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| - Fact Check: Video of US Soldiers discarding medals NOT linked to recent Israel-Hamas conflict
India Today Fact Check found that the video of veterans discarding medals is from a decade-old Chicago protest.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is from an anti-NATO protest held in Chicago in 2012.
A video has circulated on social media, claiming to show U.S. military veterans purportedly returning their service medals in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The accompanying post asserts that over 40,000 US soldiers resigned due to civilian casualties in Gaza. In the video, a group of men in military uniform address a large crowd, expressing solidarity with war-affected nations, including Palestine, Iran, and Afghanistan.
The text along with the video reads, "Seeing innocent people die in Gaza, over 40,000 US soldiers have left their army positions. Most had fought in countries like Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Libya, with many returning their medals. NATO should be ashamed." An archived version of one such post can be seen here.
India Today Fact Check found that the video of veterans discarding medals is over a decade old and unrelated to the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Furthermore, there is no credible report about 40,000 American soldiers resigning in support of Gaza.
Our Probe
A reverse image search of the viral video's keyframes led us to a longer version of the same clip, uploaded on May 21, 2012, to a YouTube channel called “Democracy Now!” The video's title was "No NATO, No War: US Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Return War Medals at NATO Summit."
According to this channel, the video shows an anti-war protest organised by US veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, alongside members of Afghans For Peace. The event took place on May 20, 2012, near a venue where leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were convening for a summit with a specific focus on Afghanistan.
Multiple other media organisations, including Reuters, reported this anti-NATO rally. According to Reuters, nearly 50 US military veterans discarded their service medals onto the street during the protest to register their symbolic protest against US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thousands of people reportedly marched in the city as part of this protest. However, the situation escalated later, with some protesters clashing with riot police after disregarding orders to clear the streets.
The viral claim regarding the resignation of 40,000 American soldiers in solidarity with civilians in Gaza is also misleading; there are no credible sources to validate this claim.
In conclusion, the viral post is misleading, as the video from 2012 is falsely linked to the latest Israel-Hamas conflict that began on October 7.
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