Music video clip shared as Palestinian man pleading with IDF soldiers to not chop olive tree

By: Praveen Kumar
December 22 2023

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A clip from a 2019 Lebanese music video depicting an older Palestinian man pleading with Israeli soldiers not to cut down a tree has been shared as an actual incident. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, a 23-second video clip showing a man in military gear chopping off the branches of a tree with an older man pleading with him not to cut them, and eventually being dragged away by more military men is circulating on social media. The video has been shared with captions like "Elderly #Palestinian man pleads with #Israeli Soldier to not cut Olive Tree & to kill him instead." The captions seen in the viral video show the older man saying he grew the tree like a child and to shoot him but not to cut the tree while being dragged away.

This clip and the claim that it shows a Palestinian man pleading with an Israeli soldier has gained tens of thousands of views on X. Archived posts sharing the clip can be found here, here, and here.

The viral clip has been shared by several social media users. (Source: X/Screenshots)

This clip and the claim that it shows a Palestinian man pleading with an Israeli soldier has gained tens of thousands of views on X. Archived posts sharing the clip can be found here, here, and here.

Over the years, Israelis have been accused of destroying Palestine's olive harvest—one of the prime sources of income for the farmers of the region. A report published by The New Yorker in October noted that "Since 1967, more than eight hundred thousand Palestinian olive trees have been illegally uprooted by Israeli authorities and settlers."

However, this clip is a visual from a music video and does not show an actual incident.

What did we find?

A reverse image search of the viral clip led us to a longer video titled "Mashrou' Leila - Cavalry (Official Music Video)" on YouTube, uploaded on June 7, 2019. The viral clip appears at the 2:20 timestamp in the original video. Along with the details of the music, the video description adds, "The video revolves around the devastating cruelty and machismo of militarized oppression, which enters our homes, and plays out in our domestic life." The full video, which carries the same English subtitles as seen in the viral clip, shows children and teenagers resisting the soldiers, and it ends with the older man taken away in a military vehicle.

The official music video of Mashrou' Leila's song 'Cavalry.' (Source: YouTube)

The original video was shared by Mashrou' Leila, a former Lebanese four-member indie rock band. Based in Beirut, the band would sing in Arabic, but was disbanded in September 2022 following persistent harassment on social media, reported Reuters. They shared the music video in question on their Facebook page on June 7, 2019, in a post that read, "Cavalry is about putting up a fight, even when the odds are stacked against us, and not letting political fatigue destroy our willingness to speak truth to power." 

Logically Facts has reached out to Mashrou' Leila for more details about the music video. This fact-check will be updated as and when we receive a response.

Comparison of the viral clip and the original music video released in 2019. (Source: X/YouTube/Screenshots)

Following the release of the music video, several news articles were published about it. 

A report published by The New Arab on June 8, 2019, described the music video for 'Cavalry' as an "anti-occupation music video" and "a gripping portrayal of the injustices of military occupation and those who resist them." Music podcast SceneNoise called 'Cavalry' "an anthem of resistance against oppression and occupation with a powerful video enforcing the message."

According to an article published by Middle East Monitor on June 10, 2019, the scenes in the music video were reminiscent of Ahed Tamimi, the 17-year-old Palestinian activist, being jailed for eight months after video footage of her slapping an Israeli occupation soldier and forcing him off her family's property went viral on social media. Tamimi's jail sentence was reported widely in the news in March 2018.

Abu Dhabi-based news outlet The Nation had made a similar observation about 'Cavalry.' The outlet had said, "On the surface…Cavalry looks to be inspired by the Palestinian struggle under Israeli occupation."

The verdict

A short clip from a music video released by a Lebanese band in 2019 is being shared with claims that it shows an actual incident of Israeli soldiers dragging away an older Palestinian man who was pleading with them to not cut an olive tree he had planted. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.