Old video from Jordan’s Parliament shared as assault on Israeli official

By: Annet Preethi Furtado
November 16 2023

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Screenshots of the viral claim that a video depicts an Israeli official being assaulted amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What's the claim?

A video circulating on Facebook shows a confrontation between men, most wearing suits, in a formal meeting. In the footage, three men attempt to restrain an agitated man while another man from the opposite side approaches and starts hitting him. It is being claimed that this is an Israeli official being assaulted amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

The video, which includes a Hindi song as audio, features an Israeli flag in the top right corner, a Palestinian flag in the center, Arabic text الأردن translating to "Jordan," and the date "6/11/2023" just above it. The caption, "Israel ke Adhikari ko jamkar pite الله اكبر," translates to "Israeli officer beaten fiercely" in Hindi and "Allah is the greatest" from the Arabic text.

One Facebook reel (archived here) garnered around 50,600 likes and 1,900 shares. Another version of the viral video (archived here) carried a different date, "25/10/2023."

Screenshots of viral Facebook posts. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Contrary to the claim, the video does not show an Israeli official being beaten, but a physical altercation among Jordanian parliamentarians in 2021 during a discussion on constitutional reforms.

What we found

A reverse image search on keyframes from the viral clip led us to an extended version uploaded to YouTube by Reuters in December 2021. The extended version, titled "Jordanian MPs brawl in parliament, " features the altercation's original audio. The viral segments can be found between 0:03 and 0:18 seconds in the Reuters video. 

Altercation between Jordanian parliamentarians in 2021. (Source: YouTube)

The description noted that on December 28, several deputies engaged in a fight inside Jordan's parliament, with live footage on state media showing chaotic scenes of members of parliaments (MPs) punching each other for a few minutes. 

CNN's report on the incident from December 2021 featured the same 59-second video capturing the tumult in the Jordanian parliament surrounding a draft amendment to the nation's constitution. The report highlighted that a physical altercation unfolded between conservative lawmakers Hassan Riati and Shadi Udwan, triggered by insults and blasphemous remarks, and involved several other MPs in the tumult. The report said the incident unfolded as lawmakers debated a constitutional amendment to address Jordanian citizens in both the feminine and masculine tense. Further, it mentioned that the proposed amendment, part of King Abdullah II's modernization agenda, faced significant resistance from conservative members.

On  December 29, 2021, BBC News uploaded a YouTube video titled "Fist fight in Jordan's parliament caught on livestream - BBC News." The video's description stated: "A meeting of MPs in Jordan, discussing constitutional reforms, descended into a fistfight which was live-streamed to local television. The argument began as the chamber debated adding the Arabic female noun for a Jordanian citizen into the constitution's section on equal rights, an amendment branded by some MPs as 'useless.'"

Upon examining this video, we at least identified two individuals also seen in the viral footage. One can be seen wearing a white shirt paired with a brown coat, while the other is wearing a black shirt, a blue coat, and a face mask. This examination affirms the video's origin in 2021 and establishes its unrelated nature to any Israeli official.

Comparison of screen grabs from the viral video and the YouTube posted by BBC News. (Source: X/YouTube/Screenshots/Modified by Logically Facts)

Euro News also reported that the objections to the amendment stemmed from concerns about a perceived escalation in the monarch's autocratic authority under the proposed changes.

The verdict

The viral video captures an altercation among Jordanian parliamentarians from December 2021 during a discussion on constitutional reforms. It doesn't show an Israeli official and predates the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.