Old video shared as recent attack on Bethlehem church during Christmas

This is an old video from October 2022 

Last day, people all around the world celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, with great excitement and opulence. Bethlehem is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Amidst this, a video is going viral on social media showing some people attacking a church on Christmas night. In the video, we can see a group of men hurling stones at a building, as sirens are heard wailing in the background. Those sharing the video alleged that it shows Palestinian Muslim mob attacking a church in Bethlehem on Christmas. The caption states, “Palestinians attempt to break into a church in Bethlehem during scout rehearsals for Christmas. The church was attacked with stones, and even gunfire was directed at it”.

Let’s check the truth.

Facebook Post |Archive link

Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by conducting a keyword and reverse image search on Google and the results led us to a similar Facebook post shared on 31 October, 2022. You can see this post below. 

Facebook | Archive Link

According to this post, the incident took place not in Bethlehem but in the nearby town of Beit Sahour in October 2022. A young Muslim man tried to enter a Greek Orthodox church during a scout rehearsal. After an argument, more young Muslims threw stones and attacked church.

Moving forward, we found more information regarding this incident on the media website Milhillard. The news was published on 29 October, 2022. According to the news, some youths tried to enter the Orthodox Church in the city of Beit Sahour, which led to an argument. After this argument, these youths came there with a large crowd and attacked the church.

Milhillard | Archived

In a report published by the Jerusalem Post about the incident, church leaders said, “The controversy arose from an argument between two groups of young men.”

So, it is clear that the viral video shows an old of an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour in October 2022.    

Conclusion- 

Fact crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The viral video shows an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour in October 2022.