A variety of fake news stories have circulated online in the past month about Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Islamist coalition that toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. We take a look back at a few that the Observers team have debunked, ranging from claims that al-Jolani is actually Jewish to rumours about his pronouns.
FRANCE24
Issued on: 31/12/2024 -
An array of fake news stories have been circulating online about Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of Syrian rebel coalition HTS. © X
By: Observers team
Fake news stories about Syrian Islamist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa have been spreading online over the past month. Al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist movement that led the offensive that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad on December 8. Both far right and pro-Iranian social media accounts have been spreading disinformation about Al-Jolani since the Assad’s fall. We decided to compile and analyse some of the most viral fake stories.
Did Al-Jolani really tell the Times of Israel that he wanted to be friends with Israel?
Stories have been circulating online that on December 7, just after HTS took control of the Syrian towns of Aleppo and Hama, al-Jolani gave an interview to Israeli media outlet The Times of Israel – or so claim a bevy of pro-Iranian accounts in posts that have garnered more than 30,000 views. The posts feature a screengrab of the supposed interview, complete with a photo of Al-Jolani.
According to one social media user who shared the article, the Islamist leader said he was “open to friendship with everyone in the region – including Israel".
Al-Jolani also apparently thanked Israel for its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and for the air strikes that it carried out against Iranian infrastructure in Syria.
By: Observers team
Fake news stories about Syrian Islamist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa have been spreading online over the past month. Al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist movement that led the offensive that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad on December 8. Both far right and pro-Iranian social media accounts have been spreading disinformation about Al-Jolani since the Assad’s fall. We decided to compile and analyse some of the most viral fake stories.
Did Al-Jolani really tell the Times of Israel that he wanted to be friends with Israel?
Stories have been circulating online that on December 7, just after HTS took control of the Syrian towns of Aleppo and Hama, al-Jolani gave an interview to Israeli media outlet The Times of Israel – or so claim a bevy of pro-Iranian accounts in posts that have garnered more than 30,000 views. The posts feature a screengrab of the supposed interview, complete with a photo of Al-Jolani.
According to one social media user who shared the article, the Islamist leader said he was “open to friendship with everyone in the region – including Israel".
Al-Jolani also apparently thanked Israel for its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and for the air strikes that it carried out against Iranian infrastructure in Syria.
This pro-Iranian social media user claimed on December 7, 2024 that Al-Jolani said he was open to being friends with Israel in an interview with the Times of Israel. Turns out, this interview was with a different Syrian commander. © X © X
It turns out, however, that the Times of Israel didn’t interview Al-Jolani but a different Syrian commander entirely. The original article specifies that the paper interviewed a commander from the Free Syrian Army, which took part in the anti-Assad coalition led by HTS, which united both nationalist rebels and moderate Islamists. The article also specifies that that commander, who requested anonymity, is older than 60, while Al-Jolani is just 42.
Moreover, the tweet features a screengrab of the article that includes Al-Jolani’s photo. The post is misleading because it because it implies that Al-Jolani’s picture appears because he is the one being interviewed. In reality, the photo of Al-Jolani was used to illustrate part of the article where the Syrian commander was asked a question about HTS.
Did CNN really use pronouns during an interview with Al-Jolani?
"Pro-tip: When interviewing an international terrorist the US State Department has a $10 million bounty on ALWAYS use the right pronouns,” jokes a social media user close to the far right. His post features a fake screengrab of US TV channel CNN interviewing Al-Jolani. He/Him is written by the name of the Islamist leader – a note used by progressive Americans to indicate someone’s gender. This same screengrab, used in different posts, has garnered more than 500,000 views since December 10.
It turns out, however, that the Times of Israel didn’t interview Al-Jolani but a different Syrian commander entirely. The original article specifies that the paper interviewed a commander from the Free Syrian Army, which took part in the anti-Assad coalition led by HTS, which united both nationalist rebels and moderate Islamists. The article also specifies that that commander, who requested anonymity, is older than 60, while Al-Jolani is just 42.
Moreover, the tweet features a screengrab of the article that includes Al-Jolani’s photo. The post is misleading because it because it implies that Al-Jolani’s picture appears because he is the one being interviewed. In reality, the photo of Al-Jolani was used to illustrate part of the article where the Syrian commander was asked a question about HTS.
Did CNN really use pronouns during an interview with Al-Jolani?
"Pro-tip: When interviewing an international terrorist the US State Department has a $10 million bounty on ALWAYS use the right pronouns,” jokes a social media user close to the far right. His post features a fake screengrab of US TV channel CNN interviewing Al-Jolani. He/Him is written by the name of the Islamist leader – a note used by progressive Americans to indicate someone’s gender. This same screengrab, used in different posts, has garnered more than 500,000 views since December 10.
Social media users have been claiming that CNN specified Al-Jolani’s pronouns when they broadcast an interview with him. Turns out, the pronouns have been edited onto this image. © X © X
However, it turns out that this image has been digitally altered. We ran the image through a reverse image search using Google Lens (check out our handy guide to learn how to do one yourself). We were able to find the original CNN interview with Al-Jolani posted online by Levant 24, an independent Syrian media outlet. The interview also appears on CNN’s YouTube channel. After locating these original videos, we were able to see that CNN didn’t specify “he/him” after al-Jolani’s name – that must have been edited onto the image later.
Is Al-Jolani really Jewish?
Apparently, Al-Jolani is actually Jewish and studied at the School of Islamic Jurisprudence in Tel Aviv – or so claims Mads Palsvig, the president of a Danish political party in a post that has garnered more 2.2 million views on X since December 12. Palsvig has been known to share anti-Semitic sentiments and conspiracy theories online in the past. In this post, Palsvig shared what he claimed was a screengrab from Ynet, the website for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The screengrab features a photo of Al-Jolani along with a headline that claims that back in the 1950s, spies from Israel’s Mossad spy agency married Arab women in an attempt to hide their identity.
However, it turns out that this image has been digitally altered. We ran the image through a reverse image search using Google Lens (check out our handy guide to learn how to do one yourself). We were able to find the original CNN interview with Al-Jolani posted online by Levant 24, an independent Syrian media outlet. The interview also appears on CNN’s YouTube channel. After locating these original videos, we were able to see that CNN didn’t specify “he/him” after al-Jolani’s name – that must have been edited onto the image later.
Is Al-Jolani really Jewish?
Apparently, Al-Jolani is actually Jewish and studied at the School of Islamic Jurisprudence in Tel Aviv – or so claims Mads Palsvig, the president of a Danish political party in a post that has garnered more 2.2 million views on X since December 12. Palsvig has been known to share anti-Semitic sentiments and conspiracy theories online in the past. In this post, Palsvig shared what he claimed was a screengrab from Ynet, the website for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The screengrab features a photo of Al-Jolani along with a headline that claims that back in the 1950s, spies from Israel’s Mossad spy agency married Arab women in an attempt to hide their identity.
Danish politician Mads Palsvig claimed that Al-Jolani is actually Jewish. That’s not actually what the article he shared says. © X
However, the headline that appears in the screengrab has nothing to do with Al-Jolani. We took a look at the article, still visible on Ynet. It doesn’t mention Al-Jolani and doesn’t feature a photo of him. And for good reason – that article was published in 2013 so it has nothing to do with recent events in Syria. So Al-Jolani’s photo must have been edited into the screengrab of Ynet’s website that Palsvig shared.
Moreover, Al-Jolani’s life story is known: born in Riyadh, al-Jolani went on to study medicine in Damascus, Syria. He joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2003 before returning to fight in Syria. There is no indication that he ever studied in Tel Aviv.
Baptiste Fontaine, FRANCE 24 Observers intern, contributed to this story.
However, the headline that appears in the screengrab has nothing to do with Al-Jolani. We took a look at the article, still visible on Ynet. It doesn’t mention Al-Jolani and doesn’t feature a photo of him. And for good reason – that article was published in 2013 so it has nothing to do with recent events in Syria. So Al-Jolani’s photo must have been edited into the screengrab of Ynet’s website that Palsvig shared.
Moreover, Al-Jolani’s life story is known: born in Riyadh, al-Jolani went on to study medicine in Damascus, Syria. He joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2003 before returning to fight in Syria. There is no indication that he ever studied in Tel Aviv.
Baptiste Fontaine, FRANCE 24 Observers intern, contributed to this story.
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