidi women and children were kidnapped and sold. Women and girls were raped. Boys were taken to be brainwashed”. 

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Fact Check- 

We started the investigation with a reverse image search on Google and the results led us to the same video posted on TikTok on 7 May, 2023. The title reads, “The Unheard Screams of The Ezidkhan Angels 2023 by Aryan Rafiq.”

Keeping this in mind, we conducted relevant keyword search and found a post on Instagram that carried the same video. It was shared on 7 May 2023 by an account named ‘skykurdish’. Caption mentioned another Instagram account called ‘@aryan.rafiq.artway’.

Upon further investigation we also found Aryan Rafiq’s Instagram account and the same post was seen shared on 8 March. The description states “The Unheard Screams of The Ezidkhan Angels Art performance by Aryan Rafiq.” It was also written in it that the play would start on 8 March 2023 at 3 pm. On checking this account, we found that Aryan Rafiq is an artist based in Kurdistan, Iraq. From this evidences we can say that this is not a real incident but is part of a staged live performance in Iraq.

Instagram

The full art performance was also posted by Iraq-based Minorities Eye on their Facebook page on 3 August, 2023, with the caption, “In memory of the Yazidi genocide and the tragedy of Sinjar, an art presentation entitled: The whispering of the Yazidi angels The unheard scream of the angels of Izid Khan…By: Aryan Rafiq”

These evidences confirm that the viral video is not a real incident is part of a staged live performance in Iraq.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The video shows an art performance in Iraq, not a real incident. It dates back to March 2023.