An investigation reveals that the circulating video of Palestinians insulting Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is misleading

(CNN) - A video clip spread on social media claiming that it showed scenes of the moment Palestinians directed insults and harsh criticism at the Syrian interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

The video received more than 200,000 views on the X website alone, accompanied by phrases that say: “The Palestinians could not bear themselves and they sinned against Al-Julani,” and “Al-Julani is in Palestine, but they sinned against him. Go, liberate Syria first, and then liberate Palestine.”

To dismantle the claim, we used reverse search and found a similar version of the circulating video, which was published on a Facebook page, called “Al-Watan - Online”, on December 8, 2025.

The description of the video at the time said: “The moment President Ahmed Al-Sharaa entered the Umayyad Mosque on the first anniversary of the liberation of Syria.”

In Syria, “Liberation Day” means the day the Assad regime fell and the armed opposition forces, led by what was known as the “Military Operations Department,” which was led by Sharaa, entered the Syrian capital.

It was noteworthy that the angle of filming the video was modified using digital editing programs, so that it appeared as if it was filmed from the right side, while the original video was filmed from the left side. This is a trick that some misleading content creators may resort to to suggest that it is a new clip, or to make the task of finding the old clip difficult.

As for the sound heard in the background of the video, it is taken from another clip that appeared during Palestinian interaction with Saudi blogger Muhammad Saud during his visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque in July 2019.

The circulation of the video under scrutiny coincided with the visit of the interim Syrian president to New York to participate in the work of the United Nations General Assembly.

In his speech before the assembly, on Wednesday, Ahmed Al-Sharaa said that the historic opportunity for peace exists “for those who want peace,” while calling on Israel to withdraw from the areas it occupies in the Golan Heights.

He added on Wednesday, "The Golan will remain Syrian territory, and all annexation measures are invalid and annulled by the force of Security Council Resolution 497."

Al-Sharaa called on Israel to withdraw to the lines of December 8, 2024, rejecting “attempts to impose a fait accompli and the continuation of its (Israel’s) attacks in the region.”